Comparison

MQTT Loupe vs IoT Central

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

MQTT Loupe

Inspect MQTT messages exchanged on a broker with this intuitive utility. Connect to brokers, subscribe to topics, and view message details. Features include JSON highlighting, hex viewer, and secure connection options.

Highlights
  • Inspect MQTT messages
  • Connect to any MQTT broker
  • Subscribe to topics
  • Full-text search across topics
  • JSON highlighting
  • Hex viewer for binary payloads
  • Secure connection options
Features
Read full description

MQTT Loupe is an intuitive utility to inspect MQTT messages exchanged on an MQTT broker. Connect to any public or local MQTT broker, subscribe to topics and view details of messages being transmitted. Don't remember that one message or topic? Fire up the search to find it instantly using full-text search through all topics, and results updating live with new hits appearing as they arrive. With built-in JSON highlighting, this app is perfect for monitoring Zigbee2Mqtt. And if you need to work with binary message payloads, the built-in hex viewer has you covered. Got frequently used topics that are further down the hierarchy? Make them favorites for easy and instant access. Concerned about security? Let the server's certificate be validated before connecting; you don't have to allow insecure connections based on untrusted certificates. Need more? Provide a client certificate to authenticate yourself against the server. All features in a nutshell: - clean and simple interface - hierarchical topic view - sidebar with history of recently opened topics - powerful full-text search capabilities across all topics and for a single message - search results are automatically updated when new messages arrive - extended message details, with proper formatting and syntax highlighting of JSON messages - support for binary message payloads, displayed as either ISO Latin-1 or in a hex view - easily copy any topic or message value - authentication with username/password or client certificates - connect over MQTT or WebSocket protocol - support for MQTT 3.1.1 and MQTT 5 - support for SSL/TLS - support for the Server Name Indication (SNI) TLS extension - support for self-signed certificates - full server certificate validation - manage and connect multiple brokers at once - full support for quality of service

About

IoT Central

Features
Read full description

With this app you can create an easy to use IoT Dashboard for you and your client. 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

MQTT Loupe4 screens
IoT Central4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: IoT Central at weekly against MQTT Loupe's every 3 weeks. MQTT Loupe's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MQTT Loupe ships an update every 3 weeks, IoT Central weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
MQTT Loupe versus IoT Central: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMQTT LoupeIoT Central
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJakob BielingRahul Kundu

In-app purchases

None

MQTT Loupe

No in-app purchases

None

IoT Central

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MQTT Loupe free?
MQTT Loupe is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is IoT Central free?
IoT Central is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do MQTT Loupe or IoT Central have ads?
Neither MQTT Loupe nor IoT Central shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MQTT Loupe or IoT Central?
MQTT Loupe ships an update every 3 weeks, and IoT Central weekly. Most recently, MQTT Loupe was updated on November 3, 2026 and IoT Central on October 30, 2026.

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