Comparison

nRF Connect for Mobile vs IoT MQTT Panel Pro

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

nRF Connect for Mobile

This app is a versatile tool for scanning, exploring, and communicating with Bluetooth Low Energy devices. It also enables your device to act as a peripheral and supports firmware updates for compatible devices.

Highlights
  • Scan and discover Bluetooth LE peripherals
  • Communicate with Bluetooth LE devices
  • Advertise as a Bluetooth LE peripheral
  • Update compatible device firmware (DFU)
  • Filter scanned peripherals
  • Live RSSI chart
  • Log BLE function calls
Read full description

nRF Connect is a powerful generic tool that allows you to scan and explore your Bluetooth Low Energy (henceforth Bluetooth LE, also called Bluetooth Version 4.0+ of the Bluetooth specification) devices and communicate with them. nRF Connect also allows your iOS device to advertise as a peripheral, with full support of many of Bluetooth SIG adopted profiles. Additionally, nRF Connect supports Nordic Semiconductor’s Device Firmware Update profile (DFU) capabilities, allowing you to update compatible peripherals! + Features: • Supports DFU on all Nordic Semiconducto-powered devices. • Supports Nordic Thingy™ from Nordic Semiconductor. • Scan and discover nearby Bluetooth LE peripherals. • Filter Scanned Peripherals by Name, Manufacturer, Services (Advertised & Connected) and RSSI Level. • Parsing Multiple Formats of Bluetooth LE Advertisement Data. • Live RSSI Chart of Scanned Bluetooth LE Peripherals. • Complete iPad Support, including Multi-Tasking and Mouse Support as of 13.4. • Logs: Including BLE Function calls, and Export Function as CSV and Text. • Privacy-Oriented: Full-Disclosure of Scanned Data, Advertised Data, and User-Performed Actions held by nRF Connect. • Connecting to Any Connectable Bluetooth LE Smart Device. • Discovery of Services, Characteristics and Descriptors. • Read and Write Characteristics and Descriptors. • Enable and Disable Notifications and Indications. • Advertising as a Bluetooth LE Peripheral. • Setting up a Bluetooth LE (Peripheral) Server and Notifying/Indicating back to connected Central(s). • Low-Fat: nRF Connect for iOS is Very Small, so You Can Always Keep Us With You! >= Requirements: • iOS 16.0 and above. - Notes: nRF Connect also works with our Development Kits, which you may acquire online here: https://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/buy-online

About

IoT MQTT Panel Pro

Create DIY smart home projects with a configurable dashboard. Supports MQTT and Websocket protocols with SSL for secure communication. Offers a variety of panels for real-time updates and data visualization.

Highlights
  • Always-on dashboard
  • MQTT & Websocket support
  • SSL secure communication
  • JSON message support
  • Real-time panel updates
  • 250+ customizable icons
  • Dark theme
Features
Read full description

With this app you can make DIY Smart Home project in a minute. The configurations are very simple. Well documented FAQ and User Guide are available at application info page. Features: 1. Can run as always on Dashboard. 2. Supports both MQTT (TCP) and Websocket protocol. 3. SSL for secure communication. 4. JSON Support for both subscribe and publish message. 5. Panels subscribe and / or publish the topic automatically, hence get updated in real time. 6. Designed to work with public broker efficiently (using device prefix). 7. Sent and Received timestamp from broker. 8. Material design. 9. Flexible panel width, merge any panels 10. More than 250 icons to customize specific panels. 11. Dark theme for comfortable use in low light. 12. Clone connection, device or panel for effortless configuration 13. Import/Export application configuration for easy share with multiple devices. 14. Re-connects automatically if connection lost. 15. Persist export message for log and graph. Available panels: -Button -Slider -Switch -LED Indicator -Combo Box -Radio Buttons -Multi-State Indicator -Progress -Gauge -Color Picker -Time Picker -Text Input -Text Log -Image -Barcode scanner -Line Graph -Bar Graph -Chart -URI Launcher This list will grow upon feedback from users. Your feedback is much appreciated. If you find any issue please feel free to leave a comment in my blog with steps to reproduce. https://blog.snrlab.in/iot/iot-mqtt-panel-user-guide/

Screenshots

nRF Connect for Mobile4 screens
IoT MQTT Panel Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: nRF Connect for Mobile at Free against IoT MQTT Panel Pro's $12.99. nRF Connect for Mobile also leads on ratings volume (477 vs 14). IoT MQTT Panel Pro's advantage is review sentiment (92% vs 71%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

nRF Connect for Mobile is free to download; IoT MQTT Panel Pro costs $12.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

IoT MQTT Panel Pro holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: nRF Connect for Mobile has 477 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of nRF Connect for Mobile's written reviews are positive against 92% of IoT MQTT Panel Pro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

nRF Connect for Mobile ships an update every 5 weeks, IoT MQTT Panel Pro fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
nRF Connect for Mobile versus IoT MQTT Panel Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameternRF Connect for MobileIoT MQTT Panel Pro
PriceFree — better$12.99
Rating4.5 (477 ratings)4.8 (14 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.7% of reviews91.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings477 — better14
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNordic Semiconductor ASARahul Kundu

Customer experience

nRF Connect for Mobile

All ratings466 ratings
Positive85.2%
Neutral6.7%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews239 reviews
Positive70.7%
Neutral8.4%
Negative20.9%

IoT MQTT Panel Pro

All ratings14 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive91.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.3%

Bugs and requests

nRF Connect for Mobile

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Can't read data from Bluetooth device
  • Tries to ask for Bluetooth connection when Bluetooth is off. Asks to connect to devices when Bluetooth is off. Who knows what this app is doing in the background without permission?! What ever it is , it ain't good
  • Tapping "tabs" doesn't work (nothing changes in the UI). To get some response from tapping UI controls typically requires (a) launching nRF Connect, (b) switching to another app, (c) switching back to nRF Connect. I've tried uninstalling and re-downloading. Same result. This used to be the bee's knees of BLE tools but it's only worth 1 star at the moment (v2.7.11).
  • Cant go past the initial announcement. The app is unresponsive to the taps.

Requested features

4 requests
  • Where's the mac addresses
  • Max rssi limit
  • Log view
  • We need macros in iOS version

IoT MQTT Panel Pro

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

nRF Connect for Mobile

No in-app purchases

None

IoT MQTT Panel Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is nRF Connect for Mobile free?
nRF Connect for Mobile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is IoT MQTT Panel Pro free?
IoT MQTT Panel Pro costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, nRF Connect for Mobile or IoT MQTT Panel Pro?
IoT MQTT Panel Pro is rated higher. nRF Connect for Mobile averages 4.5 out of 5 from 477 ratings, while IoT MQTT Panel Pro averages 4.8 from 14 ratings.
Do nRF Connect for Mobile or IoT MQTT Panel Pro have ads?
Neither nRF Connect for Mobile nor IoT MQTT Panel Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, nRF Connect for Mobile or IoT MQTT Panel Pro?
nRF Connect for Mobile ships an update every 5 weeks, and IoT MQTT Panel Pro fortnightly. Most recently, nRF Connect for Mobile was updated on October 29, 2026 and IoT MQTT Panel Pro on October 30, 2026.

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