Comparison

Elgato Avea vs Nanoleaf

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

Head to head
About

Elgato Avea

Create dynamic light moods in your home with customizable settings. Control your ambiance from your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch and wake up gently with a built-in sunrise alarm. Requires compatible Elgato Avea hardware.

Highlights
  • Dynamic light moods
  • Customizable settings
  • iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch control
  • Built-in wake-up light scene
  • Bluetooth Smart connectivity
Features
Read full description

Avea transforms your home with beautiful dynamic light moods. Control your ambience from your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch and unwind in one of these carefully crafted settings with subtly changing light: • Magic Hour • Northern Glow • Cherry Blossom • Mountain Breeze • Cozy Flames • Sunny Field • Fairy Woods • Caribbean Sea • Candy Land • Calm Provence After a relaxing evening, simply set your alarm using the built-in wake-up light scene. With Avea, rise and shine along a natural sunrise, right in your bedroom. How does it work? This app requires Elgato Avea. Turn any luminaire into the perfect mood lamp with Avea Bulb, start transforming your home within seconds with Avea Sphere, and bring dynamic light moods anywhere with Avea Flare. Avea connects directly to your iPhone or iPad using Bluetooth Smart technology, without requiring additional gateways or bridges. Learn more about Elgato Avea at www.elgato.com/avea What do you need? • Elgato Avea • iPhone 4S or later, iPod touch (5th generation), iPad mini or iPad (3rd generation or later)

About

Nanoleaf

Control and customize your smart lighting experience with a comprehensive app. Design layouts, set schedules, create dynamic scenes, and integrate with voice assistants for effortless smart home management.

Highlights
  • Virtual Layout Assistant
  • One-touch RGB presets
  • Full scene customization
  • Remote on/off and brightness control
  • Scene scheduling and automation
  • Voice command integration
  • Community scene discovery
Features
Read full description

Design, set up, manage, and control your Nanoleaf lights all in one place. From the virtual Layout Assistant, to one-touch RGB presets, to full in-depth customization like you’ve never seen before, prepare for a lighting experience that is Smarter by Design. Simple Control Use the App to scan your lights’ pairing code and get set up in seconds, then enjoy your smart light-switch. Remotely turn your lights on and off, adjust brightness (trust us they go BRIGHT), and select your color Scenes from anywhere within your home. Group your lights together for joint control with Group Scenes (because we love a team player), or segment by room to keep your lights as organized as you wish your life could be. Complete Customization Create custom dynamic Scenes by selecting palettes and colors with the intuitive color wheel, adjusting ratios, and choosing animated motions. Try vibrant RGB hues to set a total vibe, or put the “fun” in functional lighting with the whole range of white color temperatures. Advanced Automations Set Schedules to automate your daily lighting needs, from gentle morning light-alarms, to gradually dimming nightly reminders that Holy **** it’s 2AM again, you need to wake up in 4 hours, PLEASE go to sleep. Now You’re Talking Connect your lights with your smart home assistant (HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Samsung SmartThings) and use voice commands to control them hands-free. Just say “Hey Siri, turn on my TGIF” Scene” and instantly enter full relaxation-mode at the end of a long week. Join the Community Explore the App’s “Discover” tab for a huge collection of incredible Scenes created by users like you. Well, like you, just more creative. But if you too are the creative type, share your own Scenes and show the community what you’ve got! There are endless Scenes to discover for every mood and occasion, all the way from “Ho Ho Holidays” to “Netflix and Chill”. + More With a virtual AR Layout Assistant, curated Scenes and Playlists, Cloud Control (requires Apple home hub), and additional product information, the Nanoleaf App really is your smart lighting one-stop-shop. The Nanoleaf App supports all Nanoleaf manufactured products including by not limited to: Light Panels, Canvas, Shapes, Essentials, Elements, Lines, Blocks, Sense+ Smart Switch and Matter Wi-Fi products. Enjoy it today on the ever superior iOS operating system.

Screenshots

Elgato Avea2 screens
Nanoleaf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Nanoleaf at 4.2 against Elgato Avea's 2.7. Nanoleaf also leads on ratings volume (45K vs 32) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). Elgato Avea's advantage is review sentiment (44% vs 17%) and iOS requirement (10.3 vs 15.4). On price, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Nanoleaf holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nanoleaf has 45K ratings behind it against 32, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 44% of Elgato Avea's written reviews are positive against 17% of Nanoleaf's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Elgato Avea ships an update every 2 months, Nanoleaf every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Elgato Avea versus Nanoleaf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElgato AveaNanoleaf
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.7 (32 ratings)4.2 (45K ratings) — better
Positive reviews43.9% of reviews — better17.0% of reviews
Number of ratings3245K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.3 — better15.4
Further details — not scored
Size100 MB193 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperEve Systems GmbHNanoleaf

Customer experience

Elgato Avea

All ratings32 ratings
Positive28.1%
Neutral28.1%
Negative43.8%
Written reviews82 reviews
Positive43.9%
Neutral24.4%
Negative31.7%

Nanoleaf

All ratings44,757 ratings
Positive80.1%
Neutral3.4%
Negative16.4%
Written reviews1,408 reviews
Positive17.0%
Neutral8.7%
Negative74.3%

Bugs and requests

Elgato Avea

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Nanoleaf

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Lights randomly disconnecting
  • Firmware updates failing or bricking devices
  • Scenes not syncing properly across devices
  • App crashes on launch or during use
  • Delayed or unresponsive device controls

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved app stability and reliability
  • More intuitive scene creation and management
  • Better integration with other smart home platforms
  • Customizable animation speed and effects
  • Ability to save and restore custom color presets

In-app purchases

None

Elgato Avea

No in-app purchases

None

Nanoleaf

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Elgato Avea free?
Elgato Avea is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Nanoleaf free?
Nanoleaf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Elgato Avea or Nanoleaf?
Nanoleaf is rated higher. Elgato Avea averages 2.7 out of 5 from 32 ratings, while Nanoleaf averages 4.2 from 45K ratings.
Do Elgato Avea or Nanoleaf have ads?
Neither Elgato Avea nor Nanoleaf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Elgato Avea or Nanoleaf?
Elgato Avea ships an update every 2 months, and Nanoleaf every 2 weeks. Most recently, Elgato Avea was updated on November 1, 2026 and Nanoleaf on November 7, 2026.

Other comparisons