Comparison

Helmarr vs Couchside

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

Head to head
About

Helmarr

Manage all your self-hosted services from a single, native iOS interface. Seamlessly integrate and control applications like Sonarr, Radarr, and Unraid with advanced features and customization.

Highlights
  • Unified experience for multiple services
  • Smart multi-network connectivity
  • Deep customization options
  • Home screen widgets
  • Unraid control
  • Push notifications
  • SSH & SFTP access
  • Download management
Features
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Helmarr provides a unified, native iOS interface for your self-hosted services. Stop relying on responsive web UIs and manage your entire stack in an app where your services actually work hand-in-hand. Currently supported: Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr, Bazarr, Unraid, SSH (+SFTP), Tautulli, Jellystat, Overseerr, Jellyseerr, Seerr, qBt, SABnzbd, NZBGet, Wizarr, Prowlarr, Transmission, Deluge. Key Features: - A Truly Unified Experience: Your stack shouldn't feel like separate silos. Helmarr brings Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr, Seerr, and Tautulli together. Browse your library, approve requests, and view active streams in one seamless interface. - Smart Connectivity: Full multi-network support allows you to define primary and fallback hosts. Helmarr automatically switches between your LAN IP and WAN/DNS address depending on where you are. - Make It Your Own: Deep customization options let you tweak the app to your liking. Change accent colors, rearrange your tab bar, and set custom headers to match your personal aesthetic. - Home Screen Widgets: Keep an eye on your download queue, upcoming releases, or server stats at a glance without even opening the app. - Unraid Control: Real-time monitoring of Shares, Parity status, Disks, and Warnings. Start/Stop Docker containers and VMs instantly. - Push Notifications: Stay in the loop with configurable alerts for grabs, successful imports, and critical health checks. - Terminal & Vitals: Full SSH & SFTP access with live resource monitoring (CPU/RAM/Net). Manage processes and containers via command line. - Download Management: Remote control for SABnzbd and NZBGet. Pause, resume, reorder queues, and set speed limits on the fly. - Release Browser: Don't just rely on automation—search, filter, and manually grab specific releases with ease. - Onboarding: Generate and manage user invites via Wizarr. Website: https://helmarr.com/ Terms of Service: https://helmarr.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://helmarr.com/privacy

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
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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

Helmarr4 screens
Couchside4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Couchside at free against Helmarr's free with in-app purchases. Couchside also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 76%) and update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly). Helmarr's advantage is ratings volume (172 vs 7). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Helmarr sells 19 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Couchside sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Helmarr against 5.0 for Couchside. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Helmarr has 172 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of Helmarr's written reviews are positive against 100% of Couchside's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Helmarr ships an update weekly, Couchside every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Helmarr versus Couchside: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHelmarrCouchside
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (172 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings172 — better7
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size170 MB56 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFlorian ErnstTaylor Emery

Customer experience

Helmarr

All ratings172 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral1.2%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews145 reviews
Positive75.9%
Neutral7.6%
Negative16.6%

Couchside

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

In-app purchases

19 purchases

Helmarr

Subscriptions3
  • Helmarr Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Ultra Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Helmarr Pro Yearly Subscription$17.991 Year
One-time16
  • Bazarr$3.99
  • Deluge$4.99
  • Plex$4.99
Show 13 more
  • Transmission$4.99
  • NZBGet$4.99
  • Lidarr$4.99
  • Unraid$4.99
  • SABnzbd$4.99
  • Tautulli$4.99
  • Sonarr$4.99
  • Radarr$4.99
  • Seerr$4.99
  • qBt$4.99
  • Prowlarr$4.99
  • Helmarr Pro - Lifetime$29.99
  • Lifetime Pro$34.99
1 purchases

Couchside

One-time1
  • Couchside Forever Unlock$4.99

Questions

Is Helmarr free?
Helmarr is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Couchside free?
Couchside is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Helmarr or Couchside?
Couchside is rated higher. Helmarr averages 4.9 out of 5 from 172 ratings, while Couchside averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Helmarr or Couchside have ads?
Neither Helmarr nor Couchside shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Helmarr or Couchside?
Helmarr ships an update weekly, and Couchside every 2 days. Most recently, Helmarr was updated on September 26, 2026 and Couchside on September 23, 2026.

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