iFarmiFarm vs Zeptap
Choose Zeptap if you want an AI agent to drive one to five iPhones with nothing installed on the phone and no Xcode or developer account: it works over a USB cable and Bluetooth, from $25 a month or $99 lifetime for one iPhone. Choose iFarm if you want a free app for many iPhones with a live grid, record-and-replay automation and schedules, and you're fine installing Xcode.
The verdict
Choose Zeptap if you want the lightest possible setup for an AI agent on a real iPhone. Its page says nothing is installed on the phone, Developer Mode stays off, and there's no Xcode, signing, WebDriverAgent or Apple Developer account. That's a real advantage: no 7-day re-signing, no Xcode download, and nothing on the phone to explain.
Choose iFarm if you run more than five iPhones, want to see them all live in one window, or want automations you record once and replay on schedules without an AI. iFarm is free; the trade-off is a one-time setup with Xcode and an Apple developer team, about 20 minutes.
Side by side
As of November 2026, from zeptap.com and iFarm's own documentation. We only list what Zeptap's page says.
| Zeptap | iFarm | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $25/month for 1 iPhone; $99 once for 1 iPhone (lifetime); $199 once for up to 5 iPhones | Free, every feature |
| Licenses | Every license covers 3 Macs; free trial, first hour of live use free | No license, no account |
| Open source | Not stated | No (free, closed source) |
| iPhones at once | Up to 5 | 5–30 per Mac depending on memory |
| Mac | macOS 14 or later with Bluetooth | macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, Apple silicon or Intel |
| iPhone | iOS 15+ | iOS 16 or later, Developer Mode on |
| On the phone | Nothing installed; Developer Mode stays off | WebDriverAgent helper app, signed with your Apple team |
| Xcode / developer account | Not needed | Xcode and an Apple ID in Xcode (free Personal Team or $99/year program) |
| Connection | Screen over USB cable; touch and typing over Bluetooth through AssistiveTouch | USB or Wi-Fi |
| AI | Local MCP server; built-in chat with Claude Code or Codex, or any model via OpenRouter | AI brain: Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, any OpenAI-compatible endpoint or local model; MCP server |
| Record and replay, schedules | Not described on the homepage | Yes: automations, schedules, programs, flows, history |
| Android | No ("drives a real iPhone from a Mac only") | No |
Setup: nothing on the phone vs a signed helper
Zeptap's approach is clever. Its page says the screen comes over the USB cable while touch and typing go over Bluetooth, with the Mac acting as a keyboard and pointer through AssistiveTouch, which Zeptap turns on for you. The only phone-side step is pairing Bluetooth. One limit the page notes: only one app can hold the iPhone's Bluetooth keyboard connection, so other such apps must be quit first.
iFarm installs a small helper app (WebDriverAgent, open source) on each iPhone, signed with your own Apple developer team, and drives the phone through it. That needs Xcode (free), an Apple ID in Xcode, and Developer Mode on each phone. With a free Personal Team, the helper is re-signed every 7 days and iFarm renews it automatically; the Apple Developer Program ($99/year) makes it last a year. In return, iFarm can control phones over Wi-Fi as well as USB, and read the text on screen to find buttons on any iPhone size.
Price and number of phones
Zeptap charges per iPhone: $25 a month or $99 once for one iPhone, and $199 once for up to 5 iPhones at the same time, with each license covering 3 Macs.
iFarm is free, every feature, with no account, no subscription and no trial. The limit is your Mac: about 140 MB of memory per phone, so 8 GB runs 5–10 phones comfortably, 16 GB runs 10–20, and 32 GB or more runs 20–30, limited by USB hubs. Your costs are the hardware and, if you want it, the Apple Developer Program.
AI agents and MCP
Both run a local MCP server on the Mac. Zeptap's page lists a server at 127.0.0.1 that is loopback-only with no authentication, one-click connection for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and others, and tools such as screenshot, tap_text, tap, type_text and open_app. It also has a built-in chat that runs Claude Code or Codex on your own subscription, or any model through your OpenRouter key.
iFarm's MCP server listens on 127.0.0.1 with a secret key, so Claude Code or any MCP-capable AI app on that Mac can list phones, see screens, tap, run automations, schedule (list_schedules, schedule_automation, remove_schedule), and send or post media. iFarm's own AI auto mode lets you pick Claude, OpenAI, Google Gemini or a local model with Ollama or LM Studio.
Both put guardrails on agents. Zeptap's page says agents should ask before purchases, posts, deletions or messages to new people unless the prompt says otherwise. iFarm asks before posting, sending or following by default, and taps on Buy or Pay are always refused.
Beyond AI: automations that replay for free
Zeptap's homepage focuses on AI agents and doesn't describe recording or scheduling. iFarm is built around them:
- Record once, replay on every phone: replays find buttons by the text on screen, so they work on other iPhone sizes.
- Save as automation: an AI does the task once, then it replays without AI, free.
- Schedules, programs and flows, with History recording every run.
- All phones grid with Mirror to repeat taps on every checked phone.
- Test mode with pass/fail HTML reports, and drag and drop to draft.
Frequently asked questions
Does Zeptap need Xcode?
No. As of November 2026, Zeptap's page says it needs no Xcode, no Developer Mode, no signing and no Apple Developer account. iFarm does need Xcode and an Apple developer team.
Is iFarm free compared with Zeptap?
Yes. iFarm is free, every feature, with no limit on phones beyond your Mac's capacity. Zeptap is paid: $25/month or $99 lifetime for one iPhone, $199 lifetime for up to 5.
Can I use Claude with both?
Yes. Both offer a local MCP server that Claude Code and other MCP clients can connect to. iFarm also lets you pick OpenAI, Gemini or a local model as the AI brain.
Can iFarm control an iPhone over Wi-Fi?
Yes, after the first USB connection. USB is used whenever a cable is plugged in, and Wi-Fi control can be turned off for USB only. Zeptap's page says the phone has to be plugged into the Mac.