IoT Plug and Play vs IoT MQTT Panel
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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
IoT MQTT Panel
Create DIY smart home projects quickly with a configurable dashboard. This app supports MQTT and Websocket protocols with SSL for secure communication. It offers real-time updates, customizable panels with over 250 icons, and various data visualization options.
- Always-on dashboard
- MQTT & Websocket support
- SSL secure communication
- Real-time panel updates
- 250+ customizable icons
- Dark theme
- Import/Export configuration
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With this app you can make DIY Smart Home project in a minute. The configurations are very simple. Well documented FAQ and User Guide are available at application info page. Features: 1. Can run as always on Dashboard. 2. Supports both MQTT (TCP) and Websocket protocol. 3. SSL for secure communication. 4. JSON Support for both subscribe and publish message. 5. Panels subscribe and / or publish the topic automatically, hence get updated in real time. 6. Designed to work with public broker efficiently (using device prefix). 7. Sent and Received timestamp from broker. 8. Material design. 9. Flexible panel width, merge any panels 10. More than 250 icons to customize specific panels. 11. Dark theme for comfortable use in low light. 12. Clone connection, device or panel for effortless configuration 13. Import/Export application configuration for easy share with multiple devices. 14. Re-connects automatically if connection lost. 15. Persist export message for log and graph. Available panels: -Button -Slider -Switch -LED Indicator -Combo Box -Radio Buttons -Multi-State Indicator -Progress -Gauge -Color Picker -Time Picker -Text Input -Text Log -Image -Barcode Scanner -Line graph -Bar graph -Chart -URI Launcher This list will grow upon feedback from users. Your feedback is much appreciated. If you find any issue please feel free to leave a comment in my blog with steps to reproduce. https://blog.snrlab.in/iot/iot-mqtt-panel-user-guide/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: IoT MQTT Panel at 86% against IoT Plug and Play's 43%. IoT MQTT Panel also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). IoT Plug and Play's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
IoT Plug and Play holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 23 and 45 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 43% of IoT Plug and Play's written reviews are positive against 86% of IoT MQTT Panel's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
IoT Plug and Play ships an update every 2 months, IoT MQTT Panel fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | IoT Plug and Play | IoT MQTT Panel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (23 ratings) — better | 4.8 (45 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 42.9% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 23 | 45 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.1 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Microsoft Corporation | Rahul Kundu |
Customer experience
IoT Plug and Play
IoT MQTT Panel
Bugs and requests
IoT Plug and Play
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
IoT MQTT Panel
Reported bugs
7 issues- Randomly won't connect to public MQTT brokers
- App fails to connect to broker frequently
- Connectivity seems very inconsistent
- App freezes when trying to input URL in web page panel
- App does not reconnect after MQTT server disconnects, requires restart
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- After update, panel window periodically moves up
- Sometimes switches sensor tabs with significant delay or stops working
Requested features
13 requests- Configuration example would be useful
- Gauges showing color portions instead of whole gauge changing color
- Apple Watch support for viewing data
- Option to search for keywords in payload
- Icon for opening and closing windows
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- Ability to print user guide
- Siri shortcuts integration
- Widgets support
- Customizable graph scales
- Alarm rules and notifications
- Ability to change font color in Text Log widget, possibly based on value condition
- Traditional Chinese language support
- More options for panel size on iPad
In-app purchases
IoT Plug and Play
No in-app purchases
IoT MQTT Panel
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is IoT Plug and Play free?
Is IoT MQTT Panel free?
Which has better reviews, IoT Plug and Play or IoT MQTT Panel?
Do IoT Plug and Play or IoT MQTT Panel have ads?
Which is updated more often, IoT Plug and Play or IoT MQTT Panel?
Other comparisons
