Remote builds · Live devices · Self-host

Every agent needs a sidekick to hold the phone.

Cloud Xcode, iOS, Android and TV devices your coding agent builds, verifies and submits — on a live device it can see and touch. You watch along in the browser and take over anytime.

Start free

skill: sidekick agent-setup · MCP: sidekick mcp · spec: llms.txt · openapi.json

sidekick.imbios.dev/s/sim_8f3a

● Live

iPhone 17 · iOS 26

Destination detail@e1
Checkout flow@e2
Settings@e3

✓ agent verified: tap @e7 → diff 3 elements

$ sidekick tap @e7 · screenshot · record — streamed at 60fps

From first build to final check · iOS · Android · Apple TV · Android TV · Roku (roadmap) · from Claude Code, Cursor, Codex or any MCP client

Platforms — iOS, Android, tvOS, Android TV, Roku roadmap: 5
Streaming minutes / mo on Dev ($15): 200
Cloud builds / mo on Dev ($15): 25
Self-host on your own Mac minis, forever: $0

Dev-plan numbers — full pricing · free tier: 30 min + 10 builds, no card

How it works

From first build to final check.

One loop for phones, tablets and TVs. Your agent drives, your team watches, your CI keeps the receipts.

Preview

One link puts the live app in anyone's browser.

Guests watch, take over control, and embed the session anywhere. No accounts, no installs — the device is a URL.

sidekick.imbios.dev/s/sim_8f3a

Build

Cloud Xcode, no Mac.

Remote xcodebuild and Gradle with a warm cache. Signing handled, TestFlight and Play submit from the terminal.

Test

Record once, replay everywhere.

Visual regression and CI checks keep running after the agent leaves.

The living room too.

Apple TV and Android TV with d-pad verbs and focus-walk. Roku on real hardware, in the open.

Self-host

$0 on your own minis.

BYO Mac fleet with docker compose up. Cloud plans just rent you ours.

Comparison

Every rival, every row, one table.

All 28 rows against all 9 vendors, from the same engine as /alternatives. Column names link to the per-vendor guides — including the rows where they beat us.

What you are deciding	Sidekick	VibeView	EAS Simulator	BrowserStack	Expo EAS Build	Limrun	Appetize	AWS Device Farm	LambdaTest (TestMu AI)	Sauce Labs
Build
Remote Xcode build (no Mac needed)Sidekick: Claim-logs-finish loop unit-tested (fakeRunner); no Mac fleet witnessed	🛣️ Roadmap	➖ Partial	❌ No	❌ No	➖ Partial	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Android / Gradle cloud buildSidekick: Daemon runs xcodebuild only; no Gradle path implemented	🛣️ Roadmap	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Signing handled (certs, profiles, keystores)Sidekick: No signing code yet	🛣️ Roadmap	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Store submit from terminal (TestFlight + Play)Sidekick: Play dry-run validated in unit tests only; no live upload witnessed	🛣️ Roadmap	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Devices
iOS simulatorsSidekick: Provision/verb loop unit-tested (fakeDevice); needs a Mac fleet	🛣️ Roadmap	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Android emulators + adb tunnel	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Yes	➖ Partial
Apple TV / tvOS + Android TVSidekick: No TV code yet	🛣️ Roadmap	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Roku (real hardware)Sidekick: Backlog: needs real hardware pool	🛣️ Roadmap	➖ Partial	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Foldables (posture + rotate verbs)	➖ Partial	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Real physical devices	❌ No	➖ Partial	❌ No	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Agent control
CLI with device verbs (tap, type, screenshot)	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	➖ Partial
Agent skill file (skill install)	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	➖ Partial	❌ No
MCP server	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes
UI / accessibility tree reads	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	❌ No	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	❌ No	➖ Partial	➖ Partial
Batch actions (ms precision)	➖ Partial	➖ Partial	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Session video recording	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	➖ Partial	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
App logs + network capture	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	➖ Partial	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Sharing
Live share links (no login needed)Sidekick: webrtc_url plumbed; no media server witnessed	🛣️ Roadmap	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	❌ No	➖ Partial	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	➖ Partial	❌ No
Embeddable player (iframe / SDK)Sidekick: No iframe/SDK implemented	🛣️ Roadmap	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Live collaboration + human takeoverSidekick: Not implemented	🛣️ Roadmap	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	➖ Partial	❌ No	➖ Partial	➖ Partial	❌ No	➖ Partial	➖ Partial
Testing
Record once, replay everywhere	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	❌ No	➖ Partial	❌ No	✅ Yes	❌ No	➖ Partial	❌ No
Visual regression per step	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	➖ Partial	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
AI / plain-English testing	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	➖ Partial	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	➖ Partial
CI runner + GitHub checksSidekick: Actions + checks	🛣️ Roadmap	➖ Partial	➖ Partial	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	➖ Partial	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Platform
Self-hostable (BYO Mac minis)	➖ Partial	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	➖ Partial	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	➖ Partial	❌ No
Source-available (FSL → Apache-2.0)	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	➖ Partial	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Public pricing + free tier, no card	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	➖ Partial	✅ Yes	❌ No	➖ Partial	➖ Partial	➖ Partial	❌ No
Per-instance sandbox tokens + region pin	✅ Yes	➖ Partial	❌ No	➖ Partial	❌ No	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	➖ Partial

Sidekick total — 13 Yes · 11 Roadmap · 3 Partial · 1 No. ✅ Yes · 🛣️ Roadmap = public, lands in the open · ➖ Partial · ❌ No. Claims checked Sep 2026 — per-vendor guides with sources and check dates. Last updated 28 Sep 2026.

Agent-native

Your agent gets the controls.

Register Sidekick as an MCP server once. Your agent launches the app, reads the UI tree, taps, types and screenshots — while you watch and take over anytime.

$ sidekick agent-setup # skill + MCP

$ sidekick dev --detach --json # live device

ui-treetaptypescreenshotrecordlogspressdrag

npm i -g @imbios/sidekick
sidekick login   # or SIDEKICK_TOKEN
sidekick agent-setup   # skill + MCP
sidekick xcode build . --scheme MyApp
sidekick ios create --device "iPhone 17"

sidekick ui-tree         # @e refs on screen
# ...agent edits; reload in ~1s...
sidekick tap @e7         # drive the flow
sidekick screenshot      # looks right? ship
sidekick record --stop   # demo video for PR

Pricing

Start free. Self-host free forever.

Every plan is monthly with streaming minutes and builds included. Overage draws from credit at $0.03/min.

Free

$0/mo

✓30 streaming min / month
✓10 cloud builds / month
✓2 concurrent sessions
✓Share links + 1 guest
✓No card required

Start free

Dev

$15/mo

✓200 streaming min / month
✓25 cloud builds / month
✓2 concurrent sessions
✓No session length limit
✓$0.03/min overage

Upgrade

Team

$39/mo

✓500 streaming min / month
✓50 cloud builds / month
✓4 concurrent sessions
✓10 members, 2 guests
✓Embed on 1 domain

Upgrade

Scale

$149/mo

✓3,000 streaming min / month
✓200 cloud builds / month
✓25 concurrent sessions
✓Unlimited members
✓Embed anywhere + SSO

Full pricing →

FAQ

Common questions

The short answers. Longer ones live on the comparison pages.

Do I need a Mac to test an iOS app?

No. The simulator runs on our fleet (or your self-hosted Mac mini). Your machine and your agent's sandbox only need the sidekick CLI.

Are these real phones?

Simulators and emulators, like Appetize and Limrun. Roku runs on real hardware (roadmap). For sensor-grade real-device matrices, BrowserStack remains the answer — we say so on their page.

What does the free tier include?

30 streaming minutes and 10 cloud builds a month, no card. Self-hosting is unlimited and free.