No subscription, no account. The free tier is yours for as long as you like.
Free
$0for casual beaming
License
$29once, for beaming all day
Your key arrives by email right after checkout. Paste it into either app and the limit is gone.
In /tmp/hostbeam on the host you pick, by default. You can set a different folder per host, and the Storage view shows what Hostbeam has left there, with a one-click clean-up that only ever touches its own files.
No. Hostbeam uses the hosts already in your ~/.ssh/config and your existing keys. There's nothing to sign up for.
Anything you can ssh into: entries from your ~/.ssh/config, or a host you type in by hand. If ssh works, Hostbeam works.
It is scp. Hostbeam runs your system ssh and scp with your own config, then handles the parts a one-liner usually doesn't: the host key is checked before anything sends, a remote name never overwrites a file, your clipboard is untouched if a beam fails, and a batch that stops halfway tells you which files landed. The iPhone has no scp to run, so the app does the same work there.
The Mac app shows a QR for any host; the phone scans it and generates its own SSH key, which never leaves the phone. You authorize that key through access you already have — once per host, though only the first is manual: after that your Mac remembers the phone and adds it to the next host in a click. Hostbeam inherits your access; it never creates it.
Pick your favorite: the share sheet from any screenshot, a Home Screen widget that beams your latest screenshot in one tap, or the “Beam last screenshot” shortcut. The shortcut beams in the background without opening the app, and works with Back Tap (double-tap the back of your phone), Control Center, and the Action Button.
Yes. The template lives in settings on both apps. Keep the default “Use this screenshot: {path}”, or write your own around the {path} token.
Yes, with Hostbeam's MCP server installed on the host. The agent asks it for your latest beam and gets the image itself. It only reads the screenshots Hostbeam beamed to that folder, and it never changes anything. It's free, open source and one command to set up.
Hostbeam tells you why in plain language (host unreachable, key refused, folder not writable) and offers a retry or inline diagnostics. Your clipboard is never touched on failure.
The free tier gives you 5 beams a day on each device, every feature included, counted locally and never sent anywhere. A $29 license removes the limit on up to 3 devices: Macs and iPhones.
Yes. One license, three devices, any mix. Enter the same key on the phone and the daily limit is gone there too.
Nothing bad. The apps keep working forever on the versions you have. Renew for half price whenever you want another year of new releases.
Your screenshot, to your host, over your SSH. Licensed installs also check the key quietly with the license service. That's the whole list: no analytics, no crash reporters, no phone-home.