Comparison

Google Home vs Amazon Alexa

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

Head to head
About

Google Home

Manage your smart home devices and stay updated on home activity. Easily control devices with voice commands and view live camera feeds. Organize your home into custom dashboards for quick access.

Highlights
  • Home status overview
  • Device grouping into dashboards
  • Live camera view and history
  • Voice control with Gemini for Home
  • Streamlined settings navigation
Currently charting
Read full description

The Google Home app helps you get the most out of Gemini for Home. See your home at a glance The Google Home app is designed to show you the status of your home and keep you up to date with what you may have missed. Keep up with what’s important Updated design and streamlined organization help you group your devices into dashboards and easily navigate your settings. Plus you can check in on your home anytime. Scan camera events quickly The camera live view and history interface makes it easier than ever to see what happened. Search or ask your home Control your home in a brand new way. Just say what you want your devices to do with Gemini for Home. * Some products and features may not be available in all regions. Compatible devices required.

About

Amazon Alexa

Manage your smart home devices, control music, and organize your day with voice commands. This app allows you to set up and interact with compatible devices, discover new skills, and stay connected with others. It learns your preferences for a personalized experience.

Highlights
  • Manage Alexa-enabled devices
  • Control music playback
  • View and edit lists
  • Set reminders and timers
  • Discover and enable skills
  • Connect with other devices
Currently charting
Read full description

Use the Amazon Alexa app to manage Alexa-enabled devices, control music playback, view shopping lists on the go, keep track of upcoming reminders, check on active timers and much more. When you enable hands-free with Alexa, you can talk to Alexa by simply saying “Alexa” when the app is on your screen. The more you use Alexa, the more she adapts to your voice, vocabulary and personal preferences. DISCOVER MORE • Get more out of your Echo device through personalized feature recommendations from Alexa • Discover and enable recommended Alexa skills • Pick up where you left off directly from the home feed with lists, shopping, or recently played Music and Books MANAGE YOUR DEVICES • Set up your Alexa-enabled devices, control or check status of your compatible smart lights, locks and thermostats at home or on the go • Create routines to automate your smart home devices MUSIC & BOOKS • Connect to music services like Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio. Choose a song or playlist and listen on your Alexa-enabled devices • Create speaker groups to play music across your compatible Echo devices for multi-room music ORGANIZE YOUR DAY • View and edit shopping and to-do lists on the go, get weather and news updates, manage timers and alarms, and more STAY CONNECTED • Use Drop In from your app to connect instantly with your compatible Echo devices, like a two-way intercom • Call or message supported Alexa-enabled devices, at no additional cost. By using this app, you agree to Amazon’s Conditions of Use (www.amazon.com/conditionsofuse), Privacy Notice (www.amazon.com/privacy), and all of the terms found here (www.amazon.com/alexaterms).

Screenshots

Google Home4 screens
Amazon Alexa4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Google Home at none against Amazon Alexa's 2. Amazon Alexa's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (5.9M vs 1.4M). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Amazon Alexa sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Google Home asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Google Home against 4.5 for Amazon Alexa. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.4M and 5.9M respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 16% of Google Home's written reviews are positive against 20% of Amazon Alexa's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. Both last shipped on October 17, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Google Home versus Amazon Alexa: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoogle HomeAmazon Alexa
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (1.4M ratings) — better4.5 (5.9M ratings)
Positive reviews15.6% of reviews20.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.4M5.9M — better
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#13 — better#17
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.417.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size630 MB501 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperGoogleAMZN Mobile LLC

Customer experience

Google Home

All ratings1,381,371 ratings
Positive88.8%
Neutral3.4%
Negative7.8%
Written reviews4,474 reviews
Positive15.6%
Neutral8.7%
Negative75.7%

Amazon Alexa

All ratings5,911,794 ratings
Positive88.5%
Neutral3.3%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews9,079 reviews
Positive20.4%
Neutral7.5%
Negative72.1%

User reviews

Google Home

From 1.4M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent camera quality
  • 👍 Secure home monitoring
  • 🚀 Reliable notifications

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent disconnections
  • 🐛 Buggy app performance
  • 👎 Lacking advanced features
  • 👎 Unintuitive user interface

Amazon Alexa

From 5.9M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Convenient for controlling smart devices
  • 🚀 Helpful for managing reminders and playing music
  • 👍 Alexa is a great companion
  • 👍 Alexa is funny, nice, and kind
  • 👍 Alexa is a lifesaver for the elderly

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🐛 Inconsistent voice recognition
  • 🐛 Cluttered and unintuitive interface
  • 🐛 Slow and unresponsive app
  • 🐛 Alexa sometimes ignores commands or gives irrelevant responses

Bugs and requests

Google Home

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inability to remove 'ghost' devices
  • Inconsistent connectivity between app and devices
  • Unreliable motion detection

Requested features

3 requests
  • Ability to customize notification settings
  • Integration with more smart home devices
  • Improved video history browsing

Amazon Alexa

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Alexa unable to link to Apple Music account
  • Alexa unable to properly control smart plugs and lights
  • Alexa unable to maintain connection with Bluetooth speakers
  • Alexa unable to consistently set alarms and timers
  • Alexa app crashing or becoming unresponsive
Show 1 more
  • Alexa unable to recognize routines and commands

Requested features

7 requests
  • More customization options for routines
  • Better integration with third-party apps
  • Ability to control Alexa devices without voice commands
  • Option to set custom sounds/music for alarms and timers
  • Improved music playback controls in the app
Show 2 more
  • Ability to easily manage and organize smart home devices
  • More advanced features for the elderly and disabled users

In-app purchases

None

Google Home

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Amazon Alexa

Subscriptions2
  • Amazon Kids+1 Month trial$6.991 Month
  • Alexa+ Standard Monthly1 Month trial$19.991 Month

Questions

Is Google Home free?
Google Home is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Amazon Alexa free?
Amazon Alexa is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Google Home or Amazon Alexa?
Google Home is rated higher. Google Home averages 4.6 out of 5 from 1.4M ratings, while Amazon Alexa averages 4.5 from 5.9M ratings.
Do Google Home or Amazon Alexa have ads?
Google Home shows ads; Amazon Alexa does not.
Which is updated more often, Google Home or Amazon Alexa?
Google Home ships an update weekly, and Amazon Alexa weekly. Most recently, Google Home was updated on October 17, 2026 and Amazon Alexa on October 17, 2026.
Which is more popular, Google Home or Amazon Alexa?
Google Home currently peaks at #13 in the App Store charts, and Amazon Alexa at #17. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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