Home Assistant vs BriefLook
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Home Assistant
Control your entire smart home from one app, locally and privately. Automate devices, receive notifications, and manage your home's data securely. Integrates with thousands of smart devices and open standards.
- Control entire home from one app
- Discover and configure new devices
- Automate device actions
- Local data privacy
- Connect to open standards (Z-Wave, Zigbee, Matter)
- Remote access via Home Assistant Cloud
- Location-based automation
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The Home Assistant Companion app allows you to access your Home Assistant instance on the go. Home Assistant is the smart home solution focused on privacy, choice, and sustainability. It runs locally in your home via a device like the Home Assistant Green or Raspberry Pi. This app connects to all the most powerful features of Home Assistant, - One app to control the whole home - Home Assistant is compatible with the biggest brands in the smart home, connecting to thousands of smart devices and services. - Discover automatically and quickly configure new devices - such as Philips Hue, Sonos, and IKEA Tradfri. - Automate everything - Make all the devices in your home work in harmony - have your lights dim when you start watching a movie, or turn off your heat when you’re away from home. - Keep your home’s data in the home - use it privately to see past trends and averages. - Connect to open standards with hardware add-ons - including Z-Wave, Zigbee, Matter, Thread, and Bluetooth. - Connect anywhere - If you would like to access this app while away from home, the most secure and simple way to get started is Home Assistant Cloud. The app unlocks your smartphone or tablet as a home automation tool. - Securely share your location, using it to automate heating, security, and so much more. - Get notifications on what's happening in your home, from detecting leaks to doors left open, you have full control over what it tells you. - Carplay functionality lets you open a garage or disable the security system from the dash of your car. - Build your own widgets to control any device in your home with a tap. - Integrate Home Assistant's functionality into Shortcuts, for example have your phone’s morning alarm turn on the coffee machine. - Apple Watch compatibility can show your home's temperature on a watch face or quickly activate devices. - Text or talk to your local voice assistant on your device. - Mac compatibility allows you to control your home from your desktop, but also to share data to build automation, like having your streaming lights turn on when your camera is active. Join the over 1 million users and empower your home with better privacy, choice and sustainability. Compatible with: Airthings, Amazon Alexa, Amcrest, Apple HomeKit, Apple TV, ASUSWRT, August, Belink WeMo, Bluetooth, Bose SoundTouch, Broadlink, BTHome, deCONZ, Denon, Devolo, DLNA, Ecobee, Ecovacs, Ecowitt, Elgato, EZVIZ, Fritz, Fully Kiosk, GoodWe, Govee, Growatt, Hikvision, Hive, Home Connect, Homematic, HomeWizard, Honeywell, iCloud, IFTTT, IKEA Tradfri, Insteon, Jellyfin, LG Smart TVs, LIFX, Logitech Harmony, Lutron Caseta, Magic Home, Matter, MotionEye, MQTT, MusicCast, Nanoleaf, Netatmo, Nuki, OctoPrint, ONVIF, Opower, Overkiz, OwnTracks, Panasonic Viera, Philips Hue, Pi-hole, Plex, Reolink, Ring, Roborock, Roku, Samsung TVs, Sense, Sensiba, Shelly, SmartThings, SolarEdge, Sonarr, Sonos, Sony Bravia, Spotify, Steam, SwitchBot, Synology, Tado, Tasmota, Tesla Wall, Thread, Tile, TP-Link Smart Home, Tuya, UniFi, UPnP, Verisure, Vizio, Wallbox, WebRTC, WiZ, WLED, Xbox, Xiaomi BLE, Yale, Yeelight, YoLink, Z-Wave, Zigbe
BriefLook
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BriefLook reads your mail for you. Point your iPhone's camera at a letter and BriefLook summarizes it in your iPhone's language, whatever language the letter is written in. You can also share PDFs and photos of letters to BriefLook from other apps. Living abroad and can't quickly tell what your mail says? Is it a bill, a reminder, or something you can ignore? BriefLook tells you in seconds. • No ads and no ad tracking. • Letters are read on your iPhone; only the text is sent to create your summary, and BriefLook doesn't keep it. • Works on iPhone 6s, iPhone SE (1st generation) and later. BriefLook requires an inexpensive monthly subscription, which renews automatically until cancelled. You can cancel at any time in your Apple Account settings or from the About screen in the app. Subscriptions are governed by Apple's standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Home Assistant at none against BriefLook's 3. Home Assistant also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs monthly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. BriefLook sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Home Assistant asks for nothing beyond the download.
Home Assistant ships an update every 10 days, BriefLook monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Home Assistant | BriefLook |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (4K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 54.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 229 MB | 35 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Nabu Casa, Inc | Aardustry GmbH |
In-app purchases
Home Assistant
No in-app purchases
BriefLook
- Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Monthly Ad-Free Subscription$3.991 Month
- Annual Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Year









