HomeMapper vs Thread Doctor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HomeMapper
Unified inventory of all smart home devices across HomeKit, Home Assistant, Thread, Matter, and IP networks. Provides detailed device information, network topology maps, and health status.
- Unified device inventory
- Cross-platform scanning (HomeKit, Home Assistant, Matter, Thread, IP)
- Detailed device specifications
- Network topology visualization
- Device health monitoring
- Setup code vault
- Multi-location support
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Your entire smart home network. One view. HomeMapper builds a unified inventory of every device on your network, scanning HomeKit, Home Assistant, Thread, Matter, and IP at once and correlating them by hardware identifiers. DISCOVER Every method runs at once: • Apple's ecosystem. HomeKit via Apple's framework, plus Thread accessories, Border Routers, and Matter. • The network itself. Bonjour, subnet scans, and protocols like SSDP/UPnP. Printers, NAS boxes, and other local-only devices show up too. • Home Assistant. Direct read of your device registry: Matter, Thread, Zigbee, Z-Wave, ESPHome, and MQTT. When a device appears through several methods, HomeMapper merges it by seven hardware identifiers, not names. If HomeMapper isn't sure two entries are the same device, it lists both. YOUR DEVICES, EVERY DETAIL See devices Apple's Home app can't, and details it doesn't show: manufacturer, model, firmware, serial number, battery, IP and MAC address, and how each device connects, in columns like Connected via, Signal, Channel, and Stability. A room-based view groups them by room. TOPOLOGY MAP The Topology map shows how your devices connect: your Thread mesh, from the border routers down to the end devices they carry, your Zigbee network from Home Assistant, and each HomeKit bridge with the accessories behind it. It draws only connections it can measure. Tap a device for its full detail, or tap a connection to see its signal strength and how stable it has been. A red triangle marks a connection that is not working: weak, dropping traffic, or gone quiet. When a device will not report how it connects, HomeMapper shows that rather than guessing. A Health view lists what needs attention on your mesh, worst first: what is wrong, which devices, and one thing to try. Most homes show "Everything looks healthy." Export the map as a PNG, PDF, or SVG, titled with the home and dated. HOME ASSISTANT HomeMapper scans your Home Assistant servers as deeply as HomeKit, including the Thread mesh behind their border routers. Zigbee, Z-Wave, ESPHome, MQTT: devices HomeKit can't see appear alongside the ones it can. Pick a Primary Platform, and its room names win when a device is known to both. PLACES Scan more than one location, like your home and a relative's. Each Place holds its own Apple Homes and Home Assistant servers, and the app shows one Place at a time. HomeMapper picks the Place from devices on its local network, not your location. SETUP CODE VAULT Every HomeKit, Matter, and Z-Wave device has a setup code on a sticker that fades or gets lost. You need it to pair the device, and again if you reset or move it. No scan can recover one: setup codes never travel over the network. Save each code while you still have it: scan the QR with the camera, pull it from a photo, or type it in. It reads printed 8-digit codes too, for older accessories without a QR. A room-by-room list shows which devices are still missing one. Have a lot? Export a CSV worksheet, fill it in on a computer, and import it back. Your codes are stored on your device, in your backups, and synced through your own iCloud. EXPORT AND BACK UP Export your inventory to CSV, filtered how you want, for Numbers, Excel, or Sheets. Back up your inventory, settings, and setup codes to iCloud Drive or a local folder, and restore on another device. PRIVACY No ads and no tracking. Nothing leaves your device unless you send it. No account, and the only login is your own Home Assistant. FREE AND PRO HomeKit scanning, the device list, the room-based view, and switching between Apple Homes are free forever, with no scan or time limits. Pro adds multi-protocol scanning, all 20+ columns, Places, Home Assistant, the Topology map, the setup code vault, backup and restore, and CSV export. Subscribe yearly with a 7-day free trial, or buy Lifetime once and it never expires. Runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Terms of Use: https://homemapper.app/terms/
Thread Doctor
Diagnose and visualize your smart home's Thread mesh network. Identify unresponsive devices, signal issues, and weak points to improve reliability. Offers live mesh graphs, device details, and battery monitoring.
- Live mesh graph visualization
- Detailed device diagnostics
- Weak point detection
- Thread Leader identification
- Battery monitoring
- Scan history and export (Pro)
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Thread Doctor maps and helps diagnose the Thread mesh used by your Matter accessories paired in the Home app. When devices go unresponsive, respond slowly, or keep dropping off the network, Thread Doctor helps you see what is happening: routers, end devices, Border Routers, signal quality, battery levels, and possible weak points in your mesh. It reads supported Matter and Thread diagnostic data directly from your paired accessories and lets you change supported Matter device settings. Changes happen only when you explicitly apply them. Available values and settings depend on each accessory, firmware version, and platform support. WHAT IT HELPS ANSWER • Why do my Matter accessories show “No Response”? • Which device may be a weak point in my Thread mesh? • Where should I add another Thread router? • Which battery-powered accessories need attention? • Why did my Matter clock lose the time after a power cut? FREE FEATURES • Mesh graph with routers, child devices, Border Routers, signal values, link quality, and router-child relationships. • Device details for supported Matter and Thread attributes, including RSSI, LQI, RLOC16, routes, neighbors, Leader Router ID, sleep behavior, battery level, error rate, uptime, and more. • Force Sync (time) — set a Matter accessory's clock; shows device time, drift, and time source. • Identify — ask an accessory to blink its light so you can physically find it. • Possible weak-point detection based on topology data available during the scan. • Thread Leader identification. • Battery monitoring and filtering. • Separate lists and detail cards for HomeKit-only accessories, Matter-over-Wi-Fi devices, and Thread devices that hide diagnostics. • Self-reported device faults — radio, network, and hardware faults read from each accessory's Matter General Diagnostics cluster. • Matter device configuration — change supported settings such as power-on behavior, transition times, sensor delays, thermostat controls, and more. PRO FEATURES • AI Diagnose Use your own third-party LLM API key to analyze a structured mesh snapshot. Preview the outbound payload before sending; analysis starts only when you tap Analyze. • Scan history Browse past scans, compare snapshots, and review previous network states. • Snapshot export Share the raw mesh as JSON for troubleshooting, research, social posts, or your own scripts. One-time unlock. No subscription. PRIVACY Thread Doctor is designed to work locally. • No backend, analytics, telemetry, accounts, or third-party SDKs. • Pro unlock is handled through the standard in-app purchase system. • Your LLM API key is stored only on-device in the system Keychain. • Matter diagnostics and configuration changes use native APIs. Settings change only when you explicitly apply them. • Optional AI Diagnose sends data only after you preview the payload and tap Analyze. REQUIREMENTS • iOS 18 or later • Matter accessories paired in the Home app • Wi-Fi connection to the same network as your Border Routers • Optional AI Diagnose requires your own third-party LLM API key NOT A WI-FI NETWORK SCANNER Thread Doctor does not scan Wi-Fi networks. It reads supported Matter and Thread diagnostic information from paired smart home accessories. Thread Doctor is an independent indie project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by any platform provider, standards organization, or accessory manufacturer. Full data-flow documentation: https://threaddoctor.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: HomeMapper at 5.0 against Thread Doctor's 4.7. HomeMapper also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 83%). Thread Doctor's advantage is ratings volume (32 vs 5). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. HomeMapper sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year and Thread Doctor sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
HomeMapper holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Thread Doctor has 32 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of HomeMapper's written reviews are positive against 83% of Thread Doctor's.
HomeMapper ships an update every 10 days, Thread Doctor every 6 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | HomeMapper | Thread Doctor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better | 4.7 (32 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 83.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5 | 32 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.4 | 18.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Vault Hunters NM LLC | Konstantin Rafikov |
Customer experience
HomeMapper
Thread Doctor
In-app purchases
HomeMapper
- HomeMapper Pro7 Days trial$9.991 Year
- Lifetime Access$39.99
Thread Doctor
- Thread Doctor Lifetime Pro$9.99






