Free and Pro
What the free version does, what Pro adds, and what it costs. One payment, no subscription.
Breadstick is free to download and free to use. The whole Linux system is there from the start: every package Debian ships, all three modes, your files, and the bridges that make Linux part of the device. Nothing is time limited, nothing expires, and there is no account.
Breadstick Pro is $19.99, once. No subscription, no renewal, no second tier. It lifts the free version's limits, adds the features listed below, and includes everything Breadstick adds to Pro later.
What you get either way
The free version is not a demo. It is the whole distribution:
- The complete Debian system, with
aptand Debian's entire archive - Desktop mode with as many windows as you like. The window limit below applies only to Floating mode, so a full desktop session is unlimited on the free version
- Floating mode, two apps at a time, and an offer to reopen them if Android closes Linux
- The Terminal, and everything you can do from a shell, two tabs at a time
- Your Android files, the shared clipboard, audio, the microphone, and live battery and network state
- SSH, VNC and screen sharing in a browser
- Back up, restore and repair, including restoring an encrypted backup or a snapshot
- The resource monitor
- One tap app packs, and your own
.deband AppImage files
What Pro adds
| Free | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| The Debian system, apt, all three modes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows in Desktop mode | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Floating apps at once | 2 | As many as the device allows |
| Terminal tabs | 2 | Unlimited |
| Linux environments | 1 | Several, one active at a time |
| Files, clipboard, audio, device status | Yes | Yes |
| SSH, VNC and screen sharing | Yes | Yes |
| Resource monitor | Yes | Yes |
| Back up, restore and repair | Yes | Yes |
| Restore an encrypted backup or a snapshot | Yes | Yes |
| Your own .deb and AppImage files | Yes | Yes |
| App packs | Yes | Yes |
| Layouts, and windows that reopen where you left them | No | Yes |
| Open Android files in Linux apps | No | Yes |
| Drag files into Linux | No | Yes |
| Print from Linux apps | No | Yes |
| Desks in Desktop mode | 1 | Up to 4 |
| Keyboard remapping and shortcuts | No | Yes |
| The Linux monitor and Run in Linux widgets | No | Yes |
| Terminal split panes, themes, fonts, SSH hosts and command buttons | No | Yes |
| GPU acceleration for Linux apps | Test only | Yes |
| The x86 apps pack, in one tap (ARM devices) | No | Yes |
| Steam, on Intel devices (experimental, not supported) | No | Yes |
| Automatic and encrypted backups | No | Yes |
| Taking snapshots | No | Yes |
| Camera in Linux | No | Yes |
| Android calendar in the Linux desktop | No | Yes |
| Android notifications in the Linux desktop | No | Yes |
Everything Pro includes
This is the list the app shows on its Pro screen, in the same order.
Layouts. Floating windows reopen where you left them, and a saved set of apps opens in one tap, even from your home screen. See Layouts and widgets.
Open Android files in Linux apps. A document, photo or code file from any app, in LibreOffice, GIMP or VS Code, and saved back where it came from. See Files and clipboard.
Drag files into Linux. On DeX, drag a file from any Android app onto a Linux window and it lands there. See Files and clipboard.
Print from Linux apps. LibreOffice, Chrome and every other Linux app print to any printer your device can use, or save a PDF. See Printing.
Desks. Up to four desktops in Desktop mode, switched from the shelf, the keyboard or a three-finger swipe. See The three modes.
Keyboard remapping and shortcuts. Caps Lock as Ctrl or Escape, Alt and Super swapped, any key moved, and key combinations that open an app, a Layout or a command. See Keyboard and shortcuts.
Home-screen widgets. A live Linux monitor, and buttons that open a Layout or run a command of yours. See Layouts and widgets.
Floating apps without a cap. The free version runs two at a time. Pro runs as many as your device allows.
A better Terminal. Unlimited tabs (the free version opens two), split panes, color themes and fonts, saved SSH hosts, and buttons for your own commands. See The Terminal.
GPU acceleration. Linux apps can draw with your device's graphics chip: 3D-heavy apps and graphics work gain most. Breadstick tests the chip and turns it on where it is faster than the processor, and on Intel graphics it drives the chip directly. Anyone can test their device first, free. See GPU acceleration.
x86 apps in one tap. Box64 for 64-bit x86 Linux programs, set up from Recommended apps, on ARM devices. On an Intel device, x86 Linux programs are native and need no pack. See x86 apps.
Several Linux environments. Separate systems for work, testing or play, one active at a time.
Automatic and encrypted backups. Linux backed up while your device charges, to this device or a folder your cloud syncs, and backups only your password opens. See Backup and restore.
Snapshots. Restore points you can roll back to in one tap. Restoring one, like restoring any backup, does not need Pro.
Camera on the Linux desktop. Shoot straight into your Pictures folder.
Your calendar in Linux. This device's agenda in the desktop's notification center.
Phone notifications in Linux. Read and reply without leaving the desktop.
Everything Breadstick adds later. Pro includes every future Pro feature at no extra cost.
Steam on Intel devices, experimental
On an Intel (x86-64) device, Pro also offers Steam in Recommended apps, for native Linux games. It is experimental and not supported: Windows games do not run, and Steam needs Android's child process limit switched off. See Steam.
Floating apps, and your device's own limit
The free version runs two Linux applications at a time as Android windows, and two is enough for most tasks. Pro removes that count.
Your device still has a limit of its own, and no application can raise it. Samsung DeX allows about five floating windows at once, counting everything on screen and not just Linux ones. Pro removes our limit, not Samsung's.
Environments and the device integrations
Multiple environments. Pro keeps more than one Debian system on the device, isolated from each other. Useful for keeping something you depend on apart from something you are experimenting with, where neither can break the other.
Camera, notifications and calendar. Notifications and calendar are opt in on top of Pro, because they read real personal data and should never turn themselves on.
Buying and restoring
Pro is a one-time in-app purchase through Google Play. See what Pro adds under Breadstick Pro on the home screen opens the Pro screen, which lists everything above and is where you buy it. The same screen opens when you reach a Pro feature, with the reason at the top. Pro is tied to your Google account, not to the device, so:
- Reinstalling Breadstick keeps it
- A new phone or tablet keeps it, on the same Google account
- Restore purchase on the Pro screen re-checks with Play if it does not appear
Because it is a Play purchase, refunds follow Google Play's policy, not ours. Try the free version first, and buy once you know how Breadstick runs on your device.
What we do not do
No subscription. No second tier above Pro. No ads in the app or inside Linux. The one sponsor credit is on the free version's first-run download screen, thanking Rack1 Networks for paying for the servers the Linux system downloads from; it is there while that download runs, never again, and never on Pro. No account with us, because there is no server to hold one. Nothing about your Linux system, your files or your usage reaches us, on either tier. See the Privacy Policy.