Comparison

Meter Reading vs MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner

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

Head to head
About

Meter Reading

Features
Read full description

Tired of surprise utility bills? Meter Reading is the simple utility tracker for your electric, natural gas and water meters. Scan or type your meter readings, see what your usage costs so far, and know before the utility bill arrives whether you are on track or heading for a higher bill. No spreadsheets, no account, no hassle. SCAN YOUR METER IN SECONDS Point your camera at the meter and the app reads the numbers for you, right on your device. Works with digital displays and number wheels on electric, gas and water meters. Older dial meters? Type or speak the reading instead. YOUR UNITS, YOUR WAY kWh, CCF and gallons are preset for US meters. Therms, cubic feet or anything else you can type in yourself, for every meter. Gas meters in cubic meters can be converted to kWh automatically. KNOW YOUR UTILITY BILL BEFORE IT ARRIVES Enter your rate plan: price per kWh, base charge and monthly payments. The app does the math: costs to date, a forecast for the whole year and the expected credit or balance due. Tiered rates, rate changes and a plan comparison are built in, and a reminder tells you before your contract term ends. DASHBOARD: EVERYTHING AT A GLANCE Every meter gets its own dashboard: current reading, this year's usage with forecast, monthly trend, comparison with last year, a heatmap across all years and automatic insights when your usage looks unusual. Pick the cards you want and put them in your order. SOLAR, NET METERING AND HEAT PUMPS Virtual meters calculate what no single meter shows: how much solar power you use yourself, how much you send back to the grid and how much you buy from your utility. Start from a template (solar with grid export, solar with self-consumption, solar with heat pump) or write your own formula. Enter your export credit rate to see what your solar earns, and the heat pump meter shows your seasonal performance factor. BUILT FOR HOMEOWNERS, RENTERS AND LANDLORDS Manage multiple homes, rental units and properties, assign meters to each one and read all meters of a property in one go. Print a QR code for every meter and open the right one with a scan. Create annual statements and utility cost statements for your tenants as PDF. NEVER MISS A READING Set reminders for each meter: daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly. Add up to four photos, notes and tags to every reading, and mark the readings you have reported to your utility. SEE HOW WEATHER DRIVES YOUR BILL Outdoor temperature, rain and sunshine hours right next to your usage. Find out how much a heat wave or a cold snap really costs you in heating and cooling. IMPORT, EXPORT, BACKUP CSV import and export for readings, rate plans, payments and gas conversions. PDF reports to share. Back up your data to a file, with a reminder. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your readings and rate plans stay on your device. No sign-up, no account, no cloud required. Light and dark mode, for iPhone and iPad, in 30 languages. FREE, NO SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED Every feature is free. Premium only removes the ads and supports further development. SUPPORTED METERS โ€ข Electric meters, including time-of-use (peak/off-peak) and multi-rate meters โ€ข Bidirectional net meters for solar, also with multiple rates โ€ข Solar production meters and grid export meters โ€ข Plug-in energy monitors and prepaid electric meters with balance forecast โ€ข Heat pump meters with seasonal performance factor, district heating meters โ€ข Natural gas meters, heating oil tanks and pellet heating โ€ข Water meters, irrigation and sprinkler submeters (excluded from sewer charges) โ€ข Virtual meters with your own formula Whether you own, rent or manage properties: Meter Reading helps you understand your electricity usage and lower your utility bills. Download for free today. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner

Features
Read full description

MeterPix is an AI-powered app that simplifies utility meter reading for electricity, gas, water, and solar users. With advanced AI recognition, including Apple Vision ML and ChatGPT-4, users can snap a photo of their meter, and the app automatically extracts and records the reading. Key features include:โ€จ - AI-Powered Scanning โ€“ Instantly detect and log meter readings with high accuracy.โ€จ - Multi-Utility Support โ€“ Works with electricity, gas, water, and solar meters.โ€จ - Historical Tracking โ€“ Visualise usage trends with graphs.โ€จ - Manual Entry Option โ€“ Flexibility to input readings if needed. - Sharing - Send your latest readings by email Instructions: - On the Meter tab, start by adding a utility meter. - Once added, select the meter from the meters list. - Click on "Add Reading". - Capture a photo of a utility meter, select an OCR result and click on submit. - This will add the reading to the meter's reading. - Go to the Share tab to send the meter readings to any email. - Optionally, go to the Settings tab and add an Open AI API key: then when the OCR is done, in addition to using Apple's Vision ML framework, the app will also submit the image to ChatGPT and retrieve a result.

Screenshots

Meter Reading4 screens
MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Meter Reading at Free against MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner's $0.99. Meter Reading also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). On device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Meter Reading is free to download; MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner costs $0.99 up front. Meter Reading sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Meter Reading ships an update every 2 weeks, MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences ยท 1 level
Meter Reading versus MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMeter ReadingMeterPix Utility Meter Scanner
PriceFree โ€” better$0.99
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks โ€” betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 โ€” better18.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size244 MB5 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperMoritz KarraschErik Bogaerts

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Meter Reading

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly ad-free subscription7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Yearly ad-free subscription$8.991 Year
One-time8
  • Donation XXS$0.99
  • Donation XS$1.99
  • Donation S$3.99
Show 5 more
  • Donation M$8.99
  • Donation L$17.99
  • Ad-Free$22.99
  • Donation XL$44.99
  • Donation XXL$89.99
None

MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Meter Reading free?
Meter Reading is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner free?
MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Meter Reading or MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner have ads?
Meter Reading shows ads; MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner does not.
Which is updated more often, Meter Reading or MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner?
Meter Reading ships an update every 2 weeks, and MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner every 3 months. Most recently, Meter Reading was updated on October 4, 2026 and MeterPix Utility Meter Scanner on October 1, 2026.

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