Comparison

Complica vs HomeLab Watcher

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

Head to head
About

Complica

Features
Read full description

Apple Watch complications are mostly hardcoded to specific apps. Complica is different. Point it at any JSON URL, map the values you want to display, and show them on your watch face. Requires a paired Apple Watch. Use it with anything that returns JSON: a weather API, a stock or crypto ticker, a smart-home sensor, server health, your own backend, a hobby project. Values refresh in the background and appear live on your face. How it works 1. Add a JSON source (paste a URL). 2. Pick a complication style - circular, rectangular, inline, or corner. 3. Map JSON keys to fields like title, value, gauge, icon, color. 4. Add the complication to your watch face. Free plan - 1 JSON source - 2 complications - Circular and rectangular widgets - 15-minute refresh Complica Pro (one-time unlock) - Unlimited sources and complications - All complication families (adds inline and corner) - Custom refresh intervals down to 5 minutes - Custom units, min/max, gauge ranges - HTTP headers for private or authenticated endpoints Privacy No accounts. No tracking. No analytics. No ads. Your URLs and configuration stay on your device and your paired Watch.

About

HomeLab Watcher

Monitor the health of your homelab resources with a private, one-glance dashboard. View HTTP services, Beszel machines, and Proxmox VE nodes, with customizable widgets for your home and lock screens. All data and configuration remain on your device.

Highlights
  • Unified dashboard for HTTP, Beszel, and Proxmox VE
  • Real-time status and observation age
  • Home Screen, Lock Screen, and interactive widgets
  • Direct refresh from iPhone
  • Private by design: no accounts, cloud, or analytics
  • Read-only status checks
Features
Read full description

HomeLab Watcher gives you one calm, private glance at the latest known health of the homelab resources you care about. ONE HONEST DASHBOARD • See HTTP services, Beszel machines, and Proxmox VE nodes together • Separate the last successful observation from the latest refresh attempt • Recognize healthy, attention, unhealthy, unknown, aging, and stale states • Refresh all resources or one system directly from your iPhone USEFUL WIDGETS • Small Home Screen status widget • Medium resource overview • Lock Screen status • Interactive refresh without automatically opening the app • Explicit observation age because iOS controls background timing PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No HomeLab Watcher account • No cloud relay or hosted backend • No analytics, ads, tracking, or remote logs • Configuration stays on device • Credentials stay in Apple Keychain • Requests go directly to systems you configure READ ONLY HomeLab Watcher checks status and metrics. It does not start, stop, restart, delete, update, or otherwise administer your infrastructure. TRY BEFORE YOU BUY Sample Lab demonstrates every important presentation state without credentials or a reachable homelab. The free app also supports two HTTP or HTTPS resources and the small widget. LIFETIME UNLOCK A one-time purchase unlocks unlimited resources, Beszel, Proxmox VE, and every widget family. There is no subscription. SUPPORTED CONNECTIONS HomeLab Watcher works with addresses reachable from your iPhone over LAN, an existing private network route, or public HTTPS. iOS system certificate trust is required; the app never bypasses TLS security. HomeLab Watcher is not affiliated with or endorsed by Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH or the Beszel project.

Screenshots

Complica3 screens
HomeLab Watcher4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: HomeLab Watcher at every 5 days against Complica's every 3 weeks. 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Complica sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and HomeLab Watcher sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Complica ships an update every 3 weeks, HomeLab Watcher every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Complica versus HomeLab Watcher: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterComplicaHomeLab Watcher
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMarko OreskovicYANCY SHEPHERD

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Complica

One-time1
  • Complica Pro$12.99
1 purchases

HomeLab Watcher

One-time1
  • HomeLab Watcher Lifetime$4.99

Questions

Is Complica free?
Complica is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is HomeLab Watcher free?
HomeLab Watcher is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Complica or HomeLab Watcher have ads?
Neither Complica nor HomeLab Watcher shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Complica or HomeLab Watcher?
Complica ships an update every 3 weeks, and HomeLab Watcher every 5 days. Most recently, Complica was updated on October 25, 2026 and HomeLab Watcher on October 25, 2026.

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