Freenove vs SimplePi for Raspberry Pi
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Freenove
Control various smart devices and robots from a single application. This app allows for seamless interaction with a range of connected products, with more to be added in future updates.
- Control Freenove robots
- Control Freenove smart cars
- Interact with multiple Freenove products
- Expandable product support
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Freenove App can interact with multiple Freenove products. You can use this App to control Freenove's robots, smart cars, etc. More products will be added in later updates.
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
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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 review sentiment: Freenove at 71% against SimplePi for Raspberry Pi's 26%. Freenove also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). SimplePi for Raspberry Pi's advantage is rating (3.9 vs 2.9) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 months). On price, ads and device support 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. Freenove asks for nothing beyond the download.
SimplePi for Raspberry Pi holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SimplePi for Raspberry Pi has 125 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Freenove's written reviews are positive against 26% of SimplePi for Raspberry Pi's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Freenove ships an update every 3 months, SimplePi for Raspberry Pi every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Freenove | SimplePi for Raspberry Pi |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.9 (10 ratings) | 3.9 (125 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews — better | 25.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 10 | 125 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Shenzhen Freenove Creative Technology Co., Ltd. | Benedikt Hirmer |
Customer experience
Freenove
SimplePi for Raspberry Pi
Bugs and requests
Freenove
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
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- 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
Freenove
No in-app purchases
SimplePi for Raspberry Pi
- Full Access (12 months)7 Days trial$4.991 Year
Questions
Is Freenove free?
Is SimplePi for Raspberry Pi free?
Which has better reviews, Freenove or SimplePi for Raspberry Pi?
Do Freenove or SimplePi for Raspberry Pi have ads?
Which is updated more often, Freenove or SimplePi for Raspberry Pi?
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