Rachio vs GardenDial
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Rachio
This app allows you to control your sprinkler system remotely, creating custom watering schedules. It helps save water and money by optimizing irrigation based on weather and yard needs. Access your system from anywhere for convenient lawn care.
- Automated watering schedules
- Remote sprinkler control
- Water and money saving
- Weather-based adjustments
- Smart home integration
- Mobile app access
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The Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller changes the way you water. It makes running your sprinklers easy and convenient while saving you water and money. Rachio automatically creates a watering schedule that lowers your water bill and ensures the beautiful yard you want, while the mobile app gives you access to your sprinkler system from anywhere. Plus, Rachio is compatible with nearly any sized yard and smart home platform. This is the companion app to the industry-leading Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller.
GardenDial
This app simplifies mixing ratios for hose-end sprayers, supporting popular models like Ortho Dial N Spray. It accurately calculates concentrations for fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides, eliminating manual math for home gardeners.
- Mix ratio calculation for sprayers
- Supports multiple sprayer models
- Input product label concentration
- Adjustable strength slider
- Supports various measurement units
- No ads or login required
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GardenDial helps you get the mix right every time—specifically designed for Hose-end mix sprayer. Supports sprayer model: • Ortho Dial N Spray • Bonide Auto Mix & Spray • RL Flo-Master Chameleon Simply input your product’s label concentration, select strength, or enter a ratio directly. GardenDial handles the math so you can confidently fill your sprayer. Features: • Fast, accurate calculator for soluble fertilizer, weed killer, insecticide, and fungicide. • Supports tsp, tbs, oz, gram, and ratio input • Adjustable strength slider • Clean interface, no ads, no login • Optional tip jar to support the developer Perfect for home gardeners and lawn care enthusiasts. Always follow your product label and sprayer safety instructions.
Screenshots
Verdict
Rachio and GardenDial both sit at 4.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of GardenDial's written reviews are positive against 57% of Rachio's. GardenDial also leads on ads (none vs shown). Rachio's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (159K vs 2). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Rachio sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and GardenDial sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Rachio against 5.0 for GardenDial. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Rachio has 159K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 57% of Rachio's written reviews are positive against 100% of GardenDial's.
Rachio ships an update every 3 weeks, GardenDial every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Rachio | GardenDial |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (159K ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 57.4% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 159K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 163 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | RACHIO, INC. | Mingyue Zhang |
Customer experience
Rachio
GardenDial
Bugs and requests
Rachio
Reported bugs
4 issues- Zones running at unexpected times
- Schedules not working as programmed
- App crashing during setup and use
- Syncing issues between app and controller
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to skip multiple upcoming watering cycles
- Customizable notifications for low battery and offline status
- Better integration with smart home platforms like HomeKit
- More granular control over watering schedules and durations
GardenDial
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Rachio
- Tempest Integration$29.99
- AirLink Integration$29.99
- Heat Wave Boost$29.99
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- Wire Status$29.99
- Valve & Heat Monitoring Bundle$49.99
GardenDial
- Tip Developer$1.99
- Tip Developer$4.99
- Tip Developer$9.99
