Comparison

Headmin! vs Knockbox

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

Head to head
About

Headmin!

Features
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Headmin is a native admin console for Headscale, the open-source, self-hosted control server for Tailscale-based networks. Point it at your own server and manage your entire tailnet from your phone — no dashboard tab required. CONNECT TO YOUR OWN SERVER Enter your Headscale URL and API key once. Your credentials are validated and then stored securely on-device, in your phone's Keychain or Keystore — never on our servers, because we don't have any. Headmin talks directly to your Headscale instance. USERS List, create, rename and delete users in seconds. NODES See every device on your network at a glance: online status, IP addresses and tags. Rename a node, move it to a different user, expire its key, or remove it entirely. Generate pre-auth keys with custom expiry, reusable or single-use, tagged for your ACLs. ROUTES View every subnet route and exit node your devices advertise, and approve or disable them individually. ACL POLICIES Edit rules, groups, tag owners and hosts through a visual editor, or drop into a raw HuJSON view for full control. BUILT FOR SELF-HOSTERS Headmin has no backend of its own and no account system — it's a thin, secure client for the server you already run. Your data stays between your phone and your infrastructure. Requires an existing Headscale server and an API key (generate one with `headscale apikeys create`).

About

Knockbox

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Knock once, and your phone buzzes. Knockbox turns one HTTP request into a push notification on your iPhone. Anything that can send a request can reach you: a deploy script, a cron job, a monitoring check, a CI pipeline, or a coding agent that has just finished a long task. If it needs your go-ahead before continuing, it can wait for your answer. curl -d "Build finished" https://your-server/api/v1/send/YOUR_TOKEN THE SERVER IS YOURS Knockbox is the client for a server you control. The server is open source and runs on a VPS, a NAS, or a Raspberry Pi at home. It holds its own Apple push key, so a notification goes from your machine to Apple and then to your phone, without passing through anyone in between. If you would rather not run anything, open knockbox.miramiao.com on your iPhone and you are connected — no sign-up, no password. WHAT A MESSAGE CAN CARRY • A Markdown body with headings, lists, links and syntax-highlighted code. • Images, shown in the notification and kept with the message. • Long text. The body is fetched as the notification lands rather than packed into it, so there is no length limit to work around. • A title, a channel, and an interruption level: quiet, normal, or time sensitive when it has to break through Focus. REPLIES • The sender can attach a set of options, or allow a free-text answer. • Answer from the message itself. Your server posts the reply back to the address the sender gave, signed, and the sender takes it from there. • The sender can set a deadline. After it passes the message reads "Reply window closed" and the server stops accepting — you are never left thinking an answer went through. • A message is answered once, and the answer is the same across your devices. CHANNELS • One token per channel, so a noisy monitor and a personal reminder stay apart. • Muting a channel truly stops it: the mute lives on the server, so nothing is sent at all. • Search your history, mark as read, delete a message, or clear a channel. Deletions are real, on the device and on the server. MORE THAN ONE DEVICE Pair a second iPhone or iPad from a device that is already connected. Both receive everything and share read state. TRY IT WITHOUT A SERVER Demo mode fills the app with example messages and sends a sample notification, so you can see how it works before setting anything up. FREE, AND THAT IS ALL No ads, no analytics, no account with us, no in-app purchase, no subscription. The app is free and the server is open source. Server source code: https://github.com/aichy126/knockbox Public server: https://knockbox.miramiao.com How to send: https://knockbox.miramiao.com/docs Questions: info@miramiao.com

Screenshots

Headmin!4 screens
Knockbox4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Headmin! at 15.1 against Knockbox's 17.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference Ā· 5 level
Headmin! versus Knockbox: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHeadmin!Knockbox
PriceFreeFree
Update frequency—Daily
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMendel Fuchs苗 苗

In-app purchases

None

Headmin!

No in-app purchases

None

Knockbox

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Headmin! free?
Headmin! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Knockbox free?
Knockbox is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Headmin! or Knockbox have ads?
Neither Headmin! nor Knockbox shows ads.

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