FairyNest vs SimplePi for Raspberry Pi
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FairyNest
Control your smart home LED devices remotely via the internet. This app offers easy setup and an excellent user experience, integrating with voice assistants like Amazon Alexa.
- Remote control over internet
- Amazon Alexa integration
- Control LED controllers
- Control LED switches
- Control LED bulbs
- Easy setup
Read full descriptionHide full description
FairyNest is designed for smart home LED controller, switch, LED bulb... -- Remote control you device over internet. -- Works with Amazon Alexa and some other smart speakers. -- easy set up, excellent experience.
SimplePi for Raspberry Pi
Manage your Raspberry Pi from your iPhone or iPad. Monitor system activity with graphs, run custom commands, and access a terminal shell. Includes widgets, file browsing, and support for multiple Pis.
- Monitor CPU, Memory, Temperature, Disk Usage
- Run custom commands with one tap
- Full terminal shell access
- Home screen widgets for monitoring and control
- File browser with export options
- Manage multiple Raspberry Pi devices
- Public key authentication
Read full descriptionHide full description
SimplePi is the Swiss army knife utility app for monitoring, controlling, and managing your Raspberry Pi using your iPhone and iPad. MONITOR ACTIVITY See what is going on with your Raspberry Pi. CPU, Memory, Temperature, Disk Usage, and Clock activity are shown in beautiful and easily understandable graphs. CONTROL Run commands on your Pi with a single tap. Want to have your own commands? No problem. SimplePi lets you add as many commands as you wish. Additionally, you can manage your commands in groups. TERMINAL SHELL Access your Pi from a shell terminal with colored output and hardware keyboard support. The on-screen keyboard comes with fast access to commonly used special keys like ctrl and arrow keys. WIDGETS Monitor your Pi and run commands right from the Home Screen with various widgets. VIEW COMMAND RESULTS View and export command results and logs automatically. The results history allows you to view the results of previous commands. DETAILED STATS Detailed Stats for CPU and Memory give you an insight on which processes are running, how much memory is active, and much more. FILE BROWSER Browse Files and Folders in a file browser-like experience. View and export files of various formats. MANAGE MULTIPLE PI SimplePi can manage multiple Raspberry Pi. Configure each Raspberry Pi and connect to them simultaneously. KEY AUTHENTICATION Public Key authentication gives you the flexibility to authenticate in your preferred way. Key files can be imported via iTunes or from other apps. ICLOUD SYNC Sync Commands, Hosts, Keys over iCloud APP LOCK Lock the app using FaceID, TouchID, or a custom passcode HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Run commands directly from your Home Screen on iOS 14 Siri Shortcuts Integrate commands into automated worflows using the Shortcuts app (requires iOS14 or later) NOTE: SSH needs to be enabled on your Raspberry Pi for SimplePi to work correctly. SimplePi has been tested with the latest releases of * Raspberry Pi OS (formerly Raspbian) * Raspbmc * OpenElec * Xbian * Pidora * Arch Linux SimplePi works on all Raspberry Pi models. NOTE (only for Xbian users): Automatic start of xbian-config needs to be disabled. You can do this when connecting via SSH and selecting Config > Settings > Xbian Config > NO. There are many different configurations out there. If you encounter problems with one of the distributions above or want to have your distribution support, please contact us.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: SimplePi for Raspberry Pi at 3.9 against FairyNest's 2.0. SimplePi for Raspberry Pi also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 months). FairyNest's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume 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. SimplePi for Raspberry Pi sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per year. FairyNest asks for nothing beyond the download.
SimplePi for Raspberry Pi holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 2.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 87 and 125 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 23% of FairyNest's written reviews are positive against 26% of SimplePi for Raspberry Pi's.
FairyNest ships an update every 2 months, SimplePi for Raspberry Pi every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FairyNest | SimplePi for Raspberry Pi |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.0 (87 ratings) | 3.9 (125 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 22.5% of reviews | 25.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 87 | 125 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 33 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Shenzhen Sperll Optoelectronic Technology Co., Ltd. | Benedikt Hirmer |
Customer experience
FairyNest
SimplePi for Raspberry Pi
User reviews
FairyNest
From 87 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy setup (sometimes)
- ✨ Good UI (sometimes)
- 🌈 Beautiful colors and modes
- 💡 Good features for the price
- 🔊 Sound reactive mode works well
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes
- ❌ Login/signup issues
- 🔌 Disconnecting devices
- 🚫 No Wi-Fi required control
- 🔄 Requires frequent re-adding
SimplePi for Raspberry Pi
From 125 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Useful tool, does what it says
- 🚀 Fantastic app, great CLI access
- 💡 Full Bash and Python support
- 📈 Provides CPU, GPU, RAM stats
- 💰 Low annual cost (£4.99/year)
Room to improve
- ❌ Subscription required to function
- ❌ Frequent connection issues
- ❌ Paywall limits functionality
- ❌ App crashes frequently
- ❌ Fails to display stats
Bugs and requests
FairyNest
Reported bugs
71 issues- PIN code not sent for signup/reset
- App crashes on login/signup
- Device disconnects frequently
- Cannot log in or sign up
- Servers offline
Show 66 moreShow fewer
- Device shows offline when on
- Binding failed during connection
- Hotspot not created for manual setup
- Country dropdown not functioning for Google Home
- App stopped working after a month
- Controller disconnects and won't reconnect
- Device offline and stuck on one mode
- Cannot connect to Sky Combined WiFi
- Failed device error
- Device is off error
- Unable to login or change password
- No more data error
- Manual connection fails
- Login fails with password
- PIN code not sent to phone or email
- Phone number signup not working
- Sign up fails to send PIN
- App crashes when trying to log in
- Login screen freezes
- Cannot connect to WiFi
- Device networking but won't connect
- SP network not showing up
- Configuration fails
- Cannot control dynamic functions via Google Home
- Cannot group strips in the app
- Login issues after logout
- Cannot re-pair device
- Cannot get unit to enter pairing mode
- Device disconnects and goes offline daily
- App requires precise location for Wi-Fi
- Login function, password reset, and create new account features do not function
- Unable to integrate with Google Home
- App no longer operational
- Setup options not working
- Device or network not recognized
- Sign up phone number option not working
- App crashes on login
- App stopped working and logged user out
- Lights blink faintly and controller disconnects
- Quick start fails at step one
- Manual setup fails to create hotspot
- Cannot add lights
- Device is off error
- Cannot connect WiFi
- Binding failed
- Manual connection fails
- Device is off when it's on
- App says device is off but can still control it
- Cannot edit light settings when device is not found
- Device won't connect
- Cannot connect controller to network
- Controller only supports 2.4GHz WiFi
- Not enough power during configuration
- Signal too weak during configuration
- Compatible issue
- Hotspot name has strange texts or emoji
- Controller is offline after configuration
- Firmware update not fixing issue
- Auto Mode & Manual Mode failing
- Device is networking but won't connect
- Device is off
- Cannot connect to wifi
- Device is off
- Cannot edit light settings in event device cannot be found
- App says device is off but can still turn off and on with app
- Cannot connect to wifi
Requested features
12 requests- Group lights control
- More dynamic patterns/scenes
- Share function for devices
- Scene function for Alexa/Google
- Apple Shortcuts Integration
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Set total LED count and define segments
- SDK or API for custom apps
- Music sync via phone microphone
- Split color control on strip
- Warm white color control via Alexa
- Flash mode (immediate color change)
- Strobe function (white flash)
SimplePi for Raspberry Pi
Reported bugs
13 issues- App refuses to connect after closing
- Opening app redirects to paywall
- Temporary fix for connection issues: remove host, force close, re-add
- App crashes several times
- Fails 50% of the time to display GPU, CPU, and temp settings
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Screen disappears when trying to navigate raspi-config
- Cannot view output of continuously running commands
- Continuously running commands abort when phone screen locks
- App rejects credentials that other apps accept
- Monitoring features do not work
- App shows one-week free trial but requires subscription immediately
- App doesn't stay connected, screens close and pop around
- App rejects identical credentials that other PI apps accept
Requested features
5 requests- Allow commands to keep running when phone screen locks
- Ability to view results log for commands
- Option to remove added commands
- Improve navigation for raspi-config
- Store SSH private keys securely using iOS Keychain
In-app purchases
FairyNest
No in-app purchases
SimplePi for Raspberry Pi
- Full Access (12 months)7 Days trial$4.991 Year
Questions
Is FairyNest free?
Is SimplePi for Raspberry Pi free?
Which has better reviews, FairyNest or SimplePi for Raspberry Pi?
Do FairyNest or SimplePi for Raspberry Pi have ads?
Which is updated more often, FairyNest or SimplePi for Raspberry Pi?
Other comparisons















