ARQ™ Universal Remote Control vs GarageMax
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Remote garage door/gate control
- Home lighting control
- Vehicle integration
- DIP switch programming
- Sleek interior design
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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.
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.
- Open garage door with iPhone/Apple Watch
- Pair up to 8 devices
- Secure access control
- Wide opener compatibility
- Fail-safe testing
- Password protection
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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
Verdict
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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
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.
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.
| Parameter | ARQ™ Universal Remote Control | GarageMax |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (12 ratings) | 4.4 (25 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 88.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 12 | 25 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 9.3 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 119 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The Chamberlain Group, Inc. | BlueMate Labs, Inc. |
Customer experience
ARQ™ Universal Remote Control
GarageMax
In-app purchases
ARQ™ Universal Remote Control
No in-app purchases
GarageMax
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ARQ™ Universal Remote Control free?
Is GarageMax free?
Which has better reviews, ARQ™ Universal Remote Control or GarageMax?
Do ARQ™ Universal Remote Control or GarageMax have ads?
Which is updated more often, ARQ™ Universal Remote Control or GarageMax?
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