Comparison

ARQ™ Universal Remote Control vs GarageMax

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

Head to head
About

ARQ™ Universal Remote Control

Control your garage door or gate remotely from your vehicle. This app allows for quick and easy programming of your ARQ™ Remote Control for secure home access.

Highlights
  • Remote garage door/gate control
  • Home lighting control
  • Vehicle integration
  • DIP switch programming
  • Sleek interior design
Read full description

With ARQ™ Universal Remote Control, safely open or close your garage door or gate with a single button press or turn on lights to ensure you never come home to a dark house again. Always in reach, the ARQ™ Remote Control is conveniently positioned within your vehicle's interior for a sleek, modern design. Coming or going, seamlessly connect your vehicle to your home for safe, reliable access every time. Use this app to program your ARQ™ Remote Control to your DIP switch garage door opener quickly and easily. If your garage door opener or gate has switches instead of a Program/LEARN button, this app is required for programming. Go to https://arq.chamberlain.com for additional instructions and how to videos.

About

GarageMax

Control your garage door remotely using your iPhone or Apple Watch. Pair up to 8 devices for convenient access. Requires a separate Bluetooth receiver for secure operation.

Highlights
  • Open garage door with iPhone/Apple Watch
  • Pair up to 8 devices
  • Secure access control
  • Wide opener compatibility
  • Fail-safe testing
  • Password protection
Read full description

With the GarageMax App, you can open your garage door using your iPhones and or Apple Watch. You can pair up to 8 phones/watches. The GarageMax App requires purchase of our Bluetooth4.0 GarageMax Receiver available from our website and on Amazon. GarageMax is trusted by thousands of users worldwide and is the most secure garage door opener. The simple installation takes 2 minutes. Even if someone else has the GarageMax App they will not be able to open your garage without your permission. Compatible with Genie, Liftmaster, Chamberlain, Sears Craftsman, Raynor, Wayne-Dalton, Axis Cam, AccessMaster, Somfy, and nearly all garage door openers built in the last 50 years that use a simple wall switch. Note that newer Liftmaster/Chamberlains/Craftsman that have a YELLOW learn button will only work with Chamberlain accessories and are not compatible with GarageMax. Please visit our compatibility page for more details. Only devices that have been previously paired to the GarageMax Receiver can open your garage door. The pairing process requires physical access to the receiver so it it not possible for someone else to pair their phone to the receiver from outside your garage. The GarageMax App is FREE and you can buy the latest low-cost GarageMax Receiver from our website https://bluemate.com or by searching for "GarageMax" on Amazon. The GarageMax Receiver includes a power adapter and never needs batteries. Your old remotes and wall switch will will continue to work just as they did before. We performed extensive fail-safe testing under extreme temperatures of -40F to above 140F. We also tested high humidity, power loss problems, and many other situations. Even under extreme conditions, the GarageMax Receiver never opens your garage door accidentally. Also, because you can password protect your phone and the App, we believe this is the most secure way to access your home. With password protection, if you lose your phone no one can enter your home. The same can't be said for keys and your other garage door remotes. Thank you for the download and support.

Screenshots

ARQ™ Universal Remote Control4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: GarageMax at 88% against ARQ™ Universal Remote Control's 33%. GarageMax also leads on rating (4.4 vs 3.8) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 9 months). ARQ™ Universal Remote Control's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (9.3 vs 13.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

GarageMax holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 12 and 25 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of ARQ™ Universal Remote Control's written reviews are positive against 88% of GarageMax's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ARQ™ Universal Remote Control ships an update every 9 months, GarageMax every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
ARQ™ Universal Remote Control versus GarageMax: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterARQ™ Universal Remote ControlGarageMax
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (12 ratings)4.4 (25 ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews88.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1225 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch
Requires iOS9.3 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size119 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Chamberlain Group, Inc.BlueMate Labs, Inc.

Customer experience

ARQ™ Universal Remote Control

All ratings12 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral25.0%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

GarageMax

All ratings24 ratings
Positive79.2%
Neutral8.3%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive88.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.8%

In-app purchases

None

ARQ™ Universal Remote Control

No in-app purchases

None

GarageMax

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ARQ™ Universal Remote Control free?
ARQ™ Universal Remote Control is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is GarageMax free?
GarageMax is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ARQ™ Universal Remote Control or GarageMax?
GarageMax is rated higher. ARQ™ Universal Remote Control averages 3.8 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while GarageMax averages 4.4 from 25 ratings.
Do ARQ™ Universal Remote Control or GarageMax have ads?
Neither ARQ™ Universal Remote Control nor GarageMax shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ARQ™ Universal Remote Control or GarageMax?
ARQ™ Universal Remote Control ships an update every 9 months, and GarageMax every 2 months. Most recently, ARQ™ Universal Remote Control was updated on October 23, 2026 and GarageMax on October 27, 2026.

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