Tesaro vs Handlefree
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tesaro
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Your Tesla. Always in control. Tesaro brings vehicle control, live status, and detailed driving, charging, and parking insights to your iPhone and Apple Watch. Formerly S3XY Companion. Control your vehicle in seconds: - Lock and unlock - Open and close frunk, trunk, doors, windows, and charge port - Start and stop charging - Set the charge limit - Start climate, defrost, Dog Mode, Camp Mode, seat heating, seat cooling, and steering wheel heating - Flash lights, honk, remote start, wake the vehicle, and trigger HomeLink Stay close to your Tesla: - Live vehicle status for battery, range, charging, climate, lock state, location, and current drive or parking state - Live Activities for charging, driving, and vehicle status - Home Screen, Lock Screen, Control Center, and Apple Watch widgets - Apple Watch app, complications, and quick actions for wrist-based control - Siri Shortcuts and App Intents for common vehicle commands Understand every trip and charge: - Trip history with maps, timeline scrubber, distance, duration, efficiency, energy, temperatures, and costs - Charging history with power, battery, energy, time, cost, and location details - Parking history with duration, battery change, energy loss, maps, and daily statistics - Overview charts for trips, charging, parking, drivers, and vehicle activity - Battery health, capacity history, degradation tracking, software history, and VIN information Built for everyday Tesla owners: - Adaptive layouts for iPhone Duo, open or closed, in portrait and landscape - Side-by-side lists, maps, and details when space allows - Multi-vehicle support - Customizable quick actions - Configurable notifications for trips, charging, security, climate, status changes, and commands - Saved locations and nearby charge locations - Charging plans and scheduling windows - Tibber electricity prices and Tibber-based charging automation - Bluetooth pairing and proximity actions for supported commands - Command history and in-app feedback reporting Some features require an active subscription. Tesaro is an independent app and is not affiliated with Tesla, Inc. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Handlefree
Control your Tesla's doors, frunk, trunk, and charge port directly from your iPhone or Apple Watch. This app offers a convenient way to interact with your vehicle without needing to touch physical handles, with features like live door status and customizable shortcuts.
- Open/close specific Tesla doors
- Access frunk and trunk
- Control charge-port cover
- Action Button and Shortcut integration
- Apple Watch app and complication
- Live door position status
- Holiday Mode for safety
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Skip the handle. Handlefree opens the right door of your Tesla with one press. Unlatch your Tesla's driver door from the Action Button, a Shortcut, Control Center or your Apple Watch. Let a passenger in by releasing exactly their door before they reach for the handle. Open the frunk and trunk, close the powered trunk, and open or close the charge-port cover. Every press is one deliberate attempt, sent directly to your car over Bluetooth. Nothing waits in a queue to fire later, and nothing is retried automatically. Handlefree then tells you what actually happened: requested, accepted by the car, reported open, or unavailable. It shows how long the command took. • One control per door, each with a named confirmation, mapped to your steering side • Live door position while you stand beside your car, whenever the car reports it • Siri phrases, nine ready-made Shortcuts, plus fixed-door controls for Control Center and the Lock Screen (iOS 18+) • Two favorite controls right under the main button • Apple Watch app and complication, using your nearby iPhone • Holiday Mode pauses every command until you turn it off with Face ID or your passcode • An optional strong-signal check before sending Private by design: your key is created on your iPhone and stays in its device-only Keychain. No Tesla login, no Handlefree account, no server, no analytics or advertising SDK. Free forever: your driver door, locking and unlocking, Holiday Mode and every safety setting. Handlefree Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. It unlocks passenger and rear doors, frunk, trunk, the charge-port cover and Apple Watch, and is shared with your family through Family Sharing. Try every Pro feature free for 7 days after you pair your car. Works with Tesla vehicles that support Bluetooth phone keys and current vehicle software; Model S and Model X built before 2021 do not. Confirmed on Model Y and Model 3. Pairing needs a key card that already opens your car, at the interior card reader; setup walks you through it in four steps and shows where the reader is. Each additional door or cargo action is tested once on your car before its shortcut is enabled. Use beside your parked car with the area around the door or cargo opening clear. Bluetooth range varies. A command acknowledgement does not prove physical movement. The frunk is closed by hand. Handlefree is an independent app by OneKapisch. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X are trademarks of Tesla, Inc.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Handlefree at weekly against Tesaro's monthly. Handlefree also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Tesaro sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Handlefree sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Tesaro ships an update monthly, Handlefree weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tesaro | Handlefree |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 6 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 298 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stefan Sturm | Kapish Bhardwaj |
In-app purchases
Tesaro
- For 1 Tesla monthly$6.991 Month
- For 2 Teslas monthly$14.991 Month
- For 3 Teslas monthly$19.991 Month
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- Premium for 1 Tesla yearly$69.991 Year
- Premium for 2 Teslas per year$149.991 Year
- Premium for 3 Teslas per year$199.991 Year
Handlefree
- Handlefree Pro$9.99









