# SwitchBot vs Aqara Home

The clearest difference is rating: Aqara Home at 4.7 against SwitchBot's 3.3. Aqara Home also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ratings volume (7.9K vs 847). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. SwitchBot sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $1.69 per month. Aqara Home asks for nothing beyond the download.

Aqara Home holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Aqara Home has 7.9K ratings behind it against 847, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 34% of SwitchBot's written reviews are positive against 41% of Aqara Home's.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SwitchBot | Aqara Home |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.3 (847 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/switchbot/id1087374760/reviews) | **[4.7 (7.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aqara-home/id1248669703/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 847 | **7.9K** |
| Positive reviews | 34.2% of reviews | **41.4% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 644 MB | 539 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.1 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [wonderlabs, Incorporated](https://appshunter.io/developer/1087374759) | [Aqara Software Service Co.,Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1621241561) |

## What reviewers say

### SwitchBot

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/switchbot/id1087374760)

Control smart devices with your phone, schedule appliance operation, and monitor environmental conditions. Expand your smart home capabilities with this app and compatible hardware.

**Highlights:** Tap to control SwitchBot Bot, Schedule appliance on/off with Hub Mini, Monitor temperature and humidity, Expandable with new products, Camera cloud storage service

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI Agent Plan | $1.69 | per month |
| Basic Monthly Plan | $3.99 | per month |
| Starter Plan | $4.99 | per month |
| Plus Monthly Plan | $6.99 | per month |
| Home Plan | $8.99 | per month |
| Basic Monthly Plan | $9.99 | per month |
| cloud storage-3cams monthly | $10.99 | per month |
| Home Max | $22.99 | per month |
| Basic Annual Plan | $34.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Reliable and stable app
- 👍 Easy to use and set up
- 💡 Useful features like temperature/humidity monitoring
- 🚀 Responsive customer support

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy app with frequent crashes and disconnections
- 👎 Poor user interface and unintuitive navigation
- 🔋 Battery life issues with some devices
- 🔒 Security concerns with mandatory account creation and data sharing

**Reported bugs**

- Firmware update issues
- Devices disappearing from the app
- Unreliable Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity
- Incorrect temperature and humidity readings

**Requested features**

- Sunrise/sunset automation support
- Ability to set more than 5 schedules
- Improved widget functionality
- Integration with Apple HomeKit and Siri


### Aqara Home

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aqara-home/id1248669703)

Control and automate your smart home devices from anywhere. Manage accessories, monitor environmental conditions, and set up custom automations and scenes for a more convenient living space.

**Highlights:** Remote control of Aqara accessories, Create homes and rooms, Monitor appliance status and environmental data, Automate home functions with custom rules, Create scenes for multiple device control, Siri integration for HomeKit accessories

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Siri integration, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Easy setup
- 👍 User-friendly app
- 🔒 Reliable hardware
- 💡 Extensive automation capabilities
- 🚀 Seamless HomeKit integration

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy app with crashes and glitches
- 👎 Confusing and unintuitive UI
- 🔋 Battery drain issues
- 🚫 Lack of dark mode
- 🚫 Unreliable notifications

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes on opening
- Devices disappearing from app
- Incorrect temperature/humidity readings
- Delayed or missing doorbell notifications
- Inability to delete detection zones

**Requested features**

- Add sunset/sunrise automation
- Improve camera timeline scrubbing
- Enable 12-hour time format
- Provide more customization options
- Improve Alexa/Google Home integration


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SwitchBot free?

SwitchBot is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Aqara Home free?

Aqara Home is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, SwitchBot or Aqara Home?

Aqara Home is rated higher. SwitchBot averages 3.3 out of 5 from 847 ratings, while Aqara Home averages 4.7 from 7.9K ratings.

### Do SwitchBot or Aqara Home have ads?

Neither SwitchBot nor Aqara Home shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, SwitchBot or Aqara Home?

SwitchBot ships an update fortnightly, and Aqara Home fortnightly. Most recently, SwitchBot was updated on November 9, 2026 and Aqara Home on November 10, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*