Comparison

Vellum vs Houm

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

Head to head
About

Vellum

Features
Read full description

Vellum Journal is a calm, focused space for capturing thoughts, notes, and everyday moments. Write without distraction and organize your entries into topics. Use tags, notes, and Markdown to give your ideas structure while keeping everything easy to find. CORE FEATURES • Create entries and organize them into topics • Add tags and notes • Write with Markdown • Search your library • Export your content • Keep your library on your device by default VELLUM PRO Vellum Pro is available as a one-time in-app purchase and adds: • Cross-device library sync through your private iCloud database • Notion workspace integration and export A separate Vellum account is not required. Sync starts only after you enable it on a device signed in to iCloud. Content is sent to Notion only when you choose to export it to your connected workspace.

About

Houm

This app unifies control of your self-hosted services, including smart home devices and media servers. Monitor and manage your homelab infrastructure, from media requests to server status, all from one place.

Highlights
  • Unified smart home control
  • Media request and tracking
  • Real-time playback monitoring
  • Download queue management
  • Server and container status overview
  • Direct server integration
Features
Read full description

Houm is one dark, modular home for everything you self-host — the smart home your phone already talks to, and the media, servers and containers your homelab already runs. Every service is its own switch. Turn on only the ones you actually use, sign each into your own server, and Houm gets out of the way. SMART HOME See and control every accessory from Apple Home or Google Home — lights, locks, thermostats and cameras — without opening a separate app. WATCH SOMETHING Browse what's trending and request new films and shows through Requests, then follow it through Radarr and Sonarr's queues until it's ready. WHAT'S PLAYING The dashboard leads with what's on: streams, transcodes and bandwidth from Plex or Tautulli, updated as they happen. DOWNLOADS Keep an eye on NZBGet's queue and speed without switching to a browser tab. THE RACK Proxmox, Unraid and Portainer put every node, VM, disk and container in your pocket — what's running, what's full, and what needs attention. Sign in once with Plex to connect Requests and the Now Playing card, or skip it and set everything up later from Settings. Houm talks directly to the servers you already run — no new accounts, no subscriptions, no cloud in between. Houm is for people who already run a homelab. Bring your own Plex, Seerr, Radarr, Sonarr, NZBGet, Tautulli, Proxmox, Unraid or Portainer — Houm is the one app to watch them all from

Screenshots

Vellum4 screens
Houm4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Houm at none against Vellum's 1. Houm also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.6). On price, update cadence, ads 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. Vellum sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Houm asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Vellum ships an update weekly, Houm every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Vellum versus Houm: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVellumHoum
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB70 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer四扬 叶Tehseen Hussain

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Vellum

One-time1
  • Vellum pro lifetime$2.99
None

Houm

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Vellum free?
Vellum is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Houm free?
Houm is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Vellum or Houm have ads?
Neither Vellum nor Houm shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Vellum or Houm?
Vellum ships an update weekly, and Houm every 6 days. Most recently, Vellum was updated on October 25, 2026 and Houm on October 29, 2026.

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