SimplePi for Raspberry Pi vs IoT Plug and Play
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
IoT Plug and Play
Transform your phone into an Internet of Things (IoT) device. Connect to Azure IoT cloud to send device telemetry, receive commands, and manage device twins. Upload media directly to Azure storage.
- Connect to Azure IoT cloud
- Send device telemetry (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer)
- Send and receive commands
- Manage device twin updates
- Upload media to Azure storage
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Turn your phone into an Internet of Things (IoT) device and discover the simplicity of IoT Plug and Play by Microsoft Azure. This app supports connecting your device to the Azure IoT cloud, where you can: ▶ Send telemetry from your device like accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer to Azure IoT. ▶ Send and receive commands and device twin updates from Azure IoT. ▶ Upload media to Azure storage. This app requires an active Azure IoT Central application or Azure IoT Hub. Learn more at https://aka.ms/iot-paad
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: IoT Plug and Play at 5.0 against SimplePi for Raspberry Pi's 3.9. IoT Plug and Play also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (43% vs 26%). SimplePi for Raspberry Pi's advantage is update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (124 vs 22). 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. IoT Plug and Play asks for nothing beyond the download.
IoT Plug and Play holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SimplePi for Raspberry Pi has 124 ratings behind it against 22, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 26% of SimplePi for Raspberry Pi's written reviews are positive against 43% of IoT Plug and Play's.
SimplePi for Raspberry Pi ships an update every 8 days, IoT Plug and Play every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 23, 2026 and June 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SimplePi for Raspberry Pi | IoT Plug and Play |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (124 ratings) | 5.0 (22 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 25.7% of reviews | 42.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 124 — better | 22 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 12.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | Benedikt Hirmer | Microsoft Corporation |
Customer experience
SimplePi for Raspberry Pi
IoT Plug and Play
In-app purchases
SimplePi for Raspberry Pi
- Full Access (12 months)7 Days trial$4.991 Year
IoT Plug and Play
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SimplePi for Raspberry Pi free?
Is IoT Plug and Play free?
Which has better reviews, SimplePi for Raspberry Pi or IoT Plug and Play?
Do SimplePi for Raspberry Pi or IoT Plug and Play have ads?
Which is updated more often, SimplePi for Raspberry Pi or IoT Plug and Play?
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