HSBuddy vs Shelly Smart Control
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HSBuddy
Control your HomeSeer home automation system from your mobile device and Apple Watch. Manage devices, run events, view camera feeds, and create custom dashboards. Automate tasks with Siri shortcuts and widgets.
- Control and edit devices
- Run and edit events
- View camera feeds
- Customizable dashboards
- Siri shortcuts
- Home Screen widgets
- Push notifications
Read full descriptionHide full description
HSBuddy is a free application for iOS® that turns your mobile device into the ultimate companion for your HomeSeer® home automation system. With the included Apple Watch companion app you can take control of your home from your wrist! Certain features require an additional HomeSeer controller plug-in which you can install from the plug-in manager in your HomeSeer configuration pages. Look for HSBuddy under the User Interfaces section. Complement your home automation experience and use HSBuddy to: • Control and edit devices • Run and edit events • View history of device state changes * • View images from your home cameras ** • Create your own customized dashboards • Speed up your daily automation tasks » Create Siri shortcuts » Place Widgets for your Home Screen • Send push-notifications to your devices as part of your server events • Browse your HomeSeer server logs * • Enable geo-location on the app and location-based events * • Automatically switch between local-WiFi and remote connectivity to your server based on your location. • Connect to multiple HomeSeer servers and switch quickly between them • Use Smart Tags to quickly control a device or run an event by tapping a tag with your phone *Requires installing the free HSBuddy HomeSeer controller plug-in **Compatible with some existing HomeSeer controller camera plug-ins To use this app you need a running instance of HomeSeer. To find out more, visit http://www.homeseer.com For more information and troubleshooting help, go to http://hsbuddy.avglabs.net
Shelly Smart Control
Remotely monitor and control smart home devices from anywhere, either through the cloud or your local network. Manage lights, appliances, and sensors, and create custom automation scenes. Supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and LAN connectivity for seamless integration.
- Remote device control
- Local network control
- Device monitoring
- Custom scheduling
- Scene creation
- Energy consumption monitoring
- Real-time alerts
Read full descriptionHide full description
This app offers the possibility to control all Shelly devices remotely. You can monitor and control your devices from anywhere (by using the cloud option) or, if you do not want the Cloud option, you will still be able to monitor and control your devices from within your local network. Shelly devices do not need to be connected to the cloud or to send data there. The Shelly Home Automation portfolio includes a variety of relay switches, sensors, plugs, bulbs, and other controllers, all connected and controlled through your Wi-Fi network. The new Shelly Plus and Shelly Pro lines of products additionally support Bluetooth connectivity for faster device inclusion and communication, and the new Shelly Pro line offers LAN and Wi-Fi usage simultaneously. The entire Shelly portfolio is available at https://shelly.cloud/ Shelly devices are suitable to control lights, garage doors, curtains, window blinds, or other appliances, trigger actions based on certain parameters from sensor devices. Devices provide near real time notification on changes of the parameters they are measuring - energy consumption, temperature other environment values. All Shelly devices have: - Embedded Web server - Wi-Fi control and connectivity - APIs for observation and control A user account is required to access, include, and control Shelly devices through the application. Once Shelly account is registered, you can: - Connect the devices to an existing W-Fi network or use their Access Point mode locally to control other Shelly devices; - Include, manage, and operate as many Shelly devices as you need; - Configure devices and manage individual settings on every device; - Configure custom scheduling for automatic actions; - Create personalized rooms for more convenient organising and control of the devices; - Define custom Groups of devices to control multiple devices with one command within the app; - Build simple and complex scenes by combining Shelly devices to trigger certain actions in your home automation; - Monitor current and past electrical power consumption of the electrical circuit(s) and loads (for Shelly devices equipped with Power-measuring capabilities); - Build complex automation solutions for improved energy and operational efficiency; - Receive real time alerts and notifications based on your preference. Shelly devices are compatible with other widely used both local and cloud-based home automation platforms like Google Home or Alexa.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: HSBuddy at 4.6 against Shelly Smart Control's 3.2. HSBuddy also leads on review sentiment (76% vs 47%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Shelly Smart Control's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (87 vs 29). 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.
HSBuddy holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 29 and 87 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of HSBuddy's written reviews are positive against 47% of Shelly Smart Control's.
HSBuddy ships an update every 2 months, Shelly Smart Control every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HSBuddy | Shelly Smart Control |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (29 ratings) — better | 3.2 (87 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 76.5% of reviews — better | 47.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 29 | 87 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 255 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Antonio Vargas Garcia | SHELLY EUROPE EOOD |
Customer experience
HSBuddy
Shelly Smart Control
In-app purchases
HSBuddy
No in-app purchases
Shelly Smart Control
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is HSBuddy free?
Is Shelly Smart Control free?
Which has better reviews, HSBuddy or Shelly Smart Control?
Do HSBuddy or Shelly Smart Control have ads?
Which is updated more often, HSBuddy or Shelly Smart Control?
Other comparisons















