GarageDoorBuddy vs TailWind Smart
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
GarageDoorBuddy
Control your garage doors remotely from anywhere using your smartphone. Share access with family and friends by simply sharing your password. No need for multiple physical remotes.
- Remote garage door control
- Access sharing
- Smartphone integration
- Works with most openers
- Companion app for hardware
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Remotely control your garage doors from anywhere in the world! NOTE: THIS APP IS A COMPANION APP TO THE GARAGEDOORBUDDY REMOTE HARDWARE DEVICE. You can purchase one from www.garagedoorbuddy.com Forgot your house keys? Just launch the app on your smartphone. No need to buy a garage door remote control for everyone in the house. Just download the Free app! Family or friends need to drop things off while you are away? Just share your password for the app! GDB v2.0 Supports almost all of the garage door openers on the market except the following models. Please contact us at http://garagedoorbuddy.com/#contact or garagedoorbuddy@gmail.com if you are not certain. 1. Liftmaster/Chamberlain/Craftsman security+2.0 openers are not supported. To support these openers, a customized adapter is required. You can purchase the customized adapter from us. 2. Genie Series III openers are not supported. To support these openers, Genie 38013R Dry Contact Adapter or a customized adapter is required. You can purchase the customized adapter from us.
TailWind Smart
Automate your garage door with smart technology. This app allows you to remotely open, close, and check the status of your garage doors. It can also automatically open as you arrive and close as you leave, enhancing security and convenience.
- Automatic opening and closing
- Remote control from anywhere
- Vehicle detection for specific door opening
- Customizable alerts and schedules
- Activity history log
- Unlimited user access
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Don’t just open your garage door with your smartphone. Automate it. Tailwind can close your garage door as you leave, open it when you arrive – all automatically. No buttons. No keypads. Just drive. The Tailwind app allows you to open, close, or check the status of your garage doors from anywhere using your mobile device, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and our iQ3 smart garage door controller (purchased separately). Check out the list of things you can do with Tailwind: Automatically open the door as you approach Automatically close the door as you leave (if you forget to close it) Detect which vehicle you’re driving so it knows which door to open or close (can even work with motorcycles, ATVs, etc)* Automatically close all your garage doors at night, even if someone opens them again! Receive customize alerts telling you who opened the garage door and when See a history log of all activity for the last 30 days Create alert schedules so you only receive alerts at certain times of the day Unlimited users * may require optional Tailwind Vehicle Sensor
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: GarageDoorBuddy at 100% against TailWind Smart's 52%. GarageDoorBuddy also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.4) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 16.6). TailWind Smart's advantage is ratings volume (89 vs 14). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
GarageDoorBuddy holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TailWind Smart has 89 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of GarageDoorBuddy's written reviews are positive against 52% of TailWind Smart's.
GarageDoorBuddy ships an update every 2 months, TailWind Smart every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | GarageDoorBuddy | TailWind Smart |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (14 ratings) — better | 3.4 (89 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 51.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 | 89 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 124 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Brocel | 1931085 Ontario Ltd |
Customer experience
GarageDoorBuddy
TailWind Smart
Bugs and requests
GarageDoorBuddy
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
TailWind Smart
Reported bugs
34 issues- Cannot enable Bluetooth during setup
- Location services need manual enabling
- App prompts to download unavailable update
- Auto open no longer works
- App can't diagnose or update firmware
Show 29 moreShow fewer
- App no longer allows adding a vehicle
- App always signed out after update
- Location triggers rarely work
- Update broke auto-close
- Settings changed to auto-close unexpectedly
- iOS widgets no longer work
- Frequently signed out and have to re-authenticate
- Garage doors deleted from app after sign-out
- Unable to close door, shows 'lockout'
- Clicking on one door opens/closes the other
- Massive battery drain for iOS users
- Auto open/close feature works sporadically for iPhone users
- App is buggy
- Garage door shows up sometimes, sometimes not
- Vehicle shows up sometimes, sometimes not
- Garage door shows as 'null'
- Notifications about turning sensor off/on incorrectly displayed
- Horrible battery drain
- Background battery drain issue
- Auto open/close doesn't always work on iPhones
- Auto open feature through IFTTT no longer works after iOS 13
- App crashes on iPad when clicking login
- Consistent backgrounding problem, requires app kill to connect
- Logs out user, password reset fails
- Registration of email didn't work
- App testing severely lacking
- Signs you out all the time at random
- IFTTT integration doesn't work with Apple
- App can't use Bluetooth from iPhone but can with Android
Requested features
8 requests- Clearer setup flow with firmware update check
- Documentation matching latest UX
- HomeKit integration release
- Siri Shortcuts improvement
- Watch face complication for watch app
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Disable notifications while home using location services
- Manage 'admin' settings
- Fix iPad crash on login
In-app purchases
GarageDoorBuddy
No in-app purchases
TailWind Smart
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is GarageDoorBuddy free?
Is TailWind Smart free?
Which has better reviews, GarageDoorBuddy or TailWind Smart?
Do GarageDoorBuddy or TailWind Smart have ads?
Which is updated more often, GarageDoorBuddy or TailWind Smart?
Other comparisons
