Shadow PC vs Shells (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Shells grades higher than Shadow PC: 2.0 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Shells grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Shadow PC
A full Windows PC in the cloud for gaming and creative work
Which one is for you
Pick Shadow PC if
- Fits if you want a Windows gaming PC on a laptop or phone
- Works for monthly use with no long commitment
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you play often, since the cheapest plan is $29.99 and Lite caps at 120 hours a month
- Skip it if you want a trial first, as none is listed
- Watch out: peak-hour queue priority depends on your tier, from Lite to Premium
- Watch out: the vendor notes that not every game or app will run
- Watch out: businesses use a separate Cloud Workstations line with its own pricing
Pick Shells if
- Fits if you want a spare Windows or Linux desktop you can open from a phone or browser
- Works for light daily use like documents and browsing
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to try before paying, as no free plan or trial is listed
- Too light for heavy applications on Basic, with 2 GB of memory and 1 processor
- Watch out: the home page says plans start at $5 a month, but the pricing page lists $14.95 as the lowest
- Pricey if you pay monthly, since Plus is $22.95 and Pro is $39.95
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAShadow PCWeak | 2.0GPAShellsFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$29.99 a month for the cheapest plan, just under the $30 line where the category's dearest tenth begins. Neo Pro is $44.99 and Power Pro $59.99. | C$14.95 a month for Basic, within the category's range but above its $8.33 middle, and the entry plan is 2 GB and one processor. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial is listed anywhere on the vendor pages. | FNo free plan or free trial is listed on the pricing page. |
| Features | CA full Windows PC streamed to many devices, with team management on Pro. Monthly playtime and resolution limits apply, with 120 hours on Lite. | CA desktop on any device, Linux and Windows options, automatic backup, plan upgrades and team infrastructure. The entry plan is light for heavy applications. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record. You install the client, sign in and stream, with nothing to set up. | BNo store rating on record. You sign up and open the desktop in a browser with nothing to install. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android clients, with Steam, Epic and Battle.net. No API is listed. | BWeb, iPhone and Android are listed, so phones and a browser but no desktop app. No integrations are listed. |
| Best for | a full Windows gaming PC streamed to your devices | a cloud desktop you reach from any device |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Shadow PC and Shells. How we grade
Price against what you get
Shadow PC starts at $29.99 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Shells starts at $14.95 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Shells starts $15.04 a month lower. Of the other remote desktop apps on the chart, 5 score higher than Shadow PC for less, and 5 score higher than Shells for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Shadow PC also covers AI agents.
- Shells also covers file sync.
At a glance
| Shadow PC | Shells | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $29.99 per month, no commitment | $14.95 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Shadow | E Shells Inc. |
| Price read from | shadow.tech | shells.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Shadow PC
- Playtime is a fair-use cap that resets on the 1st of each month; Lite allows 120 hours.
- Peak-hour queue priority depends on the tier, from Lite to Premium.
- The vendor notes that not every game or app will run, flagged with an asterisk on its page.
- A separate Cloud Workstations line for businesses has its own pricing page.
Shells
- No free plan or free trial is listed on the pricing page.
- The entry plan has 2 GB of memory and 1 processor, which is light for heavy applications.
- Yearly prices were not readable in the page text; only the percentage saving is shown.
- The homepage says plans start at $5 a month, but the pricing page lists $14.95 as the lowest plan.
Key features
Shadow PC
- A full Windows PC
- Install games from Steam, Epic or Battle.net, plus mods and your own software, instead of picking from a fixed library.
- Stream to many devices
- The download page lists apps for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, and the site also offers a browser version and Android TV and Apple TV.
- Monthly playtime and session caps
- Lite plans allow 120 hours a month in sessions of up to 4 hours. Other plans list 210 hours, sessions of 6 to 8 hours and an Always On option.
- Resolution and monitor limits
- The comparison table shows 1440p at 60 Hz on the lightest tier and up to 5K at 240 Hz on the others, with 1 to 3 monitors.
- Team management on Pro
- Pro plans include a subscriptions and users manager, and a team suite adds roles, fleet management, IAM and centralized billing.
Shells
- Desktop on any device
- The site lists Android TV, iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, PlayStation, Xbox, Oculus and Tesla browsers as ways to open a Shells desktop.
- Linux and Windows desktops
- Solution pages cover a Linux cloud desktop, a browser in the cloud, cloud virtual machines and a cloud IDE.
- Automatic backup
- The vendor says each Shell is backed up automatically in the cloud and that its firewalls and end-to-end encryption keep data private.
- Plan upgrades
- Moving to more processors, memory or storage is described as a one-click change, and a build-your-own option sits below the three plans.
- Team infrastructure
- A business section describes remote infrastructure deployment and a bring-your-own-device workforce setup for small teams.
Plans
Shadow PC
Neo Lite$29.99
per month, no commitment
Up to 120 hours of playtime a month, sessions up to 4 hours, streaming in 1440p, 256 GB storage.
Neo$37.99
per month, no commitment
Streaming up to 1440p, multi-screen and ultrawide support, RTX and DLSS. The comparison table lists 210 hours a month.
Power Lite$43.99
per month, no commitment
Up to 50% more GPU power than Neo, 28 GB RAM and 20 GB VRAM, 120 hours a month, 4-hour sessions.
Neo Pro$44.99
per month, no commitment
For 3D and rendering: priority access, longer sessions and a subscriptions and users manager.
Power$54.99
per month, no commitment
Up to 50% more GPU power, 28 GB RAM and 20 GB VRAM, streaming up to 5K.
Power Pro$59.99
per month, no commitment
Power hardware with priority access, longer sessions, a users manager and installs of CUDA and RTX workflows.
Shells
Shells Basic$14.95
per month, billed monthly
1 processor, 2 GB memory and 40 GB storage with unlimited use. The page shows a 25% saving on yearly billing.
Shells Plus$22.95
per month, billed monthly
2 processors, 4 GB memory and 80 GB storage with unlimited use. The page shows a 23% saving on yearly billing.
Shells Pro$39.95
per month, billed monthly
4 processors, 8 GB memory and 160 GB storage with unlimited use. The page shows a 33% saving on yearly billing.
Ways to pay less
Shadow PC
No public discounts listed.
Shells
- Annual discount
Yearly billing saves 23% to 33%
The pricing page shows Save 25% on Basic, 23% on Plus and 33% on Pro when billed yearly. The yearly prices themselves were not read.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Shadow PC or Shells?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Shells is cheaper to start with: $14.95 a month, against $29.99 a month for Shadow PC. Shadow PC starts at $29.99 per month, no commitment, and Shells starts at $14.95 per month, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Shadow PC or Shells?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Shadow PC nor Shells has a free plan.
Which platforms do Shadow PC and Shells run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Shadow PC lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.