Blue Iris vs Amcrest Smart Home
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Blue Iris
Access and manage your home camera network remotely through a secure client for the Blue Iris PC software. View live streams, review recordings, and receive alerts from your cameras. Offers advanced controls and two-way audio for compatible devices.
- Manage multiple Blue Iris installations
- Receive push notification alerts
- Fast H.264 streaming
- Control PTZ and two-way audio
- Review and download recordings
- Broadcast live video from device
- Geofencing alerts
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This app is a CLIENT for the Blue Iris Windows PC software. In order to make use of this app, you must have Blue Iris version 6 installed and running on a Windows PC or VM. Instructions for connecting this app to the PC software are found in the Remote Access chapter of its Help file. This app provides a single point of contact to your home camera network. There is no need to insecurely open individual cameras to the Internet. This app connects using a secure and session-based protocol--no passwords are transmitted in plain text. Remote access does require router configuration or NGROK, which you can test without the app by using Safari. You should see your Blue Iris login page. Key features include: - Manage multiple Blue Iris installations - Geofencing: set status, send alerts, and more in response to device location * - Control the shield icon, schedule and profile selection - Receive iOS push notification alerts when a Blue Iris camera is triggered or there is a critical status message - Fast H.264 streaming - Control PTZ, IR and more for any camera that’s also controllable at the Blue Iris PC - Listen to and talk to any camera that’s also supported at the Blue Iris PC - Navigate cameras by tapping and swiping - Review recordings as stored on the Blue Iris PC, up to 64x speed - Download recorded video from the Blue Iris PC to the iOS device - Selectively delete recordings from the Blue Iris PC - Broadcast live video from the iOS device directly into a Blue Iris PC camera window - Remote control DIO output signals on compatible devices - Baby monitor functionality: continue to listen to audio with app closed or device in standby ** * Note that continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. ** Note that continued use of audio streaming running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.
Amcrest Smart Home
Connect to and manage your smart security devices, including video doorbells and cameras. Monitor your home remotely and stay informed about security events.
- Connect to smart security devices
- Manage video doorbells
- Monitor deterrent cameras
- Control battery cameras
- Stay connected remotely
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The Amcrest Smart Home app will allow you to stay connected to all your Smart security devices including our Video Doorbell, Deterrent Camera, and our Battery Camera
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Amcrest Smart Home at Free against Blue Iris's $9.99. Amcrest Smart Home also leads on rating (4.3 vs 3.7) and ratings volume (2.4K vs 423). Blue Iris's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (56% vs 26%). On 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
Amcrest Smart Home is free to download; Blue Iris costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Amcrest Smart Home holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Amcrest Smart Home has 2.4K ratings behind it against 423, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 56% of Blue Iris's written reviews are positive against 26% of Amcrest Smart Home's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Blue Iris ships an update every 4 days, Amcrest Smart Home every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Blue Iris | Amcrest Smart Home |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.7 (423 ratings) | 4.3 (2.4K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 55.8% of reviews — better | 26.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 423 | 2.4K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #47 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 135 MB |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | Ken Pletzer | Amcrest |
Customer experience
Blue Iris
Amcrest Smart Home
Bugs and requests
Blue Iris
Reported bugs
5 issues- Inability to save video clips
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between live view and playback
- Push notifications not working reliably
- Cameras sometimes shown as offline when they are not
- Crashes when rotating device or accessing certain features
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for VPN connections
- Improve video scrubbing and playback controls
- Implement a more modern and responsive UI
- Allow for more granular user permissions and access levels
- Provide better integration with home automation systems
Amcrest Smart Home
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Blue Iris
No in-app purchases
Amcrest Smart Home
No in-app purchases
