Dev tools · checked 2026-10-19

Can I vibecode Yado?

YES· one-shottable

What Yado sells is a way to reach a coding agent that keeps running on a machine you don't carry. For one person that is a small web app: a terminal in the browser over tmux, a login, and a push when Claude Code finishes, on a small server you rent yourself. An agent builds that in one sitting. What you give up is the native app, the chat view, and a machine that appears in seconds without any server chores. Anthropic's Remote Control and cloud sessions, included with Claude plans, already cover part of this, so check them before building.

$19/moprice

$228you'd save a year

one sittingbuild time

—people replaced it

Before you start

What you need on hand.

DifficultyAdvanced · Real infrastructure or OAuth work.

TimeAn evening; the server, the tunnel and the first login are the slow part

Claude Code, Codex or CursorAny of them can run the prompt on your computer; the result then runs on the server.
A Linux machine that stays onA small VPS, a home server or a Pi; install Node.js 22 and tmux.
Claude Code on that machineRun claude once there and log in with your own Claude plan.
Tailscale or a Cloudflare TunnelNever expose the port directly: it is a shell.
An ntfy topic and its phone appFree to self-host or use the public server; this carries the push notifications.

Before you buildYado has no free plan, but Claude's Remote Control and cloud sessions come with a Claude plan; if your laptop can stay on, they may be all you need.

1. Install one agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
2. Make an empty folder and open it in the agent.
3. Paste the prompt below, press enter, and answer its questions as it builds.

The prompt

Build me a self-hosted, phone-friendly terminal for running Claude Code, to replace Yado. Requirements:

- Node.js 22 + TypeScript on a Linux box I already have: a Fastify server with
`@fastify/websocket`, `node-pty` and an `xterm.js` front end built with Vite.
`npm start` serves http://127.0.0.1:4980.
- Sessions: each one is a named tmux session (`tmux new -d -s <name> -c <dir>`) that runs `claude`
in a repo directory picked from ./repos.json. The page lists sessions and lets me create, attach to
and kill them. Closing the browser must not stop a session.
- Phone UI: an installable PWA (manifest and service worker) with a row of keys phones lack (Esc, Tab,
Ctrl, arrows, Ctrl-C), font-size buttons and paste. Check the layout at 390x844.
- Access: bind to 127.0.0.1 only and reach it through `tailscale serve` or a Cloudflare Tunnel, as
the README explains. One passphrase in .env (argon2 hash), a signed cookie and 5 attempts a minute.
- Notifications: a script `notify.sh` that I register as a Claude Code Stop hook and Notification
hook. It writes the session state (finished or waiting) to ./data/state/<session>.json and posts
to an ntfy topic (NTFY_URL, NTFY_TOPIC in .env) with the session name and the last 200 characters.
- Preview: `/preview/<port>` reverse-proxies to a dev server on that local port behind the same login.
- Storage: sessions come from `tmux ls`; settings in ./data/config.json. No accounts beyond the one
passphrase, no telemetry. Outbound calls: the ntfy server only.
- Out of scope: a native app, a chat view, a managed cloud machine, Codex support, several users.
- README: install tmux and Claude Code on the box, run `claude` once to log in, and warn that anyone
who passes the login gets a shell, so the port is never exposed directly.

Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.

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Then keep going

Next prompts, same folder.

The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own Yado.

Add a chat view to the terminal app in this folder. Requirements:

- Run Claude Code in its headless streaming-JSON mode (check `claude --help` for the output and
  input format flags) in a second kind of session, and render messages, tool calls and diffs as
  cards.
- A text box to send the next message, buttons for the permission prompts, and a stop button.
- Keep the terminal view as the fallback for each session.
- Update the README.

Add Codex support to the terminal app in this folder. Requirements:

- A per-repo setting in ./repos.json for the agent command, `claude` or `codex`.
- The same notify script contract for both: finished and waiting states, with the session name.
- Show the agent name next to each session in the list.
- Update the README with how to log in to Codex on the box.

Add git actions to the terminal app in this folder. Requirements:

- For a session's repo, show branch, status and a diff stat; buttons for stage all, commit with a
  message, push, and open a pull request with the GitHub CLI.
- Each action asks for a confirmation, shows the command it will run and its output, and never
  force-pushes.
- Update the README with the `gh auth login` step.

Add idle shutdown to the terminal app in this folder. Requirements:

- Track the last request and the last tmux activity per session; after IDLE_HOURS (default 72)
  of none, power the server off through your provider's API, using a token in .env.
- A wake script I can run from a laptop or a phone shortcut, and a status page that says when
  the shutdown will happen.
- Warn by ntfy 30 minutes before shutting down.
- README: how to create the API token with the least access, and which provider the code targets.

What you lose

A native iOS and Android app with a chat view next to the terminal
A cloud machine that is ready in seconds and shuts itself down
Codex support and a connected-tools screen for CLIs and MCP servers
Someone else keeping the setup working

Why people still pay

Yado's own pitch is 19 seconds from opening the app to a working session: no server to rent, no tunnel to configure, no raw terminal on a phone keyboard. People pay so that checking on a coding agent away from the desk takes no setup and fits in a pocket.

Moatexecution polish infrastructure scale

Do the math

Yado or your own copy?

Over

Your usage

Count my time3h ×$/h

Yado, 1 yr$228

Your own copy, 1 yr$41running + build session

You keep$187pays for itself in the first month

Estimate · Free on a machine you already run; a small VPS is about $5 to $6 a month. You still pay for the Claude plan, as you would with Yado. The build is token usage on your agent plan.

Leaving Yado

Take your data, then cancel.

1 · Take your data out of Yado

1There is no export tool in the terms or the support page. What you made lives in git: push every repo you care about to GitHub before you leave.
2The terms say Yado is not a backup service and that container data can be lost during infrastructure updates, so push often, not only at the end.
3Your Claude or ChatGPT subscription is yours: log in with it on any other machine.
4CLI and MCP tokens you connected are stored in your container; note them down or create new ones elsewhere.

2 · Cancel Yado

1Cancel in your App Store account settings (iPhone Settings > your name > Subscriptions > Yado); the terms say you can manage or cancel there at any time.
2Turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the current period ends, or the next one is charged.
3To avoid any charge in the 7-day trial, cancel before it ends.
4The terms only describe App Store billing. If you subscribed on Google Play, look under Play Store > Subscriptions.

To delete your account, use the app settings or email the developer; the support page says data is removed within 7 days.
When an account ends, its container and the data in it are deleted, so push your work first.
The terms don't address refunds; Apple processes the payment, so ask Apple about a refund.
One container exists per GitHub account, and the terms bar making extra accounts to get around limits.

Checked 2026-10-19 against Yado's docs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The escape hatch

Don't feel like building it? These are already free.

HappyOpen sourceMIT mobile and web app with a CLI for Claude Code and Codex and encrypted sync through a relay server; code runs on your own machine, with no extra subscription.★ 24k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
iOS, Android, WebVisit ↗CloudCLI (Claude Code UI)Open sourceAGPL-3.0 web interface for Claude Code, Codex and Cursor CLI that works on a phone; start it with npx on your own machine, or pay for the vendor's managed containers.★ 14k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
WebVisit ↗VibeTunnelOpen sourceMIT tool that proxies your terminals into any browser so you can watch and steer agents from a phone; macOS and Linux.★ 4.7k · active Aug 2026 · one-click install
Web, macOS, LinuxVisit ↗

All 4 free alternatives to Yado ›

The numbers

Yado pricing

Plan	Monthly	Annual, per month	What you get
Yado	$19	$9.50	Native terminal and chat, live preview on the phone, a push notification when a task finishes, 2 parallel agents, one cloud container per GitHub account.

Free tier: No free plan; a 7-day trial for new subscribers per the App Store listing and the terms.
Billing: One plan, $19 a month or $113.99 a year. The terms describe billing through your Apple ID: it renews automatically unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the period ends, and price changes apply to later periods after notice. The terms don't address refunds.
Hidden costs: You also need your own Claude or ChatGPT plan, or an Anthropic API key: Anthropic bills you directly for AI usage, and Yado only supplies the phone app and the machine. The terms say Yado is not a backup service, so work has to be pushed to GitHub.
Source: useyado.com

Also on the list

Termius$10/mo · Dev toolsKINDA

Tailscale$8/mo · SecurityKINDA

Bolt.new$25/mo · Dev toolsKINDA

Questions

Yado, briefly

Not answered here? Tell us and we'll add it.

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Yes. An AI coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex or Cursor can build a usable personal version in one session with the prompt on this page, running on your own machine.

About $19 a month on the Yado plan, $228 a year (checked 2026-10-19).

A native iOS and Android app with a chat view next to the terminal; A cloud machine that is ready in seconds and shuts itself down; Codex support and a connected-tools screen for CLIs and MCP servers; Someone else keeping the setup working. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.

Yes: Happy (open source), CloudCLI (Claude Code UI) (open source), VibeTunnel (open source).