# Pi vs Pool Notes

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pool Notes at none against Pi's 7. Pool Notes also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and review sentiment (100% vs 88%). Pi's advantage is ratings volume (1.3K vs 1) and 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. Pool Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

Pool Notes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pi has 1.3K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Pi's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pool Notes's.

Pi ships an update every 2 weeks, Pool Notes fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Pi | Pool Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.8 (1.3K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pi-hole-remote/id1515445551/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pool-notes-pool-care/id6788173453/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **1.3K** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 88.1% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 85 MB | 37 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **16.4** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [RocketScience IT](https://appshunter.io/developer/1502999561) | [JONATHON TIMOTHY MORTON](https://appshunter.io/developer/6783081553) |

## What reviewers say

### Pi

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

Manage your Pi-hole network ad blocker from any Apple device. Monitor DNS queries, control blocking, and manage lists and settings. Offers interactive widgets and Siri integration for quick access.

**Highlights:** Remote Pi-hole management, DNS query monitoring, Ad blocking control, List and domain management, Interactive widgets, Siri integration, Multi-device support

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


### Pool Notes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pool-notes-pool-care/id6788173453)

This app simplifies pool maintenance by converting water test readings into precise chemical dosage instructions. It automatically adjusts targets based on stabilizer levels and offers guided algae treatment. All data is stored locally on your device for privacy.

**Highlights:** Precise chemical dosage instructions, Automatic chlorine target adjustment, Trend tracking over time, Test reminders, Guided algae treatment, Local data storage

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Pi free?

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

### Is Pool Notes free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Pi or Pool Notes?

Pool Notes is rated higher. Pi averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.3K ratings, while Pool Notes averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do Pi or Pool Notes have ads?

Neither Pi nor Pool Notes shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Pi or Pool Notes?

Pi ships an update every 2 weeks, and Pool Notes fortnightly. Most recently, Pi was updated on November 7, 2026 and Pool Notes on October 31, 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.*