Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Neighbors by Ring vs Nest

Neighbors by Ring 4.8★ · Free to download 65
Winner Tie
Nest 4.6★ · Free to download 65

Neighbors by Ring is better for community safety and lost pet alerts, while Nest is superior for smart home device control, particularly thermostats and cameras.

Full reviews: Neighbors by Ring · Nest

Neighbors by Ring excels at fostering community engagement for local alerts, especially for lost pets, but struggles with inconsistent moderation and technical glitches. Nest, while a strong contender for smart home device management, faces issues with app reliability, scheduling, and forced Google integration.

Head to head

Features & Purpose tieR2R3R4R11
Neighbors by Ring Neighbors by Ring is primarily used for community safety alerts, including suspicious activity, and is highly effective for finding lost pets R2R11. However, many users complain it has become overwhelmingly focused on lost pets and internet/power outages, detracting from its original safety purpose R3R4R22.
Nest Nest is designed for controlling smart home devices, particularly thermostats and cameras . Users appreciate its ability to manage HVAC remotely for comfort and energy savings . Some users also utilize it for camera monitoring, though there are complaints about video saving and history R100.
Ease of Use tieR1R4R5R8
Neighbors by Ring Some Neighbors by Ring users find the app easy to use for connecting with neighbors and staying informed R5. However, many report significant issues with posting content, including photos and videos failing to upload R1, and difficulty setting up pet profiles R8. The removal of filtering options has also made the feed less manageable R4.
Nest Nest is often praised for being user-friendly and easy to control, especially for basic thermostat functions . However, a recurring complaint is the difficulty and lack of intuitiveness in scheduling temperatures . Users also find it hard to reconnect after power outages and are annoyed by frequent sign-ins R63.
Reliability & Performance tieR1R6R7R10
Neighbors by Ring Neighbors by Ring suffers from significant reliability issues, with users reporting posts being denied without clear reason R6R10, notifications not working R7, and the app failing to load or upload content R1. Some users also experience login problems .
Nest Nest users frequently report that the app is unreliable, often failing to communicate with the thermostat R66R90R94 or not responding to commands R94. Scheduling features are particularly buggy and inconsistent R79. The app is also criticized for being slow to load and for its 'Home/Away' feature being inaccurate .
Moderation & Content edge: Neighbors by RingR3R4R6R10
Neighbors by Ring Neighbors by Ring's moderation is a major point of contention. Users frequently complain about legitimate safety posts being denied R10 while irrelevant content like lost pets or internet outages is allowed R3R4R22. There are also accusations of inconsistent R6 and even racist moderation .
Nest Nest's content issues are primarily related to its 'Eco' mode and automatic temperature adjustments. Users are frustrated by the system changing their preferred temperatures without permission R63R70R81 and find it difficult to disable these features .
Price & Value tieR12R100R112R118
Neighbors by Ring Neighbors by Ring is free to download, and while the core community features are free, one user mentions having to pay to see recent activity R12. This suggests some features might be paywalled, though most complaints focus on functionality rather than cost.
Nest Nest is also free to download, but some users pay for subscriptions for camera features. These users express dissatisfaction with the value, noting that paid subscriptions don't always deliver promised features like extended video history or accurate motion detection R100. The discontinuation of Nest Protect devices also raises concerns about long-term product support and value R112R118.
Pick Neighbors by Ring if

You want a community-focused app to stay informed about local incidents and are primarily interested in lost pet alerts, despite potential moderation inconsistencies R2R11.

Pick Nest if

You need a smart home app to remotely control your Nest thermostat and cameras, and prioritize convenience over advanced scheduling features or complete control over automated settings .

Evidence note: Both apps are free to download, so the free-vs-paid asymmetry is less pronounced. However, Nest users do mention paying for subscriptions for camera features, which are then criticized for not delivering promised value R100. The lifetime ratings are high for both, but recent reviews for both apps show significant frustration with functionality and moderation/control.

Frequently asked

What are the main problems with Neighbors by Ring?
The main problems with Neighbors by Ring include legitimate safety posts being denied by moderators, while irrelevant content like lost pets or internet outages are frequently allowed, and technical issues such as photos and videos failing to upload R1R3R10R22.
Is the Nest app reliable for controlling smart home devices?
The Nest app is often reported as unreliable, with users experiencing frequent disconnections, failure to communicate with thermostats, and buggy scheduling features R66R79R90R94.
Does Nest force temperature changes?
Yes, many Nest users report frustration with the app and thermostat automatically changing temperatures through 'Eco' mode or 'seasonal settings,' often overriding their preferences and being difficult to disable R63R70R81R103.
Can I filter posts in Neighbors by Ring?
According to recent reviews, Neighbors by Ring has removed the ability to filter posts by type, making it difficult for users to avoid content they don't want to see, such as excessive lost pet posts R4.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R2] Neighbors by Ring 5/5 · US Positive community and engagement: Helped find my Adorable Lost cat with the is incredible and useful community app
  2. [R3] Neighbors by Ring 3/5 · US This app has made me an angry person: I’m very very annoyed at the content in the posts…. You add the tags so people can use them correctly and they don’t anyways. I’m sick and tired of seeing these stupid spam messages relating to Internet outages and loud banging noises. Maybe some additional settings need to be put in place. There’s no way others don’t agree… it’s beyond annoying. This is not a
  3. [R4] Neighbors by Ring 2/5 · US Where’s the old preferences???: This app used to be good as it offered a legend at the top which you could click to see incidents, reports about your neighborhood, etc. you also used to be able to FILTER for the type of posts you wanted to see. Now they’ve taken away all of that, which makes this useless. Now it’s just not dog and cat app and there’s now no way to turn those posts off in your feed
  4. [R11] Neighbors by Ring 5/5 · US Lost dog: Haven’t found my baby yet but so far they been good to me the neighbors by ring
  5. [R1] Neighbors by Ring 1/5 · US Doesn’t load anything: Trying to post about a lost pet which is pretty time sensitive and this app does not upload all the photos. It gives me the options to post 5 and after 30 tries of the upload failing it only posts 1 picture/video. I used on WiFi and 5G LTE and neither work. I have perfectly fine service. Very disappointed as important things need to be posted on here as it’s time sensitive m
  6. [R5] Neighbors by Ring 5/5 · US Absolute LOVE THE NEIGHBORS APP: 😍😍😍
  7. [R8] Neighbors by Ring 4/5 · US Won’t let me set up pet profile: At the very end I get a message that says “something went wrong please try again later”. No other information given! Very frustrating.
  8. [R6] Neighbors by Ring 3/5 · US Moderators posting policy are really bad.: If you think you’re gonna be able to impost important information to the neighborhood, take a coin and flip it 50% of the time you will be moderated and not be able to post. The moderation makes no sense. Some people post the same things as other people‘s posts so I can honestly say there’s no consistency at all. The cameras and video for ring and blink a
  9. [R7] Neighbors by Ring 2/5 · US Still not getting notifications: I’ve delete and download the app to see if that helped but I still get no notifications from this app, it’s been a while and nothing has been done to fix it
  10. [R10] Neighbors by Ring 1/5 · US Package thieves was denied: I had a lot of good footage of neighborhood thieves I posted good videos of and it was denied,ring I’ll never alert my neighbors of the wrongs again I’m sorry. Only my close neighbors now how good I am at catching them,seem like your on the wrong side of the fence. Pm me I’ll show my videos they denied.
  11. [R12] Neighbors by Ring 3/5 · US My personal , Cali vers: So cool for safety features, but too have to pay to see what’s been happening the last 10 minutes with the WiFi going slower … a big red flag should totally be national free too use and custom designed …
  12. [R100] Nest 1/5 · US No use in paying more: I have paid for this subscription for several years and it still does not do what it claims to do. I cannot go back and review my cameras. All I can see is it still shot which half the time isn’t even of the motion or person at the door. Also, the video feed is supposed to stay for a while, but mine only stays for a couple of hours and then disappears. Again, I pay over $20
  13. [R112] Nest 2/5 · US Nest Protect: Installed 13 Nest Protects 10 years ago, and they are all expiring. Google no longer offers Nest Protect, and their partnership to replace them gets bad reviews for false alarms. Way too much money for a product that Google abandons.
  14. [R118] Nest 1/5 · US Nest Smoke Detectors: I purchased 6 Nest Protect smoke detectors just over 10 years ago, they have worked perfectly during this time. They have now expired and must be replaced. I was extremely disappointed to find that the product was discontinued! There is another manufacturer who makes a compatible device but it has less than stellar reviews and lacks a feature that I really liked, automatic ni
  15. [R22] Neighbors by Ring 1/5 · US Disappointed: This app is made for safety concern stuff like that for your neighborhood and community but my post about a creep going around knocking on children’s windows keeps getting denied. What’s the use of it every time I get on there all I see is a lost pets. The app should be called lost pets You can’t warn your neighbors or your neighborhood about strange men knocking on kids windows. Wit
  16. [R66] Nest 3/5 · US App is not reliable: Try to use the app to control my nest but most of the time it doesn’t work. I end up manually changing settings. Reliability has dropped.
  17. [R79] Nest 2/5 · US Constant bugs: The Nest app is constantly breaking down in new and exciting ways. Think the schedule update you made and saved is going to take? Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. Reliability and predictability is for suckers in the world of Google and Nest. Think the schedule modification view you’ve been using for months will remain stable and functional? Where is the fun in that?? Do you want the v
  18. [R90] Nest 3/5 · US Sometimes good, sometimes bad: The thermostat and app usually work fine, but often the app just won’t communicate with the thermostat. This isn’t rocket science, just fix it so it works correctly 100% of the time.
  19. [R94] Nest 1/5 · US Unresponsive: More than half the time the app does not respond to what I’m asking it to do.
  20. [R63] Nest 3/5 · US Eh - fiddley: I reject “seasonal settings” and find my preferred temperatures altered on me anyway. Also, it forgets me on the app frequently and I’ll need to sign in again. Two annoyances for a device that works okay otherwise.
  21. [R70] Nest 1/5 · US Leave my temperature alone.: Quit changing the temperature it’s costing me more money to cool my house back down. Quit building all the stupid ware houses that are empty and using electricity
  22. [R81] Nest 3/5 · US System does what it wants: The system over night always goes back to 79 when I have it cooling at below that temp, cannot figure out how to correct it, very frustrating
  23. [R103] Nest 1/5 · US Stop changing settings when updating: App keeps turning on peak time and other “savings” settings. Go with a different product that you can control.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store