Pi Garage vs ESPHome
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pi Garage
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Pi Garage Door Opener. Open source garage door opener using a Rasberry Pi/Pimironi Relay board https://michaelgambold.github.io/pi-garage/#/
ESPHome
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ESPHome-WLED Device Manager is a powerful native iOS, iPad, and Apple Watch app for discovering and controlling your smart home devices on your local network. Recommended ESPHome Component For the best experience, add the webserver_listcomponents (https://github.com/domgrimm/esphome-webserver-listcomponents) external component to your ESPHome config. It enables fast, reliable entity discovery with full metadata support. ESPHome Device Control • Automatic network discovery via Bonjour/mDNS • Full component support: switches, lights, fans, covers, sensors, climate, numbers, selects, buttons, text, time, and alarm control panels • Native API with Noise encryption for secure, real-time communication • Live log streaming and Server-Sent Events for instant state updates • HTTP Basic authentication support • Manual device addition for devices outside your local network WLED Advanced Control • Power, brightness, and full effect/palette management • Segment management with blend modes and transition styles • Live LED preview via WebSocket for 1D strips and 2D matrices • Native gradient palette editor with WLED JSON codec • PixelForge tools for WLED 0.16+: Pixel Paint, Image Tool, and Scrolling Text • LittleFS file browser and custom palette management Widgets • Device Hub widget shows multiple ESPHome and WLED devices in an Apple Home-style layout • Device Control widget displays individual components or WLED segments with interactive toggle • Both widgets support small and medium sizes with AppIntent-driven configuration iPad Optimized • Two-column NavigationSplitView with sidebar device list • Balanced split-view layout for efficient device browsing and control • Adaptive interface that responds to size class changes Apple Watch • Full watchOS companion app with device discovery and control • Digital Crown brightness control with haptic feedback for WLED • Effect and palette wheel pickers with live color preview • Manual device sync from your iPhone via App Groups ESPHome-WLED Device Manager runs entirely on your local network — no cloud services, no accounts, and no tracking. Your devices stay under your control. Requires ESPHome or WLED devices on your local network. Supports current ESPHome firmware with entity-name-based URL paths and API 1.14+ native handshake.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pi Garage at none against ESPHome's 5. Pi Garage also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17). ESPHome's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 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. ESPHome sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Pi Garage asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pi Garage ships an update every 2 months, ESPHome weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pi Garage | ESPHome |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 21 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Michael Gambold | Dominic Grimm |
In-app purchases
Pi Garage
No in-app purchases
ESPHome
- Small Tip$0.49
- Medium Tip$1.99
- Large Tip$2.99
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- Extra Large Tip$5.99
- Massive Tip$12.99









