Comparison

Home Assistant vs Journelly

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

Head to head
About

Home Assistant

Control your smart home devices from anywhere with this open-source solution. Automate routines, monitor your home's status, and integrate thousands of devices for enhanced privacy and sustainability.

Highlights
  • Control thousands of smart devices
  • Automate home routines
  • Discover and configure new devices
  • Securely share location for automation
  • Receive home status notifications
  • Build custom widgets
  • Integrate with voice assistants
Features
Read full description

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

About

Journelly

Capture thoughts, ideas, and memories in a private, offline-first digital journal. This app offers a familiar feed-like interface for quick notes, checklists, and more, with robust organization and markup support.

Highlights
  • Offline-first privacy
  • Familiar feed interface
  • Add images, links, and location
  • Markdown and Org markup support
  • Search and organize with hashtags
  • 14-day text snapshots for version history
  • Optional iCloud sync
Currently charting
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Take notes and journal privately — Offline by default. No account needed. Journelly gives you a familiar feed for quick notes, ideas, recipes, checklists, music, links, journal entries... Everything's offline, for your eyes only. Why you’ll love Journelly: - Feels like posting to a private feed — simple and fast - Local-first privacy: everything is offline by default - No accounts, logins, tracking, or ads — just open and write - Add images, links, checklists, tags, location, and weather - Search, organize, and find your moments with hashtags - Markdown and Org markup support: future-proof, no vendor lock-in - Restore earlier versions anytime from 14-day text snapshots - Optional iCloud sync across devices Journelly is frictionless, future-proof, and private. Try it for quick notes or journaling — no clutter, no compromises.

Screenshots

Home Assistant4 screens
Journelly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Home Assistant at Free against Journelly's $14.99. Home Assistant also leads on ratings volume (4.1K vs 80) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 weeks). Journelly's advantage is review sentiment (97% vs 54%) and chart position (#132 vs unranked). On rating, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Home Assistant is free to download; Journelly costs $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Journelly holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Home Assistant has 4.1K ratings behind it against 80, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of Home Assistant's written reviews are positive against 97% of Journelly's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Home Assistant ships an update every 10 days, Journelly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Home Assistant versus Journelly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHome AssistantJournelly
PriceFree — better$14.99
Rating4.7 (4.1K ratings)4.9 (80 ratings) — better
Positive reviews54.1% of reviews97.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.1K — better80
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank—#132 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size232 MB13 MB
Age rating+417+
DeveloperNabu Casa, IncXenodium Ltd.

Customer experience

Home Assistant

All ratings4,037 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral1.6%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews516 reviews
Positive54.1%
Neutral8.9%
Negative37.0%

Journelly

All ratings79 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral2.5%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews66 reviews
Positive97.0%
Neutral1.5%
Negative1.5%

Bugs and requests

Home Assistant

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Journelly

Requested features

2 requests
  • Markdown support for formatting text
  • Concern about long term scalability of an Orgmode file

In-app purchases

None

Home Assistant

No in-app purchases

None

Journelly

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Home Assistant free?
Home Assistant is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Journelly free?
Journelly costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Home Assistant or Journelly?
Journelly is rated higher. Home Assistant averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.1K ratings, while Journelly averages 4.9 from 80 ratings.
Do Home Assistant or Journelly have ads?
Neither Home Assistant nor Journelly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Home Assistant or Journelly?
Home Assistant ships an update every 10 days, and Journelly every 3 weeks. Most recently, Home Assistant was updated on November 6, 2026 and Journelly on November 3, 2026.

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