August Home vs Rain Bird
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
August Home
Control your front door from anywhere with this app. Grant access to guests remotely, receive activity alerts, and automate locking and unlocking. Integrates with smart home systems and voice assistants.
- Remote lock and unlock
- Guest key management
- Activity feed
- Auto-Unlock/Auto-Lock
- Smart Alerts
- Voice control integration
- Smart home integration
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August locks are supported exclusively in the United States and Canada. At August Home, we believe that the door to the home isn't just about keeping your home safe from unwanted visitors. It's also about letting the right people in - at the right times, on your terms. With August, you are always in control of your front door, no matter where you are. For use with the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock, August Smart Lock, August Smart Lock Pro + Connect, August Smart Keypad and other compatible products. A key that works everywhere. Lock the front door. And unlock it. From anywhere. No more hiding or looking for keys. Send secure keys to friends, family or people you trust instantly, all from the August app. Always know who comes and goes with Activity Feed. See exactly what time guests and loved ones enter and leave your home, with August’s Activity Feed right on your app. Never fumble for your keys again. Auto-Unlock detects when you arrive and unlocks the door. Enable Auto-Lock to lock when the door closes. Alerts that actually help. With Smart Alerts, you choose and set your notifications to customize your preferences. Let guests in from anywhere. Unlock your door from anywhere with the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock or August Smart Lock with Wi-Fi Connect Bridge. Use your voice. Seamlessly connect your August smart product with Amazon Alexa or Hey Google for convenient voice control. Smarter hosting. Integrate your August account with your Airbnb account for easier, safer and more convenient hosting. Works with your smart home. August works with many of the top smart home systems including Apple HomeKit, Samsung SmartThings, Philips Hue and more. Compatible Products: August Smart Lock August Smart Lock Pro August Wi-Fi Smart Lock August View August Doorbell August Smart Keypad August Connect Yale Assure Locks with Wi-Fi Yale Assure Levers with Wi-Fi Yale Smart Cabinet Lock Yale Smart Delivery Box Yale Assure Lock for Andersen with Wi-Fi Emtek Empowered Smart Lock
Rain Bird
Control your sprinklers remotely from your mobile device. Automate watering schedules and adjust for weather conditions to conserve water and reduce costs. Compatible with various Rain Bird controller models.
- Remote sprinkler control
- Customizable watering schedules
- Automated weather adjustments
- Water and money saving
- Controller model compatibility
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Smart Watering Made Simple. Connect your Rain Bird controller to your mobile device to turn on sprinklers, set up customized watering schedules, and automate weather adjustments, saving you water and money. Compatible with the following Rain Bird controller models: ST8-WIFI ESP-TM2 ESP-RZXe ESP-Me ESP-ME3 RC2 ARC8 For more information: http://wifi.rainbird.com 1-800-RAINBIRD
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Rain Bird at none against August Home's shown. Rain Bird also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.6.1). August Home's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for August Home against 4.7 for Rain Bird. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 175K and 70K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 30% of August Home's written reviews are positive against 31% of Rain Bird's.
August Home ships an update fortnightly, Rain Bird every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 20, 2026.
| Parameter | August Home | Rain Bird |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (175K ratings) — better | 4.7 (70K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 30.0% of reviews | 31.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 175K — better | 70K |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6.1 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 304 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | August Home, Inc. | Rain Bird Corporation |
Customer experience
August Home
Rain Bird
User reviews
August Home
From 175K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Convenient auto-unlock
- 🔒 Secure access control
- 👍 Easy to use app
- 👍 Reliable hardware
- 👍 Helpful customer support
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy app updates
- 🔋 Battery drain issues
- 🔒 Limited user permissions
- 👎 Inconsistent unlock performance
- 🔒 Incompatible with some locks
Rain Bird
From 70K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to program
- 🚀 Convenient remote control
- 👍 Versatile
- 👍 Must have
- 👍 Ease of mind
Room to improve
- 🐛 Connectivity issues
- 🐛 Slow and clunky app
- 🐛 Date/time not updating
- 🐛 Unreliable system
- 🐛 Limited functionality
Bugs and requests
August Home
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes on launch
- Connectivity issues with Bluetooth and WiFi
- Unreliable unlock/lock notifications
- Inability to add users remotely
Requested features
5 requests- Customizable auto-lock settings
- Integration with smart home platforms
- Remote access management
- Battery life indicators
- Improved setup and troubleshooting
Rain Bird
Reported bugs
5 issues- Constant connection errors
- App crashes frequently
- Date/time not syncing correctly
- Seasonal adjustment not working as expected
- Manual controls not functioning properly
Requested features
6 requests- Add water usage history and analytics
- Allow pausing of individual zones
- Improve manual control options
- Add weather integration and smart scheduling
- Improve notification system
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Add ability to turn off entire system remotely
In-app purchases
August Home
No in-app purchases
Rain Bird
No in-app purchases
