Tessie and TeslaMate solve the same problem in opposite ways. Tessie is a beautifully polished mobile app you pay a premium for. TeslaMate is the open-source data logger with unlimited Grafana dashboards — and MyTeslaMate is that same TeslaMate, hosted for you. If you’re weighing Tessie against TeslaMate, or actively looking for a Tessie alternative that gives you your data and open-source dashboards, here’s an honest, up-to-date comparison.
Quick comparison table
| TeslaMate (self-hosted) | MyTeslaMate | Tessie | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-hosted | Cloud (EU) | Cloud (US) |
| Setup | Technical | None | None |
| Price (from) | Free + your hosting | €4.99/mo (€3.75 billed yearly) | $6.99/mo · Pro $12.99 · Fleet $19.99 |
| Free trial | n/a | 14 days | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Built on TeslaMate | No |
| Dashboards | Grafana | Grafana | Built-in app |
| Native mobile app | No | No (responsive web) | Yes — iOS, Android, Apple Watch |
| Siri / widgets | No | No | Yes |
| Home Assistant | Manual | Free Fleet API proxy | Yes (via Tessie’s own API) |
| Raw Tesla Fleet API token | Manual | Included, free proxy | No (Tessie API only) |
| Open access to your data (TeslaMate API, MQTT) | Yes (self-run) | Yes — API, MQTT, self-restore | No (Tessie API only) |
| AI / LLM chat assistant | No | Yes | No |
| Sentry break-in alerts | No | Yes (even when Sentry is off) | Pro: Sentry event tracking |
| Data export / ownership | Full | Full (downloadable backups) | Limited |
Pricing verified July 2026 — always check tessie.com/pricing for current rates. Tessie tiers are per vehicle; annual billing saves ~17%.
1. Platform type: app vs. open-source logger
- TeslaMate is an open-source platform you self-host. It offers extensive customization and complete data ownership, but you run the server yourself.
- MyTeslaMate is a cloud-hosted TeslaMate — the same open-source power, with none of the maintenance.
- Tessie is a mobile-first app built around a polished, convenient experience. It’s closed-source and stores your data on its servers.
The core question is what you value more: Tessie’s refined native app, or TeslaMate’s open, portable, endlessly customizable Grafana analytics. MyTeslaMate exists so you don’t have to choose between “TeslaMate’s power” and “no server to run”.
2. Setup & ease of use
Both Tessie and MyTeslaMate are turnkey — connect your Tesla and you’re done in minutes, no server, no database, no maintenance. Self-hosted TeslaMate needs a Linux host, PostgreSQL, backups and updates. That’s rewarding if you enjoy it and a real barrier if you don’t. On setup effort alone, Tessie and MyTeslaMate are tied; self-hosted TeslaMate is the outlier.
3. Features & dashboards
This is where the two philosophies diverge most.
Tessie’s strength is its native mobile experience. It ships an excellent iPhone and Android app, Apple Watch support, Siri Shortcuts and home-screen widgets. If you want to check your battery or send a command from your wrist, Tessie is genuinely best-in-class, and nothing below is meant to take that away.
TeslaMate’s strength is Grafana. MyTeslaMate uses the same open-source Grafana dashboards TeslaMate is famous for — deep, customizable analytics for drives, charging, efficiency and battery-health degradation, sliceable almost any way you like. Tessie’s analytics are good; Grafana’s are effectively unlimited.
On top of TeslaMate’s foundations, MyTeslaMate adds several things Tessie doesn’t offer:
- A free Tesla Fleet API proxy that hands you a raw Tesla API token you can use anywhere — your own scripts, automations, or third-party tools — not locked inside one app.
- An AI chat assistant that lets you command and query your Tesla in plain language, with no separate LLM subscription.
- Sentry Guard break-in alerts on Telegram — you’re pinged even when Tesla’s Sentry Mode is turned off to save battery. (Tessie Pro tracks Sentry events, but only while Sentry Mode is running.)
- Open-source foundations and full data ownership, with backups you can download at any time.
On Home Assistant, let’s be precise and fair: both work with it. Tessie has an official Home Assistant integration built on Tessie’s own API. MyTeslaMate gives you a free Tesla Fleet API proxy, so Home Assistant (and evcc, MQTT, or your own code) talks to Tesla directly through a token you control. Same destination, different philosophy — Tessie’s route stays inside Tessie; MyTeslaMate’s token is yours to point anywhere.
4. Cost: what you actually pay in 2026
- TeslaMate — free software, but you pay for hosting and your own time.
- MyTeslaMate — €4.99/month per vehicle, or €3.75/month billed yearly, with a 14-day free trial. The Fleet API proxy is included.
- Tessie — three tiers, per vehicle: Tessie $6.99/mo, Tessie Pro $12.99/mo (adds automations, Sentry tracking and detailed battery monitoring), and Fleet $19.99/mo (unlimited vehicles and business tools). Annual billing saves ~17%.
The fair comparison for an individual owner who wants the full analytics experience is MyTeslaMate at €3.75–4.99 vs. Tessie Pro at $12.99 — MyTeslaMate is roughly a third of the price for the Grafana-based feature set, while Tessie Pro buys you the polished native app. For a multi-car fleet, MyTeslaMate is billed per vehicle at the same low rate, versus Tessie’s $19.99 Fleet tier.
5. Data privacy & openness
This is the heart of the difference. MyTeslaMate keeps your instance completely open to you, not sealed inside an app:
- Direct TeslaMate API (TeslaMateAPI) access to your own data.
- A live MQTT feed of your car’s state for your own automations and tools.
- One-click backups you can download and restore yourself — your full history, any time.
- Open-source foundations, hosted in the EU under GDPR.
Nothing is locked in a black box: you can query it, stream it, export it, and walk away with it. Tessie stores your data on its own servers with more limited export. If “my data stays mine, and I can reach it however I like” matters to you, this is the clearest line between the two.
MyTeslaMate as a Tessie alternative
If you searched for a Tessie alternative, you’re almost certainly one of these people:
- You like Tessie but want the open-source Grafana dashboards and the transparency that comes with them.
- You want lower per-vehicle pricing for the full analytics feature set.
- You want your data to stay yours — downloadable, portable, not locked in one app.
- You want a raw Tesla Fleet API token for automations, Home Assistant, evcc or your own scripts.
For all of those, MyTeslaMate is the natural switch — it is TeslaMate, hosted, with a free Fleet API, an AI assistant and Sentry Guard on top. If instead you mainly wanted a slicker native app than Tessie’s, that’s a different search — Tessie is hard to beat there.
When Tessie is the better choice
Tessie is genuinely excellent, and for some people it’s the right pick:
- You want the best native mobile app — iPhone, Android, Apple Watch, widgets and Siri Shortcuts.
- You prefer a single, refined interface over Grafana’s flexibility.
- Mobile-first control and notifications matter more to you than open-source dashboards or data portability.
When MyTeslaMate is the better choice
- You want TeslaMate’s Grafana dashboards and open-source transparency, without self-hosting.
- You want full data ownership with downloadable backups.
- You need a free Tesla Fleet API proxy and a token you can use in Home Assistant, evcc or your own tools.
- You want the AI chat assistant and Sentry Guard break-in alerts, even when Sentry Mode is off.
- You’re tracking multiple vehicles and want much lower pricing for the full analytics tier (€3.75 vs $12.99).
Frequently asked questions
Is there a cheaper alternative to Tessie? Yes. For the full analytics experience, MyTeslaMate is €3.75–4.99/month per vehicle versus Tessie Pro at $12.99. Self-hosted TeslaMate is free if you’re willing to run your own server.
Is there an open-source alternative to Tessie? TeslaMate is the open-source Tesla data logger. MyTeslaMate is that same open-source project, hosted for you, so you get the open-source benefits without the server work.
Can I move my Tessie history to TeslaMate? Yes — see the migration steps below. You export from Tessie, convert the file with our free tool, and we import it into your hosted instance.
Does Tessie work with Home Assistant? Yes, through Tessie’s own API. MyTeslaMate also works with Home Assistant, through a free Tesla Fleet API proxy and a token you control directly.
How to migrate from Tessie to MyTeslaMate
TeslaMate’s data model is richer than a Tessie export, and we make the switch easy:
- Export your data from Tessie.
- Convert it with our free tool: make a Tessie export compatible with the TeslaMate import here.
- Start your MyTeslaMate trial and send us the file via chat — we’ll import your history.
Conclusion
Tessie wins on native mobile experience. Self-hosted TeslaMate wins on control for the technically inclined. MyTeslaMate gives you TeslaMate’s Grafana dashboards, full data ownership and a free Fleet API — hosted for you, at a fraction of Tessie Pro’s price — which makes it the best-value Tessie alternative for most Tesla owners and fleets.
Weighing other loggers too? See our TeslaFi vs TeslaMate comparison.