Comparison

HomeGuru vs Pi

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

Head to head
About

HomeGuru

Control your home's lights and appliances with this app designed for SmartLinc INSTEON controllers. View and manage configured scenes, sending on, off, or fade commands directly from your device. It offers a faster and more user-friendly experience than web interfaces.

Highlights
  • Control lights and appliances
  • View and manage scenes
  • Send on, off, and fade commands
  • Automatic device support
  • User-friendly interface
Features
Read full description

If you have a SmartLinc INSTEON controller from SmartLabs (part #2412N, not an INSTEON Hub), HomeGuru is the perfect way to control your home's lights and appliances. It allows you to view a list of all configured scenes in your house, view their status and control them by sending on, off or fade commands to them. It is much quicker and friendlier than using the web interface to the device, especially if you use authentication. HomeGuru supports all the devices the SmartLinc knows about automatically, no further configuration is necessary. IMPORTANT: HomeGuru supports SmartLinc firmware version 3.0 (iPhone 2.0). It is known to work with 2.8 without device status. (To check your version, look for Firmware Version under the General Settings.) Make sure you have a supported version before purchasing. If you have communication problems with your SmartLinc, please contact us for assistance or send an error report under your controller in settings.

About

Pi

Manage your Pi-hole network ad blocker from any Apple device. Monitor DNS queries, control blocking, and manage lists and settings. Offers interactive widgets and Siri integration for quick access.

Highlights
  • Remote Pi-hole management
  • DNS query monitoring
  • Ad blocking control
  • List and domain management
  • Interactive widgets
  • Siri integration
  • Multi-device support
Features
Read full description

Take full control of your Pi-hole from your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Monitor your network, inspect DNS queries, manage blocking and lists, and control multiple Pi-hole instances from anywhere in the Apple ecosystem. *Disable Blocking* Quickly disable blocking from the app, interactive Home Screen widgets, your Apple Watch, or Siri. You'll see a Live Activity for the duration to remind you blocking is disabled! *Statistics & Queries* Look up what domains are queried most on your network, as well as clients that send out the most requests. View your Query Log as well as a 'Live Log' which shows queries on your network in real time. *Blocked Services* Want to quickly restrict access to Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Roblox, and more? Block all kinds of services effortlessly with just one tap. *Manage Your Pi-hole* Manage Clients & Groups, Domains & Adlists, and change all kinds of Pi-hole settings such as DNS/DHCP settings. *Interactive Widgets & Live Activity* Choose from a wide range of Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets that show your Pi-hole status or statistics. There are also interactive widgets to disable blocking without opening the app! When you disable blocking, you will even see a Live Activity on your Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, and Smart Stack. *Controls* Quickly toggle blocking right from your Lock Screen, Control Center, or Action Button. *Made for the Apple Ecosystem* Use Pi-hole Remote across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Your instances and preferences stay available across your devices through iCloud. Purchase Pi-hole Remote+ once and unlock it on every supported platform. == iPhone, iPad, and Mac features: - Enable or temporarily disable Pi-hole blocking - View detailed statistics and combined data from multiple instances - Search and filter your Query Log or watch queries appear in real time - Add domains to your allowlist or denylist, individually or in bulk - Block entire services such as social networks, streaming platforms, and games - Manage clients, groups, domains, adlists, DNS, and DHCP settings - Update Gravity and manage your Pi-hole configuration - Add and control an unlimited number of Pi-hole instances - Choose where each instance appears based on your Wi-Fi network - Connect securely using HTTPS, reverse proxies, custom paths, and custom headers - Use interactive widgets, Live Activities, and Lock Screen or Control Center controls - Control Pi-hole with Siri, App Shortcuts, Spotlight, and the Action Button - Sync settings and selected Pi-hole data between instances - Personalize the app with custom colors and alternative icons - Enjoy dedicated layouts for iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Full VoiceOver and Dark Mode support Apple Watch features: - View status and statistics, control one or all instances, access Blocked Services, and use complications and Live Activities Apple TV features: - View statistics and queries, control blocking and services, and switch between or combine instances on the big screen == Note: You need at least one working Pi-hole instance running on another device for this app to function and you must use Pi-hole Version 6.0 or up. Pi-hole Remote is a third-party app which uses the Pi-hole API and is in no way affiliated with Pi-hole. Find out more about Pi-hole at https://pi-hole.net/. This app offers a "Pi-hole Remote+" version with additional features, in the form of a lifetime purchase, a monthly subscription, or a yearly subscription. Subscriptions will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period and will be charged to your App Store account. You can turn off auto-renew or manage subscriptions in your App Store account settings after purchase. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

HomeGuru3 screens
Pi4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Pi at 4.8 against HomeGuru's 3.7. Pi also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (1.3K vs 3). HomeGuru's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). On price and ads 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. Pi sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. HomeGuru asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pi holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pi has 1.3K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of HomeGuru's written reviews are positive against 88% of Pi's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HomeGuru ships an update every 4 months, Pi every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
HomeGuru versus Pi: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHomeGuruPi
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (3 ratings)4.8 (1.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.6% of reviews88.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings31.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB85 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperzenwheelRocketScience IT

Customer experience

HomeGuru

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive63.6%
Neutral18.2%
Negative18.2%

Pi

All ratings1,257 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral1.4%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews412 reviews
Positive88.1%
Neutral4.4%
Negative7.5%

Bugs and requests

HomeGuru

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Pi

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Crashes when pressing certain options
  • Unable to reach Pi Hole after configuration
  • Statistics screen crashes the app
  • Widgets not working
  • Live Logs not working properly
Show 2 more
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatible with older devices

Requested features

13 requests
  • Add and remove adlists from the internet
  • DHCP management, like assign static IPs, change host names of devices
  • Change other pihole settings, like upstream DNS servers
  • A command line interface
  • Group management, I.e. the ability to whitelist or blacklist certain domains only for certain groups of devices, and to be able to create new groups and edit which devices are in each group
Show 8 more
  • Option to style query bar graph as stacked bar graph colored by client
  • Notification to update pihole
  • Ability to update the OS and pihole from the app
  • Wildcard support for the whitelist
  • View DHCP Leases or add reservations
  • Query Log
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

In-app purchases

None

HomeGuru

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Pi

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly PHR+$0.991 Month
  • PHR+ Yearly$4.991 Year
One-time5
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$3.99
  • Large Tip$6.99
Show 2 more
  • PHR+ Lifetime$11.99
  • Huge Tip$17.99

Questions

Is HomeGuru free?
HomeGuru is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pi free?
Pi is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, HomeGuru or Pi?
Pi is rated higher. HomeGuru averages 3.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Pi averages 4.8 from 1.3K ratings.
Do HomeGuru or Pi have ads?
Neither HomeGuru nor Pi shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HomeGuru or Pi?
HomeGuru ships an update every 4 months, and Pi every 2 weeks. Most recently, HomeGuru was updated on November 1, 2026 and Pi on November 7, 2026.

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