Comparison

Visual Home vs MQTT Loupe

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

Head to head
About

Visual Home

Unify and control your smart home devices from a single dashboard. Visualize data from various sources and trigger actions on connected devices. Offers advanced features through an optional subscription.

Highlights
  • Unified dashboard for smart home data
  • Control connected devices
  • Support for Philips Hue, HomeKit, Homematic, and more
  • MQTT and HTTP REST client
  • JavaScript Lambda functions
  • Homescreen widgets
  • Favorites management
Features
Read full description

Visual displays the data from different sources on an unified dashboard. In addition it allows controlling and triggering actions on connected devices. Directly supported are currently - Philips Hue - HomeKit - Homematic - Ezcontrol XS1 - HTML Widgets - Open Weather Map - PVOutput.org The more experienced user can also use - MQTT Client (Subscribe, Publish) - HTTP REST Client - JavaScript Lambda functions # Information on HomeKit Visual offers to visualize the values of all HomeKit accessories with readable characteristics and scalar data formats (e.g. integer, float). In addition Visual can set values to writable characteristics with scalar data formats. # Information on the In-App purchase • This App offers an auto-renewing subscription "Advanced Features" that unlock extended features: - JavaScript Lambda functions - Search and filter datapoints - Trigger scenes defined in the Philips Hue bridge - Debug logging for all endpoints - Multi column dashboard - Homescreen Widgets - Favorites • This In-App purchase is an auto-renewing subscription • The subscription duration is 1 month • For the price please check the In-App purchase details on AppStore or in the App itself • Your iTunes account will be charged for the purchase at the time of subscription purchase. • The subscription is renewed automatically, unless the automatic renewal is terminated at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. • Your iTunes account will be charged the same amount as the original subscription within 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. • Subscriptions can be managed and auto-renewal can be disabled in your iTunes account after the original purchase.

About

MQTT Loupe

Inspect MQTT messages exchanged on a broker with this intuitive utility. Connect to brokers, subscribe to topics, and view message details. Features include JSON highlighting, hex viewer, and secure connection options.

Highlights
  • Inspect MQTT messages
  • Connect to any MQTT broker
  • Subscribe to topics
  • Full-text search across topics
  • JSON highlighting
  • Hex viewer for binary payloads
  • Secure connection options
Features
Read full description

MQTT Loupe is an intuitive utility to inspect MQTT messages exchanged on an MQTT broker. Connect to any public or local MQTT broker, subscribe to topics and view details of messages being transmitted. Don't remember that one message or topic? Fire up the search to find it instantly using full-text search through all topics, and results updating live with new hits appearing as they arrive. With built-in JSON highlighting, this app is perfect for monitoring Zigbee2Mqtt. And if you need to work with binary message payloads, the built-in hex viewer has you covered. Got frequently used topics that are further down the hierarchy? Make them favorites for easy and instant access. Concerned about security? Let the server's certificate be validated before connecting; you don't have to allow insecure connections based on untrusted certificates. Need more? Provide a client certificate to authenticate yourself against the server. All features in a nutshell: - clean and simple interface - hierarchical topic view - sidebar with history of recently opened topics - powerful full-text search capabilities across all topics and for a single message - search results are automatically updated when new messages arrive - extended message details, with proper formatting and syntax highlighting of JSON messages - support for binary message payloads, displayed as either ISO Latin-1 or in a hex view - easily copy any topic or message value - authentication with username/password or client certificates - connect over MQTT or WebSocket protocol - support for MQTT 3.1.1 and MQTT 5 - support for SSL/TLS - support for the Server Name Indication (SNI) TLS extension - support for self-signed certificates - full server certificate validation - manage and connect multiple brokers at once - full support for quality of service

Screenshots

Visual Home4 screens
MQTT Loupe4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: MQTT Loupe at 5.0 against Visual Home's 1.0. MQTT Loupe also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 13%) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, ratings volume, ads 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. Visual Home sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $1.49 per month. MQTT Loupe asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MQTT Loupe holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 13% of Visual Home's written reviews are positive against 50% of MQTT Loupe's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Visual Home ships an update every 4 months, MQTT Loupe every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Visual Home versus MQTT Loupe: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVisual HomeMQTT Loupe
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews12.5% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB6 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperAndreas BinnerJakob Bieling

Customer experience

Visual Home

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive12.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative87.5%

MQTT Loupe

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Visual Home

Subscriptions1
  • Advanced Features$1.491 Month
None

MQTT Loupe

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Visual Home free?
Visual Home is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MQTT Loupe free?
MQTT Loupe is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Visual Home or MQTT Loupe?
MQTT Loupe is rated higher. Visual Home averages 1.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while MQTT Loupe averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Visual Home or MQTT Loupe have ads?
Neither Visual Home nor MQTT Loupe shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Visual Home or MQTT Loupe?
Visual Home ships an update every 4 months, and MQTT Loupe every 3 weeks. Most recently, Visual Home was updated on November 2, 2026 and MQTT Loupe on November 3, 2026.

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