Comparison

ntfy vs Couchside

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

Head to head
About

ntfy

This app allows you to send push notifications to your phone from scripts or other applications using simple HTTP requests. It acts as a client for a free, open-source pub-sub service, enabling you to receive alerts and updates directly on your device.

Highlights
  • Send notifications via REST API
  • Subscribe to topics
  • Publish messages via HTTP
  • Integrates with Bash/PowerShell
  • Free and open source client
Features
Read full description

Send push notifications to your phone from any Bash or PowerShell script, or from your own app using PUT/POST requests, e.g. via curl on Linux or Invoke-WebRequest. ntfy is a client for https://ntfy.sh, a free and open source HTTP-based pub-sub service. You can subscribe to topics in this app, and then publish messages via a simple HTTP API. Uses: * Notify yourself when a long-running process is done * Ping your phone when a backup has failed * Alerts when someone logs into your server Example: $ curl -d "Your backup is done" ntfy.sh/mytopic Find more examples and usage instructions here: https://ntfy.sh/docs

About

Couchside

Transform your iPhone into a remote console, game launcher, and controller for your Linux gaming PC. Monitor system health, fix issues without a keyboard, and launch games directly from your couch.

Highlights
  • Live system monitoring dashboard
  • One-tap runbook actions for troubleshooting
  • Browse system logs remotely
  • Launch Steam games and custom applications
  • Virtual Xbox 360 game controller
  • Trackpad and swipe control modes
  • Easy QR code pairing
Features
Read full description

Couchside turns your iPhone into the monitor, remote console, game launcher, controller, and TV remote for your living-room Linux gaming PC — a SteamOS or Bazzite HTPC, a docked Steam Deck, or any systemd Linux box. When the TV shows a black screen and the box seems dead, Couchside is the screen. See what's actually happening, read the logs, restart the display session, launch a game, or pick up a virtual controller — all from the couch, entirely on your own home network. LIVE CONSOLE A real-time dashboard of your box: CPU temperature, load, memory, per-disk usage, uptime, and — on a handheld — battery and power profile, plus the health of the systemd services you care about. A "now playing" card shows what's on the TV, and when the box drops off the network a clear "unreachable" banner tells you when it was last seen. Running more than one box? The Fleet view watches your whole lineup and switches between them in a tap. FIX IT WITHOUT A KEYBOARD One-tap runbook actions, grouped by danger level, each confirmed before it runs (twice when it's destructive): • Restart the display session — the classic fix for a wedged gamescope black screen • Switch to Desktop / Return to Game Mode — no keyboard needed • Reboot or power off Browse recent journald logs for any watched service, right from your phone — no SSH, no laptop. LAUNCH GAMES FROM THE COUCH The agent finds the Steam games installed on the box and lays them out as cover art. Tap a cover and it launches on the TV. Add custom launchers — a label and a command — for anything else the box runs. Streaming from a gaming PC elsewhere in the house? Couchside lists your Steam Remote Play hosts and starts the stream on the box. VIRTUAL GAME CONTROLLER The agent creates a genuine virtual Xbox 360 controller on the box, so Steam, Big Picture, and your games see real gamepad input. Three modes, one tap apart: • Gamepad — dual sticks, D-pad, ABXY, bumpers, analog triggers • Swipe — an Apple-TV-remote-style surface: swipe to move, tap to select. Perfect for Kodi and Big Picture. • Trackpad — a real relative-mouse pad with tap-to-click, two-finger right-click, and two-finger scroll Plus an on-screen keyboard that types straight to the box. LIVING-ROOM REMOTE & TV CONTROL A proper remote for the whole setup — including the TV itself. Control an LG webOS or Google TV over your network: power, volume, and input, right beside the box's own controls. EASY PAIRING Install the open-source agent with one command. Scan the QR code it shows, or type the 6-digit PIN from the box's screen — either way the app connects with nothing to configure. If the box's .local name stops resolving (as it can in Game Mode), the app falls back to its last known IP automatically. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Couchside talks only to the agent on your own LAN. No cloud, no relay, no accounts, no analytics. Auth is a bearer token stored in the iOS Keychain; on the box, the agent's privileges are limited to an exact, audited allowlist of commands. The agent that runs on your box is open source (MIT); the app is source-available — read the code or build it yourself. TRY FREE FOR 7 DAYS, PAY ONCE Free to download with a full-featured 7-day trial — every screen, no account, no card. After the trial, a single one-time unlock keeps everything forever. No subscription, ever. Prefer to compile the app yourself from the public source? That's allowed and documented. REQUIREMENTS • A SteamOS, Bazzite, or other systemd-based Linux machine on your home network • The free open-source Couchside agent installed on it (one command, no dependencies) • iPhone and box on the same LAN

Screenshots

ntfy2 screens
Couchside4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ntfy at none against Couchside's 1. ntfy also leads on ratings volume (442 vs 7). Couchside's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs fortnightly) and review sentiment (100% vs 79%). On price, ads, monetization model 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. Couchside sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ntfy asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Couchside holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ntfy has 442 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of ntfy's written reviews are positive against 100% of Couchside's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ntfy ships an update fortnightly, Couchside every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
ntfy versus Couchside: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterntfyCouchside
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (442 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings442 — better7
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB56 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPhilipp HeckelTaylor Emery

Customer experience

ntfy

All ratings442 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral1.6%
Negative4.5%
Written reviews164 reviews
Positive78.7%
Neutral6.1%
Negative15.2%

Couchside

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

ntfy

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Notifications not working on iOS
  • Broken click URLs in notifications
  • Compatibility issues with iOS notification summarizing

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to change notification sounds
  • Support for Apple Watch
  • Customizable topic names/aliases
  • Improved iOS notification handling
  • All topics view and read/unread indicators

Couchside

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

ntfy

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Couchside

One-time1
  • Couchside Forever Unlock$4.99

Questions

Is ntfy free?
ntfy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Couchside free?
Couchside is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ntfy or Couchside?
Couchside is rated higher. ntfy averages 4.8 out of 5 from 442 ratings, while Couchside averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do ntfy or Couchside have ads?
Neither ntfy nor Couchside shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ntfy or Couchside?
ntfy ships an update fortnightly, and Couchside every 2 days. Most recently, ntfy was updated on September 27, 2026 and Couchside on September 23, 2026.

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