DashLink 2 vs Garmin Catalyst™
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DashLink 2
Transform your iOS device into a virtual dashboard for your vehicle. Monitor engine performance, track fuel economy, and diagnose trouble codes. Customize your display for instant feedback on your car's performance.
- Virtual dashboard display
- Monitor vehicle performance
- Track fuel economy
- Read/clear trouble codes
- Customizable data layout
- OBD-II/EOBD compliant support
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DashLink is a plug-n-play virtual dashboard system for your vehicle that allows you to display AutoMeter gauges and data acquisition on your iOS mobile device. Monitor vehicle and engine performance, track fuel economy, read and clear vehicle trouble codes and check engine lights. AutoMeter DashLink puts you in control. The DashLink system is a matched hardware and software solution to provide optimal wireless communication to your mobile device and works exclusively with the AutoMeter DashLink Control Module, models 6035 or 6036, which is also required. To purchase the DashLink OBD-II Control Module, please visit your local retailer, on-line retailer, or go to www.autometer.com/dashlink. This advanced hardware and software package provides instant feedback on how your vehicle is performing. Customize the look and feel of your virtual dash board with an easy to use interface. Personalize your data layout with DashLink. DashLink supports all OBD-II and EOBD compliant vehicles sold worldwide. Please verify that your vehicle is OBD-II/EOBD compliant before purchasing! For more info and a full listing of parameters available, see: www.autometer.com/dashlink
Garmin Catalyst™
Access and analyze your motorsports performance data on your smartphone. Review lap times, session summaries, and driver profiles. Track annual driving activity and session weather conditions.
- Access performance data
- View lap times
- Session summaries
- Customizable driver profiles
- Track annual activity
- Record weather conditions
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For motorsports drivers of all levels, the Garmin Catalyst™ app provides a simple, intuitive way to access your Garmin Catalyst™ performance data — including lap times, session summaries and customizable driver profiles— on your compatible smartphone or tablet. The app also tracks your annual driving activity metrics and provides a record of weather conditions for each session. Garmin Catalyst™ App • Easily access your Garmin Catalyst™ performance data with use of this app on your compatible smartphone or tablet • Shows your session summaries, lap times, session weather conditions, lap-by-lap data and annual driving activity metrics • Customizable icons within the app let you tailor the look of your driver profile and vehicle icons • View vehicles and track notes from your Garmin Catalyst™ device
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Garmin Catalyst™ at 82% against DashLink 2's 9%. Garmin Catalyst™ also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.5) and update cadence (monthly vs every 7 months). DashLink 2's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 16.5). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Garmin Catalyst™ holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Garmin Catalyst™ has 120 ratings behind it against 22, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 9% of DashLink 2's written reviews are positive against 82% of Garmin Catalyst™'s.
DashLink 2 ships an update every 7 months, Garmin Catalyst™ monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DashLink 2 | Garmin Catalyst™ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (22 ratings) | 4.8 (120 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 9.1% of reviews | 81.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 22 | 120 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 16.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 92 MB | 220 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Auto Meter Products, Inc. | Garmin |
Customer experience
DashLink 2
Garmin Catalyst™
Bugs and requests
DashLink 2
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Garmin Catalyst™
Reported bugs
7 issues- Everytime you try logging in the app just glitches anyways can’t even get logged in.
- Comparing to others frequently fails
- Compare to friend feature way to frequently fails with the message about the tracks not matching well enough despite being the same track on the same days even.
- New version is off
- It won’t let me compare the laps with other friends on the same day. Says lap not similar. Literally same day same track same session.
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- Friend integration is currently pretty lacking. When I try to compare laps it complains that the tracks aren't similar enough.
- Worse though is that there's no apparent way of sharing your sessions with friends.
Requested features
17 requests- Option to select 1-5 laps for optimum view
- Watch reference videos side by side on the Catalyst
- Add video review on phone or iPad
- Allow moving videos to iCloud for review
- Ability to download in-car camera footage directly from device to app
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- Compare data from other sessions
- Use for Sim racing games
- More functionality to come
- Make it even more simple
- Overall leaderboard
- Leaderboards of other tracks
- Compare session data between friends
- Fix track matching issues for friend comparison
- Allow browsing friend's sessions
- Add option to compare against other sessions
- Add dark mode option
- Add advanced analytics dashboard
In-app purchases
DashLink 2
No in-app purchases
Garmin Catalyst™
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is DashLink 2 free?
Is Garmin Catalyst™ free?
Which has better reviews, DashLink 2 or Garmin Catalyst™?
Do DashLink 2 or Garmin Catalyst™ have ads?
Which is updated more often, DashLink 2 or Garmin Catalyst™?
Other comparisons
