Comparison

Bolt IoT vs IoT MQTT Panel

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

Head to head
About

Bolt IoT

Easily connect and manage your IoT devices. View data graphs, control actuators, and receive alerts. The app provides an intuitive step-by-step Wi-Fi setup for your devices.

Highlights
  • Connect Bolt IoT devices to WiFi
  • Manage and control devices
  • View device data graphs
  • Receive push notifications for alerts
  • Intuitive Wi-Fi setup process
  • Control actuators like motors and lights
Features
Read full description

Install our Bolt IoT app to easily connect your Bolt IoT devices to a WiFi network and manage your devices. You will be able to view your device data graphs, control your devices, as well as get push notifications when there are alerts triggered! The app guides you step by step with the Wi-Fi setup process in a very intuitive way and the process is complete once the Blue and Green LED on the device is stable. What is Bolt IoT? Bolt IoT is an integrated IoT platform that offers you with a WiFi Chip to connect your actuators and sensors to the Internet. You can configure such a system over the Bolt Cloud to receive, store and visualise the data over graphs. You can also connect actuators such as motors, light bulb and control them over the Internet. We also offer APIs to fetch data and control the devices from any platform. The Bolt APIs work with popular programming languages like Python, PHP etc. You can even run ML algorithms with just a few clicks. Additional Resources: - Start building and managing your IoT products at https://cloud.boltiot.com - Access our forum at https://forum.boltiot.com

About

IoT MQTT Panel

Create DIY smart home projects quickly with a configurable dashboard. This app supports MQTT and Websocket protocols with SSL for secure communication. It offers real-time updates, customizable panels with over 250 icons, and various data visualization options.

Highlights
  • Always-on dashboard
  • MQTT & Websocket support
  • SSL secure communication
  • Real-time panel updates
  • 250+ customizable icons
  • Dark theme
  • Import/Export configuration
Features
Read full description

With this app you can make DIY Smart Home project in a minute. The configurations are very simple. Well documented FAQ and User Guide are available at application info page. Features: 1. Can run as always on Dashboard. 2. Supports both MQTT (TCP) and Websocket protocol. 3. SSL for secure communication. 4. JSON Support for both subscribe and publish message. 5. Panels subscribe and / or publish the topic automatically, hence get updated in real time. 6. Designed to work with public broker efficiently (using device prefix). 7. Sent and Received timestamp from broker. 8. Material design. 9. Flexible panel width, merge any panels 10. More than 250 icons to customize specific panels. 11. Dark theme for comfortable use in low light. 12. Clone connection, device or panel for effortless configuration 13. Import/Export application configuration for easy share with multiple devices. 14. Re-connects automatically if connection lost. 15. Persist export message for log and graph. Available panels: -Button -Slider -Switch -LED Indicator -Combo Box -Radio Buttons -Multi-State Indicator -Progress -Gauge -Color Picker -Time Picker -Text Input -Text Log -Image -Barcode Scanner -Line graph -Bar graph -Chart -URI Launcher This list will grow upon feedback from users. Your feedback is much appreciated. If you find any issue please feel free to leave a comment in my blog with steps to reproduce. https://blog.snrlab.in/iot/iot-mqtt-panel-user-guide/

Screenshots

Bolt IoT4 screens
IoT MQTT Panel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: IoT MQTT Panel at 4.8 against Bolt IoT's 2.8. IoT MQTT Panel also leads on review sentiment (85% vs 43%) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks). Bolt IoT's advantage is monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

IoT MQTT Panel holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: IoT MQTT Panel has 44 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 43% of Bolt IoT's written reviews are positive against 85% of IoT MQTT Panel's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bolt IoT ships an update every 5 weeks, IoT MQTT Panel fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Bolt IoT versus IoT MQTT Panel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBolt IoTIoT MQTT Panel
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.8 (4 ratings)4.8 (44 ratings) — better
Positive reviews42.9% of reviews84.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings444 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBolt IoTRahul Kundu

Customer experience

Bolt IoT

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive42.9%
Neutral14.3%
Negative42.9%

IoT MQTT Panel

All ratings43 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral2.3%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews46 reviews
Positive84.8%
Neutral8.7%
Negative6.5%

Bugs and requests

Bolt IoT

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

IoT MQTT Panel

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Randomly won't connect to public MQTT brokers
  • App fails to connect to broker frequently
  • Connectivity seems very inconsistent
  • App freezes when trying to input URL in web page panel
  • App does not reconnect after MQTT server disconnects, requires restart
Show 2 more
  • After update, panel window periodically moves up
  • Sometimes switches sensor tabs with significant delay or stops working

Requested features

13 requests
  • Configuration example would be useful
  • Gauges showing color portions instead of whole gauge changing color
  • Apple Watch support for viewing data
  • Option to search for keywords in payload
  • Icon for opening and closing windows
Show 8 more
  • Ability to print user guide
  • Siri shortcuts integration
  • Widgets support
  • Customizable graph scales
  • Alarm rules and notifications
  • Ability to change font color in Text Log widget, possibly based on value condition
  • Traditional Chinese language support
  • More options for panel size on iPad

In-app purchases

None

Bolt IoT

No in-app purchases

None

IoT MQTT Panel

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bolt IoT free?
Bolt IoT is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is IoT MQTT Panel free?
IoT MQTT Panel is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bolt IoT or IoT MQTT Panel?
IoT MQTT Panel is rated higher. Bolt IoT averages 2.8 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while IoT MQTT Panel averages 4.8 from 44 ratings.
Do Bolt IoT or IoT MQTT Panel have ads?
Both Bolt IoT and IoT MQTT Panel show ads.
Which is updated more often, Bolt IoT or IoT MQTT Panel?
Bolt IoT ships an update every 5 weeks, and IoT MQTT Panel fortnightly. Most recently, Bolt IoT was updated on October 24, 2026 and IoT MQTT Panel on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons