Calex Smart vs Kruidvat Smart Home
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Calex Smart
Control your smart lights and appliances with ease. Automate your devices using smart routines for seamless on/off control. Enjoy plug-and-play installation via WiFi without needing an extra hub.
- Control smart lights and appliances
- Create smart routines
- Plug and Play WiFi installation
- No additional gateway needed
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1. Easily control your smart lights and appliances via the Calex Smart app 2. Use smart routines to switch lights and appliances on and off 3. Plug and Play installation based on WiFi 4. You do not need an additional gateway/Hub
Kruidvat Smart Home
Transform your home into a smart environment with affordable products and a user-friendly app. Control lights, music, and security systems remotely to create custom ambiances and enhance convenience.
- Control lights (on/off, dimming, color)
- Adjust lighting ambiance
- Manage music systems
- Activate burglar alarm sensors
- Connect with Alexa and Google Home
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Wouldn’t it be fun to turn your house into a SMART Home! It is possible with the new and affordable SmartHome products from Kruidvat. With the handy SmartHome app and/or remote control, you will transform the ambiance in your home in an instant! You can turn the lights on and off, dim the lights, and change the color. Shift from a bright white working environment to a warm romantic atmosphere to have a drink together. Create your own setting at any time of the day. Kruidvat’s SmartHome products also allow you to easily control your music system and activate your burglar alarm sensors. SmartHome products also offer you the option to connect all your SmartHome applications to Alexa as well as the Google-home system. How convenient is that? Kruidvat makes your home smarter. Isn’t that what you want too?
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Kruidvat Smart Home at 5.0 against Calex Smart's 4.3. Calex Smart's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 8 months) and ratings volume (35 vs 6). On price, review sentiment, 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.
Kruidvat Smart Home holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calex Smart has 35 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 34% of Calex Smart's written reviews are positive against 27% of Kruidvat Smart Home's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Calex Smart ships an update every 2 months, Kruidvat Smart Home every 8 months. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.
| Parameter | Calex Smart | Kruidvat Smart Home |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (35 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.6% of reviews — better | 27.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 35 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 8 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 256 MB | 213 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Electro Cirkel Retail B.V | I-Star World B.V. |
Customer experience
Calex Smart
Kruidvat Smart Home
Bugs and requests
Calex Smart
Reported bugs
52 issues- App crashes when changing color
- App crashes on iPhone
- App keeps crashing or losing connection
- App loses connection for no reason
- Devices go offline and won't reconnect
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- App duplicates automation routines on edit
- Light stops responding, app stops responding
- Smart plug flashing blue and won't reset
- Bulb in disco mode, app refuses to pair
- Lights start flashing sometimes
- App can't find devices
- Scheduled automations don't happen
- Verification code not sent
- Popup about bad signal obstructs settings
- Timer function randomly closes app
- App no longer allows music sync for lights
- App gives non-stop reviews
- Bluetooth connection issues, app hardly recognizes bulbs
- App forgets bulbs after going to home page
- Cannot change warmth of light, stuck on cool white
- Bulb appears offline when away from home
- App refuses to pair
- Unskippable ad to turn off light
- Advertisements every time app is opened
- Device doesn't connect sometimes
- Randomly loses connection and lamp flashes
- App crashes
- Account cannot be verified or network error
- Cannot reset password, account doesn't exist
- Devices keep dropping out and need re-adding
- Bulb goes offline and needs resetting
- Siri integration doesn't work, custom keyword reverts
- Annoying dialog after executing a task
- Bulb keeps going offline and flashing
- Getting alerts outside of scheduled times
- Pairing process is terrible for multiple devices
- Cannot pair all bulbs on a single switch
- App keeps losing connection with the watch
- Apple Watch integration is poor
- Randomly woken up by light turning on/flickering
- App doesn't realize bulb isn't responding
- Bulb doesn't respond to commands
- Update made lights unusable, cannot connect
- Disconnects randomly
- LEDs started flashing and couldn't be turned off
- Have to sign back into room every time
- Half of LED strip fell off
- Doesn't change colors, only dims
- Cannot link lamp
- No option to use as Bluetooth bulb
- App requests location services to add devices
- Old version of Apple widgets used
Requested features
22 requests- Widget support for Home Screen
- Dark mode
- Better Apple HomeKit integration
- Create widgets for iPhone Home Screen
- Integrate with Apple Shortcuts for custom automation
Show 17 moreShow fewer
- Add colour changing cycle to a scene
- Link items together to sync
- Proper control of colour cycling timings
- Sync multiple lights
- Add colour cycle to a scene
- Camera mode to sync lights with TV colors
- Dusk-dawn switching that follows sunset/sunrise
- Lock Screen widget for quick control
- Ability to turn all devices in a room on/off with one touch
- Scenes for entire rooms or home
- Fade up and fade down options
- Chain tasks together (e.g., 'turn off all lights')
- Define sets of colors for tasks
- Preview of color when setting up a task
- Use alternating color for configuration instead of strobing flash
- Add multiple devices at once connecting to the same WLAN
- Fade up and fade down instead of just on and off
Kruidvat Smart Home
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Calex Smart
No in-app purchases
Kruidvat Smart Home
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Calex Smart free?
Is Kruidvat Smart Home free?
Which has better reviews, Calex Smart or Kruidvat Smart Home?
Do Calex Smart or Kruidvat Smart Home have ads?
Which is updated more often, Calex Smart or Kruidvat Smart Home?
Other comparisons
