Comparison

Scale Control vs MQTT Commander

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

Head to head
About

Scale Control

Features
Read full description

Scale Control is a modern iPhone admin app for managing self-hosted Headscale servers. Monitor your tailnet, review nodes, manage users, inspect routes, and work with access policies from a clean mobile interface designed for self-hosted network admins. Built for developers, homelab users, and teams running their own Headscale infrastructure, the app helps you stay connected to your server wherever you are. Features include: โ€ข Headscale server management โ€ข Node and device overview โ€ข User management โ€ข Route visibility โ€ข Access policy tools โ€ข Visual ACL editing โ€ข Clean iOS-first interface โ€ข Designed for self-hosted Tailnet administration Scale Control you a mobile-friendly way to manage your Headscale environment without always needing a desktop terminal or raw configuration files. Requires a Headscale server with the v1 REST API. Tested against Headscale versions from 0.23.x to 0.29.x. (This app is an independent tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Headscale or Tailscale.) Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.strujiclabs.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.strujiclabs.com/privacy

About

MQTT Commander

Monitor MQTT brokers live from your device. View topic trees, live tiles, message logs, and publish messages. Includes a diagnostic tool for connection issues and robust privacy features.

Highlights
  • Live topic tree monitoring
  • Pinned topics as live tiles
  • Message logging and filtering
  • Publish messages with QoS and retain
  • Connection diagnostic tool
  • Privacy-focused data handling
  • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets
Features
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Connect to your broker and the topic tree fills in within seconds, with the latest value next to each topic. Tap one to see the value in large type, a sparkline of how it moved, and the JSON split field by field. FOUR SCREENS, ONE JOB EACH โ€ข Topics: the tree of what your broker publishes, with filters for what changes, what is retained, what you pinned โ€ข Board: pinned topics as live tiles, so one look tells you the greenhouse sits at 21.4 ยฐC and the pump went quiet 6 minutes ago โ€ข Log: messages in order, with presets for errors, your own publishes and retained values โ€ข Publish: a topic, a payload, Send. QoS, retain, content type and expiry sit one tap away USE IT TO โ€ข Watch Home Assistant, Zigbee2MQTT, Mosquitto and ESPHome without opening a laptop โ€ข Find the topic a new device announced itself on โ€ข Read a JSON payload by field and compare it with the message before โ€ข Send a test message and see what the broker answers, including a refusal โ€ข Clear a retained payload that keeps coming back WHEN IT WON'T CONNECT Connection Doctor walks the connection in 14 stages and names the one that failed: DNS, TCP, TLS handshake, certificate chain, expiry, hostname, ALPN and SNI, CONNACK, authentication, protocol version, and a write test against the broker ACL. You get the stage, the reason and what to change, instead of a red banner. BROKER BEHIND AN SSH SERVER Reach a broker that only listens on localhost or a private network: turn on SSH in the broker profile and the app opens a tunnel through your server first. Sign in with a password, an OpenSSH key, or a key created on this device in the Secure Enclave, with server 2FA codes when the server asks. The first connection shows the host key fingerprint in full, and a changed key stops the app before it sends your password or key. Connection Doctor checks the SSH server, host key, sign-in and tunnel before TLS and MQTT. PRIVACY Values that look like tokens, passwords or keys stay behind a tap. Exported logs carry hashed topics and metadata, no payloads. Anonymous crash and usage diagnostics are on by default and switch off in Settings. No ad tracking, no data sold. PRO The app is free: watch topics, read payloads, publish with QoS and retain, run the Connection Doctor, including a full check through SSH, pin five topics to the Board and keep the first one on your Home Screen as a widget. Pro is a one-time unlock with no subscription, and it covers the part that runs while you look elsewhere: sessions through an SSH server, Lock Screen widgets and the other Home Screen widgets, pins without a limit, history that survives a restart, whole-broker discovery, more broker profiles, one certificate reused across every broker, saved commands with Siri and Shortcuts, log export as CSV or JSON, and the full Doctor report to share. Bought the paid app before it went free? You keep Pro at no cost. WORKS WITH Home Assistant, Mosquitto, Zigbee2MQTT, ESPHome, Node-RED, ESP32 and ESP8266, and any broker speaking MQTT 3.1.1 or 5.0 over TCP, TLS, mTLS or WebSocket, directly or through an SSH tunnel. REQUIREMENTS โ€ข iOS 17 or later, iPhone and iPad โ€ข Local Network access for brokers on your LAN Demo mode lets you look around before you connect anything.

Screenshots

Scale Control4 screens
MQTT Commander4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: MQTT Commander at every 5 days against Scale Control's every 2 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and 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

Both are free to download. Scale Control sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and MQTT Commander sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scale Control ships an update every 2 months, MQTT Commander every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 7 level
Scale Control versus MQTT Commander: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScale ControlMQTT Commander
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviewsโ€”0.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetizationโ€”Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad โ€” better
Requires iOS18.017.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size27 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperADNAN STRUJICVladimir Chemeris

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Scale Control

Subscriptions2
  • Scale Control - Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Scale Control - Pro Yearly$29.991 Year
1 purchases

MQTT Commander

One-time1
  • MQTT Commander Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Scale Control free?
Scale Control is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MQTT Commander free?
MQTT Commander is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Scale Control or MQTT Commander have ads?
Neither Scale Control nor MQTT Commander shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scale Control or MQTT Commander?
Scale Control ships an update every 2 months, and MQTT Commander every 5 days. Most recently, Scale Control was updated on October 31, 2026 and MQTT Commander on November 10, 2026.

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