Comparison

PiHelper vs PiFi

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

Head to head
About

PiHelper

Easily connect to and manage your Raspberry Pi or Linux machine remotely. Monitor system resources, control GPIO pins, and access an SSH terminal. Browse and manage files with SFTP and perform server actions like rebooting.

Highlights
  • Real-time system monitoring (CPU, memory, disk, temp)
  • Interactive GPIO control
  • Full SSH terminal experience
  • SFTP file browser with upload/download
  • Remote reboot and halt server
  • Custom command execution
Features
Read full description

Get started with PiHelper: https://medium.com/swlh/using-pihelper-to-monitor-and-manage-raspberry-pis-9a24065febed PiHelper lets you connect and manage your Raspberry Pi or Linux machine easily. - Monitor CPU, memory, disk usage, processes and/or temperature statics in realtime. - GPIO Colorful pinout. Tap to change GPIO mode and output. - SSH Terminal Realtime shell with full xterm experience. - SFTP / File browser Browse files and directories. Easy upload, download, rename and delete. - Single tap to reboot / halt server. Custom commands are also supported. - Multi-language support: -- English -- 中文 -- 日本語 -- Русский (Thanks to Sergey Britov) -- Deutsche (Thanks to Daniel Wolf) -- Français (Thanks to Dorian Eydoux) -- Lietuvis (Thanks to Ernestas Kardzys) Report issue: - Email: pihelper@outlook.com - Twitter: @shaqian629 Notes: - Public/Private key authentication only supports RSA keys. - To use the GPIO tool with RPi 4, please upgrade wiringPi to 2.52+: cd /tmp wget https://project-down­load­s.­dro­gon.net/wiring­pi-lat­est.deb sudo dpkg -i wiring­pi-lat­est.deb Reference: http://wiring­pi.­com/wiring­pi-up­dat­ed-to-2-52-for-the-rasp­ber­ry-pi-4b/

About

PiFi

Read full description

No need for terminal, SSH or even LuCI. PiFi has all of pro features you love from OpenWrt, reimagined to be more capable, more simple and even more fun. So things like blocking trackers and ads, connecting or switching VPN profiles and accessing your network-stored documents, photos or videos are now just a tap away on iPhone and iPad. NETWORK SETTINGS - Customize network settings, setup a travel router, and more with just a few taps WIREGUARD & OPENVPN CLIENT - Easily upload and manage multiple VPN profiles directly from your iPhone or iPad. Create a VPN network for ALL your devices in seconds ADGUARD HOME - Access AdGuard Home software for network-wide ad and tracking blocking NETWORK STORAGE - Easily expand your network storage capacity (USB storage, SSD, or SD Card) and access your files from anywhere on the network ** COMPATIBILITY NOTICE This app WILL ONLY work if your Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 has been flashed with PiFi firmware, either downloaded from the PiFi website or through a pre-configured SD Card. Standard OpenWrt builds that are not optimised for PiFi are not compatible with this app. For full compatibility details, see pifi.org TRADEMARK NOTICE Raspberry Pi is a trademark of Raspberry Pi Ltd, AdGuard and AdGuard Home are trademarks of Adguard Software Ltd, WireGuard is a registered trademark of Jason A. Donenfeld, OpenWrt is a trademark owned by Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC). All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. PiFi firmware, software, and accessories are developed by PiFi Ltd, an independent project.

Screenshots

PiHelper4 screens
PiFi4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PiFi at none against PiHelper's 1. PiFi also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 5 months). PiHelper's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 12.0). On price, 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. PiHelper sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. PiFi asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PiHelper ships an update every 5 months, PiFi every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
PiHelper versus PiFi: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPiHelperPiFi
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (255 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews64.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings255 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB93 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer茜 沙PiFi Ltd

Bugs and requests

PiHelper

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Inability to connect to Raspberry Pis
  • Clipboard data being accessed
  • Terminal crashes and text wrapping issues
  • Inaccurate CPU and GPU usage reporting
  • Incompatibility with newer SSH ciphers

Requested features

5 requests
  • Support for Raspberry Pi 5
  • Temperature monitoring in Fahrenheit
  • Ability to clear RSA keys
  • Network and disk usage monitoring
  • Offline notification alerts

PiFi

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

PiHelper

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$0.99
None

PiFi

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PiHelper free?
PiHelper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PiFi free?
PiFi is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do PiHelper or PiFi have ads?
Neither PiHelper nor PiFi shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PiHelper or PiFi?
PiHelper ships an update every 5 months, and PiFi every 6 weeks. Most recently, PiHelper was updated on October 20, 2026 and PiFi on October 5, 2026.

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