# Pi vs Cognecto

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Cognecto at none against Pi's 7. Pi's advantage is device support (5 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Pi sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Cognecto asks for nothing beyond the download.

Pi ships an update every 2 weeks, Cognecto every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and December 18, 2025 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Pi | Cognecto |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (1.2K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pi-hole-remote/id1515445551/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **1.2K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 88.4% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 85 MB | 59 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.0** | 17.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [RocketScience IT](https://appshunter.io/developer/1502999561) | [Cognecto Private Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1755585475) |

## What reviewers say

### Pi

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pi-hole-remote/id1515445551)

Control your Pi-hole network ad blocker remotely. Quickly disable blocking, block specific services, and view real-time network statistics. Manage adlists, update gravity, and configure DNS/DHCP settings with ease.

**Highlights:** Disable/enable Pi-hole blocking, Block specific services, View real-time query logs, Add domains to whitelist/blacklist, Update gravity, Manage adlists, Configure DNS & DHCP settings

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

**In-app purchases (7)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly PHR+ | $0.99 | per month |
| PHR+ Yearly | $4.99 | per year |
| Small Tip | $0.99 | one-time |
| Medium Tip | $3.99 | one-time |
| Large Tip | $6.99 | one-time |
| PHR+ Lifetime | $11.99 | one-time |
| Huge Tip | $17.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Amazing app!!
- 🚀 Excellent app
- 🚀 Perfect for managing Pi-hole
- 🚀 Brilliant
- 🚀 Great app to keep an eye on things

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔍 Disappointing
- 🔍 Pulled a bait-and-switch with paid features
- 🔍 Widget unreliable
- 🔍 Replaced block percentage with clients
- 🔍 Unusable if not upgraded to pihole v6

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when pressing certain options
- Unable to reach Pi Hole after configuration
- Statistics screen crashes the app
- Widgets not working
- Live Logs not working properly

**Requested features**

- Add and remove adlists from the internet
- DHCP management, like assign static IPs, change host names of devices
- Change other pihole settings, like upstream DNS servers
- A command line interface
- Group management, I.e. the ability to whitelist or blacklist certain domains only for certain groups of devices, and to be able to create new groups and edit which devices are in each group


### Cognecto

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cognecto/id6511245235)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Pi free?

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

### Is Cognecto free?

Cognecto is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Pi or Cognecto have ads?

Neither Pi nor Cognecto shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Pi or Cognecto?

Pi ships an update every 2 weeks, and Cognecto every 3 weeks. Most recently, Pi was updated on October 19, 2026 and Cognecto on December 18, 2025.

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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.*