# Hue Essentials vs MiniPaints

The clearest difference is review sentiment: MiniPaints at 83% against Hue Essentials's 37%. MiniPaints also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Hue Essentials's advantage is device support (5 vs 3). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Hue Essentials sells 8 one-off in-app purchases and MiniPaints sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

MiniPaints holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 133 and 60 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 37% of Hue Essentials's written reviews are positive against 83% of MiniPaints's.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and August 5, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Hue Essentials | MiniPaints |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.1 (133 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hue-essentials/id1462943921/reviews) | **[4.6 (60 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/minipaints/id1473735851/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **133** | 60 |
| Positive reviews | 37.2% of reviews | **82.6% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 2 weeks |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 269 MB | 50 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **12.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Thomas Vos](https://appshunter.io/developer/1462943920) | [Christophe Garreau](https://appshunter.io/developer/1293988492) |

## What reviewers say

### Hue Essentials

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hue-essentials/id1462943921)

Unlock the full potential of your smart lighting system. Create custom scenes, dynamic effects, and automate your lights with schedules and triggers. Control multiple smart home bridges and devices seamlessly for a personalized ambiance.

**Highlights:** Custom scenes and effects, Music and entertainment sync, Sunrise/sunset automation, Multi-bridge control, Device discovery and setup, Button and sensor automation, Away from home control

**Features:** Family Sharing, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (8)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Effects: Christmas | $0.99 | one-time |
| Effects: Universe | $0.99 | one-time |
| Effects: Wonders of nature | $0.99 | one-time |
| Effects: Romantic | $0.99 | one-time |
| Effects: Floral fantasy | $0.99 | one-time |
| Effects: Spooky | $0.99 | one-time |
| Multiple bridges | $4.99 | one-time |
| Premium | $7.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Excellent Hue lighting control
- 👍 Works well with multiple bridges
- 💡 Customizable remote controls
- 🚀 Faster than official Hue app

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
- 🔒 In-app purchases required for key features
- 👎 Poor execution and user experience
- 🔋 Widgets and Apple Watch app not working

**Reported bugs**

- Fade feature not working
- Saving automations not working
- Crashes when checking 'About' section
- Widgets and Apple Watch app issues

**Requested features**

- Repeat/loop function for automations
- Strobing/flashing effects
- Dark mode
- Alexa integration


### MiniPaints

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/minipaints/id1473735851)

This app helps miniature painters find and mix paints, create color schemes, and organize their paint collections. It features a paint mixing simulator, color capture from photos, and a barcode scanner for easy inventory management.

**Highlights:** Save and share paint recipes, Paint mixing simulator, Analogous and complementary color finder, Color capture from photos, Color scheme generator, In-stock and wishlist tracking, Barcode scanner

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Silver Sponsor (discounted) | $1.99 | one-time |
| Bronze Sponsor | $3.99 | one-time |
| Silver Sponsor | $5.99 | one-time |
| Gold Sponsor | $8.99 | one-time |
| Platinum Sponsor | $17.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Hue Essentials free?

Hue Essentials is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is MiniPaints free?

MiniPaints is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Hue Essentials or MiniPaints?

MiniPaints is rated higher. Hue Essentials averages 4.1 out of 5 from 133 ratings, while MiniPaints averages 4.6 from 60 ratings.

### Do Hue Essentials or MiniPaints have ads?

Neither Hue Essentials nor MiniPaints shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Hue Essentials or MiniPaints?

Hue Essentials ships an update every 2 weeks, and MiniPaints every 2 weeks. Most recently, Hue Essentials was updated on September 24, 2026 and MiniPaints on August 5, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*