Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox vs Starfish Smart Lighting
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox
This app provides essential calculations for electricians, inspectors, contractors, and engineers. It helps determine conductor sizing, circuit protection, race sizing, and grounding conductor sizes for various electrical equipment and services.
- Conductor sizing
- Voltage drop limitations
- Circuit protection sizing
- Race sizing
- Equipment grounding conductor sizing
- Dwelling-unit service calculations
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Mike Holt, the industry leader in the electrical industry (MikeHolt.com) has created an amazing, practical and useful app for the electrician, inspector, instructor, contractor and engineer. The app contains conductor sizing (including voltage drop limitations), circuit protection sizing, race sizing, equipment grounding conductor sizing for electric heating equipment (commercial and Residential), air-conditioning equipment (commercial and Residential), motors (commercial and Residential), Transformers (commercial) , and dwelling-unit service calculations and sizing.
Starfish Smart Lighting
Control your home lighting remotely and create custom scenes for atmosphere, security, and convenience. Integrate with voice assistants for hands-free operation and manage access for family and guests.
- Remote lighting control
- Custom scene creation
- Voice assistant integration
- Multi-user access
- Guest access control
- Scheduling and automation
- Color changing options
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Satco’s STARFISHTM app brings you a simple, scalable, smart lighting solution! STARFISHTM Smart lighting connects life and home together helping enhance convenience, security, atmosphere and wellness. The STARFISHTM app synchronizes your life and home using mobile and activated devices. Transition daily routines, add light for safety, color the atmosphere, STARFISHTM connects your home and life. COMPATIBILITY The STARFISHTM app integrates with Hey Google, Siri, and Alexa for voice control. STARFISHTM is also compatible with SmartThingsTM for total home integration. CONNECT ANYONE Your STARFISHTM home allows for secure multi-device and multi-user access. The whole family can connect, set scenes and personalize their space. When you have guests they can enjoy the freedom of smart light control and you can set the parameters. Allow for control of a room through "device" selection, or give them control of the entire home. Guests can operate STARFISHTM without disrupting your settings or you can allow them to create their own settings—it's up to you. CONNECT ANYWHERE Access your home through the STARFISHTM app with your secure login anywhere in the world. You will never be out of touch. SECURITY Whether lighting your way for a sure-footed path or gaining peace of mind while you’re away, STARFISHTM adds that extra layer of security though automations and control of your home using voice activation and mobile technology. ATMOSPHERE Create the mood. Dynamic scene setting with millions of colors strike up just the right atmosphere. Tone the room, dim the lights, own that personal space! Combine color changing products, light settings, groupings and electronics to personalize the moment. CONVENIENCE Set up your home to transition with your daily activities. Adjust the intensity of light to coincide with a task. Make certain your lights are off when you leave. Schedule your light so you return in the evening to a safe and well-lit home. You can voice activate lighting in an emergency. WELLNESS When you wake, set your lighting to gently follow the sleep/wake cycle, correlate color temperatures to adjust with natural daylight, match your lighting to seasonal patterns. Natural and human centric lighting are thought to enhance wellness and positivity.
Screenshots
Verdict
Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox and Starfish Smart Lighting both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 77% of Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox's written reviews are positive against 52% of Starfish Smart Lighting's. Starfish Smart Lighting's advantage is ratings volume (1K vs 197). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox against 4.7 for Starfish Smart Lighting. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Starfish Smart Lighting has 1K ratings behind it against 197, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 77% of Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox's written reviews are positive against 52% of Starfish Smart Lighting's.
Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox ships an update every 3 months, Starfish Smart Lighting every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox | Starfish Smart Lighting |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (197 ratings) | 4.7 (1K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 76.7% of reviews — better | 51.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 197 | 1K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 264 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Mike Holt Enterprises | Satco Products, INC |
Customer experience
Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox
Starfish Smart Lighting
User reviews
Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox
From 197 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great app for electricians
- 💡 Provides code article references
- 👍 Useful for on-the-spot reference
- 👍 Excellent for verifying calculations
- 👍 Helpful for exam preparation
Room to improve
- 🐛 Emailing results not working
- 🐛 Outdated information
- 🐛 Load calc a little clunky
- 🐛 Content setup needs overhaul
- 🐛 Video series lacks completion system
Starfish Smart Lighting
From 1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 👍 Great app and products
- 👍 Awesome features
- 👍 Bright and functional lights
- 👍 Affordable and best in the market
Room to improve
- 🐛 Difficult to connect and setup
- 🐛 Frequent disconnections and crashes
- 🐛 Not intuitive or user-friendly
- 🐛 Missing key features like color control
- 🐛 Compatibility issues with iOS 16
Bugs and requests
Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox
Reported bugs
4 issues- Cannot email results
- Video player widescreen exit bug
- Previous calculation data not erased
- App content is outdated
Requested features
6 requests- Increase transformer capacity to 225kva
- Add option to print load calc
- Update to NEC 2020
- Add completion system for video series
- Refine user interface for better usability
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- Add more features, willing to pay extra
Starfish Smart Lighting
Reported bugs
4 issues- Lights turning on unexpectedly after power outages
- Inconsistent color settings after turning lights on/off
- App freezing and unresponsive
- Inability to connect new devices after router upgrade
Requested features
4 requests- Localized sunset/sunrise support for scheduling
- Native HomeKit support
- Improved documentation and app localization
- Better power outage handling
In-app purchases
Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox
No in-app purchases
Starfish Smart Lighting
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox free?
Is Starfish Smart Lighting free?
Which has better reviews, Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox or Starfish Smart Lighting?
Do Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox or Starfish Smart Lighting have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mike Holt's Electrical Toolbox or Starfish Smart Lighting?
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