ShellMan vs NodeScope
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ShellMan
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ShellMan is the most powerful local-network controller for your Shelly Gen 2, Gen 3, and Gen 4 smart home devices. No cloud. No subscription. Pure local control. Disclaimer: This app is an independent, unofficial third-party tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or in any way connected to Allterco Robotics Ltd. or its subsidiaries. "Shelly®" is a registered trademark of Allterco Robotics Ltd. All product names, logos, and brands mentioned are property of their respective owners and are used solely for identification purposes. This app communicates with devices using their publicly documented, open JSON-RPC 2.0 API. DISCOVER YOUR DEVICES • Auto-discover devices instantly via mDNS — no IP addresses needed • Scan your entire subnet to find every Shelly on your network • Add devices manually by entering their IP address CONTROL EVERYTHING • Turn switches on/off with a single tap • Dim lights to the perfect level • Adjust colour temperature and RGB colour for smart bulbs • Open, close, and position covers and blinds with precision REAL-TIME MONITORING • Live status updates via WebSocket — see your devices react in real time • Energy dashboard with power, voltage, current, and consumption data • Sensor readings: temperature, humidity, flood, smoke, motion, and illuminance MANAGE YOUR DEVICES • View firmware versions and update devices over the air • Batch-update multiple devices at once • Create and manage schedules directly on each device • Reboot or factory-reset devices when needed WORKS WITH YOUR HOME • Full support for password-protected devices (SHA-256 Digest authentication) • Automatic reconnection if a device drops off the network • Dark mode, light mode, and system theme support • Available in English, Deutsch, Français, Español, 中文, and 日本語 Compatible with all Shelly Gen 2, Gen 3, and Gen 4 devices. Gen 1 devices are not supported.
NodeScope
This app provides a read-only view of a mesh network's live data. It displays nodes, traffic, messages, routes, and analytics from a connected server. Users can explore, search, and analyze network activity with detailed charts and maps.
- Live network activity summary
- Node and observer analytics
- Live mesh map with traffic visualization
- Real-time packet feed
- Public and private channel monitoring
- Observer hardware and firmware details
- Data export to CSV/JSON
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NodeScope is an unofficial, read-only companion app for CoreScope, the mesh network analyzer used by MeshTexas and other MeshCore communities. It connects directly to a CoreScope server’s public API to present live nodes, packet traffic, channel messages, routes, observers, and analytics in a native iPhone and iPad experience. EXPLORE YOUR NETWORK Get a glanceable summary of network activity, including active nodes, online observers, recent packet traffic, and average signal-to-noise ratio. Search across nodes, observers, channels, public keys, and packets, then save favorites for quick access. NODE ANALYTICS Evaluate individual nodes across multiple time ranges. Review availability, signal quality, packet activity, relay behavior, observer coverage, packet types, hop counts, and peer interactions through native charts and summaries. Export supported analytics as CSV or JSON. NodeScope also detects when an older analyzer doesn’t provide analytics and presents a clear compatibility message. LIVE MESH MAP See known nodes on the map, distinguished by role. Live packet traffic animates hop-by-hop as it travels across the mesh. Filter by region, node role, activity, or observer to focus on the data that matters to you. Tap a route to inspect its hops, observations, packet metadata, and public text content. Replay supported routes on the map or share route details as structured text. LIVE PACKETS Follow incoming mesh traffic as it arrives. NodeScope groups multiple observations of the same transmission so you can distinguish unique packets from the observers that received them. Filter the feed, inspect packet details, and replay supported routes on the map. CHANNELS Browse public group-channel traffic as a live conversation feed. New messages appear automatically, and supported messages can be replayed on the map to show how they traveled across the mesh. You can also monitor key-protected channels locally. Channel keys are stored in your device’s Keychain and are never sent to the analyzer. OBSERVERS Inspect the physical devices feeding your analyzer, including hardware information, firmware versions, activity, packet statistics, and recent signal measurements. Filter observers by region, activity, or hardware model. SEARCH, FAVORITES, SHARING, AND EXPORTS Search the network from one place and save important channels, nodes, and observers to your Explore dashboard. Customize the statistics shown at a glance, export supported network data as CSV or JSON, and share direct links to nodes, observers, channels, and packets. DIAGNOSTICS AND STORAGE Check analyzer connectivity, live-update status, and available capabilities from Settings. Review downloaded cache usage and safely clear cached analyzer data without removing favorites, monitored-channel keys, or app preferences. COMMUNITY ANALYZERS Choose from supported community sources or enter any compatible CoreScope analyzer hostname. The community-source directory can be updated independently of the app, and users can request additional public sources. NodeScope has no backend of its own. It connects directly from your device to the analyzer you select. No NodeScope account or sign-in is required. PRIVACY BY DESIGN NodeScope contains no advertising, tracking, or third-party analytics SDKs. Location access is used only to show your position and center the map. Your location and locally stored channel keys are never transmitted by NodeScope. NodeScope is an independent project and is not affiliated with the CoreScope project or MeshTexas.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: NodeScope at every 4 days against ShellMan's fortnightly. ShellMan's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.0). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ShellMan ships an update fortnightly, NodeScope every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShellMan | NodeScope |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Lars Roth | Adam Nieto |
In-app purchases
ShellMan
No in-app purchases
NodeScope
No in-app purchases









