Comparison

Backblaze vs Pi

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

Head to head
About

Backblaze

Access and manage your cloud-backed-up files directly from your iOS device. Download, preview, and share files securely, with support for Face ID login. Keep your important data readily available wherever you go.

Highlights
  • Access backed-up files
  • Manage cloud storage
  • Face ID login
  • Search and download files
  • Image thumbnail previews
  • Share files
Read full description

Backblaze Mobile for iOS is a free app to view, download, and share files you have backed up to your Backblaze Personal Backup account. Easily access your files from devices running iOS 15+. Features: * Access files backed up to Backblaze Personal Backup * Manage buckets and files in Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage * Face ID access supported for login * Search for specific files and download to your iOS device * Thumbnail preview of downloaded image files * Share files via text, email, etc About Backblaze: * Founded in 2007 * 2.2+ Exabytes of customer data under storage * Recommended by About.com, The Verge, Lifehacker, re/code, Macworld... and hundreds of thousands of customers across over 175 countries "You will sleep so much better knowing you have Backblaze." - John Gruber "I've used other online backup, Backblaze is my favorite." - Marco Arment "I like and can recommend Backblaze." - Walt Mossberg

About

Pi

Control your Pi-hole network ad blocker remotely. Quickly disable blocking, block specific services, and view real-time network statistics. Manage adlists, update gravity, and configure DNS/DHCP settings with ease.

Highlights
  • Disable/enable Pi-hole blocking
  • Block specific services
  • View real-time query logs
  • Add domains to whitelist/blacklist
  • Update gravity
  • Manage adlists
  • Configure DNS & DHCP settings
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

Backblaze4 screens
Pi4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pi at 89% against Backblaze's 35%. Pi also leads on rating (4.8 vs 2.8) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). Backblaze's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and iOS requirement (15.0 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. Backblaze asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pi holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pi has 1.2K ratings behind it against 27, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 35% of Backblaze's written reviews are positive against 89% of Pi's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Backblaze ships an update every 2 months, Pi every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Backblaze versus Pi: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBackblazePi
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.8 (27 ratings)4.8 (1.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews34.6% of reviews88.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings271.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 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 iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB84 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBackblazeRocketScience IT

Customer experience

Backblaze

All ratings27 ratings
Positive40.7%
Neutral7.4%
Negative51.9%
Written reviews237 reviews
Positive34.6%
Neutral13.5%
Negative51.9%

Pi

All ratings1,237 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral1.3%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews393 reviews
Positive88.5%
Neutral4.3%
Negative7.1%

User reviews

Backblaze

From 27 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and easy access
  • 💡 Remote downloading
  • 👍 Secure backup access

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes, bugs, and reliability issues
  • 👎 Clunky, slow, and unintuitive UI
  • 🔒 Authentication and login problems
  • 📤 Limited file download capabilities

Pi

From 1.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazing app!!
  • 🚀 Excellent app
  • 🚀 Perfect for managing Pi-hole
  • 🚀 Brilliant
  • 🚀 Great app to keep an eye on things

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Disappointing
  • 🔍 Pulled a bait-and-switch with paid features
  • 🔍 Widget unreliable
  • 🔍 Replaced block percentage with clients
  • 🔍 Unusable if not upgraded to pihole v6

Bugs and requests

Backblaze

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes on launch or login
  • Inconsistent performance and connectivity
  • Unreliable file downloads and restoration

Requested features

4 requests
  • Thumbnails and previews for media files
  • Ability to manage backups and buckets
  • Improved search and sorting options
  • Sync and upload capabilities from mobile

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

Backblaze

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 Backblaze free?
Backblaze 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, Backblaze or Pi?
Pi is rated higher. Backblaze averages 2.8 out of 5 from 27 ratings, while Pi averages 4.8 from 1.2K ratings.
Do Backblaze or Pi have ads?
Neither Backblaze nor Pi shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Backblaze or Pi?
Backblaze ships an update every 2 months, and Pi every 2 weeks. Most recently, Backblaze was updated on September 29, 2026 and Pi on October 1, 2026.

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