Comparison

Hubitat vs ReefBeat

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

Head to head
About

Hubitat

Control and monitor your smart home devices remotely. Set up location-based automation and receive important alerts directly to your phone. This app enhances your existing home automation system.

Highlights
  • Access Dashboards
  • Monitor and control devices
  • Arm/disarm Safety Monitor
  • Change Modes
  • Define Geofence for Presence
  • Receive Push Notifications
Features
Read full description

Hubitat Elevation Mobile App is an accessory to the Hubitat Elevation home automation system. Users of Hubitat Elevation can use the Mobile App to: - Access Dashboards to monitor and control devices, arm or disarm Hubitat Safety Monitor, change Modes and more. - Define a Geofence for Mobile Presence detection based on phone location. The Geofence center defaults to your hub location but can be dragged to any location and the radius set. - Receive Push Notifications from Hubitat Elevation apps.

About

ReefBeat

Control all your smart aquarium devices from a single, intuitive interface. Manage lighting, water pumps, and supplement dosing for a thriving aquatic environment.

Highlights
  • Unified device control
  • ReefLED lighting management
  • ReefWave pump control
  • ReefDose dosing system management
  • User-friendly interface
Read full description

ReefBeat App provides a user-friendly single fully featured interface for all of Red Sea's smart aquarium devices including ReefLED lighting, ReefWave pumps and the ReefDose supplement dosing system.

Screenshots

Hubitat4 screens
ReefBeat4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: ReefBeat at fortnightly against Hubitat's every 2 months. ReefBeat also leads on ratings volume (1.8K vs 163). Hubitat's advantage is review sentiment (28% vs 17%) and iOS requirement (12.1 vs 16.6). On price, rating, 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

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

Hubitat holds the better App Store score, 2.8 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ReefBeat has 1.8K ratings behind it against 163, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 28% of Hubitat's written reviews are positive against 17% of ReefBeat's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hubitat ships an update every 2 months, ReefBeat fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on August 5, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Hubitat versus ReefBeat: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHubitatReefBeat
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.8 (163 ratings) — better2.6 (1.8K ratings)
Positive reviews28.0% of reviews — better17.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1631.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.1 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB337 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHubitat, Inc.RedSea

Customer experience

Hubitat

All ratings163 ratings
Positive40.5%
Neutral10.4%
Negative49.1%
Written reviews93 reviews
Positive28.0%
Neutral11.8%
Negative60.2%

ReefBeat

All ratings1,774 ratings
Positive36.5%
Neutral5.1%
Negative58.4%
Written reviews536 reviews
Positive17.0%
Neutral8.4%
Negative74.6%

User reviews

Hubitat

From 163 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast local control and response times
  • 🔒 Local-first architecture with optional cloud access
  • 💡 Highly customizable and flexible platform
  • 📱 Geofencing and presence detection capabilities
  • 🎯 Excellent device compatibility and integrations

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 🎨 Outdated, clunky UI design (Windows 98 style)
  • 📍 Geofencing unreliable and inconsistent
  • 🔋 Excessive battery drain from location tracking
  • ☁️ Cloud/remote access requires paid subscription

ReefBeat

From 1.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to set up and use
  • 👍 Intuitive interface
  • 🔋 Reliable device connectivity
  • 💡 Useful monitoring and control features

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent connectivity issues
  • 🐛 App crashes and bugs
  • 🐛 Unreliable device pairing
  • 🐛 Inconsistent performance
  • 👎 Poor customer support

Bugs and requests

Hubitat

Reported bugs

18 issues
  • App crashes on startup consistently
  • Geofence detection fails to send events to hub
  • Geofence shows incorrect location (off by km)
  • Login screen keyboard covers continue button
  • App hangs at 'Loading User Data' screen
Show 13 more
  • Dashboard doesn't load after backgrounding
  • Local LAN mode not working, stuck on cloud
  • Hub discovery doesn't work on iOS
  • Duplicate rooms and devices displayed
  • Incorrect device status reporting
  • Notifications show 'invalid token' error
  • App doesn't support screen rotation
  • Email verification code not received
  • Presence detection broken after updates
  • App unable to connect to hub after updates
  • Geofence size resets to default
  • What's New screen cannot be dismissed
  • Layout issues with overlapping buttons on iPhone 7

Requested features

15 requests
  • Native iOS app with proper UI/UX design
  • Dark mode option
  • Widget support for quick device access
  • Ability to add/discover devices from mobile app
  • Automation and scene creation from app
Show 10 more
  • iPad landscape view support
  • Drag-and-drop dashboard tile customization
  • Multiple geofence locations
  • Motion sensor activity logging in dashboard
  • Improved dashboard responsiveness and layout
  • Manual IP address entry for hub connection
  • SMS-based account verification
  • Battery usage optimization for geofencing
  • Real-time notifications with better visibility
  • Detailed user manual and in-app help

ReefBeat

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App forgets aquarium settings
  • Devices randomly disconnect from WiFi
  • Firmware updates fail to install properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved app stability and reliability
  • More customization options for lighting and dosing
  • Integration with other smart home platforms
  • Better notification and alert system

In-app purchases

None

Hubitat

No in-app purchases

None

ReefBeat

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hubitat free?
Hubitat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ReefBeat free?
ReefBeat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hubitat or ReefBeat?
Hubitat is rated higher. Hubitat averages 2.8 out of 5 from 163 ratings, while ReefBeat averages 2.6 from 1.8K ratings.
Do Hubitat or ReefBeat have ads?
Neither Hubitat nor ReefBeat shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hubitat or ReefBeat?
Hubitat ships an update every 2 months, and ReefBeat fortnightly. Most recently, Hubitat was updated on August 5, 2026 and ReefBeat on September 23, 2026.

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