RControl vs Shelly Smart Control
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
RControl
Transform your existing alarm panel into a smart security system. This app allows remote control of your alarm, zone monitoring, and real-time event notifications. Manage multiple locations and access historical data for enhanced home security.
- Remotely arm and disarm alarm system
- Monitor alarm system status and zones
- Bypass zones
- Real-time event notifications
- Review 12 months of event history
- Control multiple locations
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Your alarm panel, only smarter! Turn any alarm panel into a SMART security system with the RControl mobile app for IOS Note: The RControl application requires an M2M Services cellular communicator, properly connected and configured with your alarm panel, and valid account credentials. Feature availability varies based on system, equipment, and service plan. Contact your alarm installer or write to us at support@m2mservices.com for more information. • Remotely arm and disarm your alarm system (supports Arm Stay, Arm Away and multiple partitions). • Monitor the status of your alarm system and specific zones. • Bypass zones. • Get real-time notifications for selected events. • Review 12 months of event history. • Open doors and control home appliances. • Control multiple locations from a single account. To access a demo version of the application, please use the following credentials: User: demo | Pass: demo | Arm PIN: 1234
Shelly Smart Control
Remotely monitor and control smart home devices from anywhere, either through the cloud or your local network. Manage lights, appliances, and sensors, and create custom automation scenes. Supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and LAN connectivity for seamless integration.
- Remote device control
- Local network control
- Device monitoring
- Custom scheduling
- Scene creation
- Energy consumption monitoring
- Real-time alerts
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This app offers the possibility to control all Shelly devices remotely. You can monitor and control your devices from anywhere (by using the cloud option) or, if you do not want the Cloud option, you will still be able to monitor and control your devices from within your local network. Shelly devices do not need to be connected to the cloud or to send data there. The Shelly Home Automation portfolio includes a variety of relay switches, sensors, plugs, bulbs, and other controllers, all connected and controlled through your Wi-Fi network. The new Shelly Plus and Shelly Pro lines of products additionally support Bluetooth connectivity for faster device inclusion and communication, and the new Shelly Pro line offers LAN and Wi-Fi usage simultaneously. The entire Shelly portfolio is available at https://shelly.cloud/ Shelly devices are suitable to control lights, garage doors, curtains, window blinds, or other appliances, trigger actions based on certain parameters from sensor devices. Devices provide near real time notification on changes of the parameters they are measuring - energy consumption, temperature other environment values. All Shelly devices have: - Embedded Web server - Wi-Fi control and connectivity - APIs for observation and control A user account is required to access, include, and control Shelly devices through the application. Once Shelly account is registered, you can: - Connect the devices to an existing W-Fi network or use their Access Point mode locally to control other Shelly devices; - Include, manage, and operate as many Shelly devices as you need; - Configure devices and manage individual settings on every device; - Configure custom scheduling for automatic actions; - Create personalized rooms for more convenient organising and control of the devices; - Define custom Groups of devices to control multiple devices with one command within the app; - Build simple and complex scenes by combining Shelly devices to trigger certain actions in your home automation; - Monitor current and past electrical power consumption of the electrical circuit(s) and loads (for Shelly devices equipped with Power-measuring capabilities); - Build complex automation solutions for improved energy and operational efficiency; - Receive real time alerts and notifications based on your preference. Shelly devices are compatible with other widely used both local and cloud-based home automation platforms like Google Home or Alexa.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: RControl at 4.8 against Shelly Smart Control's 3.2. RControl also leads on ratings volume (4K vs 82). Shelly Smart Control's advantage is review sentiment (48% vs 29%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
RControl holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RControl has 4K ratings behind it against 82, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 29% of RControl's written reviews are positive against 48% of Shelly Smart Control's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
RControl ships an update every 3 weeks, Shelly Smart Control every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 1, 2026.
| Parameter | RControl | Shelly Smart Control |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (4K ratings) — better | 3.2 (82 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 29.2% of reviews | 47.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4K — better | 82 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 94 MB | 233 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | M2M Services Ltd | SHELLY EUROPE EOOD |
Customer experience
RControl
Shelly Smart Control
Bugs and requests
RControl
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login/password reset problems
- Sync with panel issues
- Freezing and unresponsiveness
Requested features
3 requests- Stay mode arm/disarm option
- User activity logs
- Customizable zone display
Shelly Smart Control
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
RControl
No in-app purchases
Shelly Smart Control
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is RControl free?
Is Shelly Smart Control free?
Which has better reviews, RControl or Shelly Smart Control?
Do RControl or Shelly Smart Control have ads?
Which is updated more often, RControl or Shelly Smart Control?
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