Tessie App Review 2026: Is It Better Than the Tesla App?
Last Updated: July 1, 2026
Tessie is a third-party Tesla companion app that adds battery health tracking, charging cost calculations, automation, widgets, and detailed trip logging on top of what the official Tesla app provides. It costs £4.99/month or £39.99/year with a free trial. It is worth it if you want deeper data and more control than Tesla's app gives you. It is unnecessary if the official app already covers everything you need.
Tessie is a third-party companion app for Tesla vehicles that adds battery health tracking, charging cost calculation, automations, and home screen widgets on top of what the official Tesla app provides. This Tessie app review covers what the app adds to the Tesla ownership experience, how it compares to the official app, and whether the £4.99 monthly subscription is worth it for your driving habits.
Quick Verdict: Tessie App Review
This Tessie app review finds the app to be the best third-party Tesla companion for owners who want more data, more control, and faster access than the official app provides. The battery health tracking alone is worth the subscription if you plan to keep your Tesla long-term. The charging cost tracking, automations, and widgets are valuable extras that make the app feel like an upgrade rather than a duplicate.
It is not essential. The official Tesla app handles the basics well and has improved over time. Tessie is for owners who look at the official app and think “I wish I could see more.” If you are happy with what Tesla gives you, save the subscription fee.
What Tessie Adds: A Tessie App Review of Features
Battery health tracking. Tessie plots your battery degradation over time and compares it to the fleet average for your model and mileage. This is the feature that most clearly justifies the subscription. A single range reading tells you almost nothing. Six months of Tessie data tells you whether your battery is aging normally.
Charging cost tracking. Input your home electricity rate, including off-peak EV tariffs, and Tessie calculates exactly what each charge costs. No more estimating from kWh added. No more mental maths with your tariff rate.
Automations. Set conditional triggers that the official app does not support. Start charging when your electricity rate drops. Close the windows if rain is forecast. Preheat at a specific time on weekdays.
Widgets and shortcuts. Home screen widgets for climate, lock, and charge status. Siri Shortcuts and Google Assistant commands. One tap instead of opening an app and waiting for the car to wake up.
Trip logging and sentry viewer. Every drive logged with efficiency data. Sentry mode footage viewable from within the app. Tesla has added some of this to the official app, but Tessie's implementation is smoother.
Tessie vs the Official Tesla App
The official Tesla app is fine for basic control: lock, unlock, climate, charge limit. Tessie adds the data layer that Tesla does not provide. It is not a replacement for the official app. It is a companion that sits alongside it.
You will still use the Tesla app for things like software updates, service scheduling, and certain vehicle settings. Tessie handles the monitoring, analysis, and automation side. The two apps coexist without conflict.
Common Questions
Is Tessie better than the Tesla app?
Better for data, monitoring, and automation. The Tesla app is better for basic vehicle control and service functions. Use both. Tessie does not replace the Tesla app. It adds features that Tesla does not provide, particularly around battery health tracking, charging cost calculation, and conditional automations.
How much does Tessie cost?
£4.99 per month or £39.99 per year. A lifetime plan is available for roughly £199. All plans include a free trial, typically one month, with full access to every feature. The annual plan saves about 33% compared to monthly billing.
Does Tessie work with all Teslas?
Yes. Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck. Tessie connects through your Tesla account, not through model-specific hardware. If your car works in the Tesla app, Tessie can connect to it. This includes Model 3 Highland and Model Y Juniper.
Does Tessie drain the battery?
Tessie polls the car for data, which can wake it from sleep if the polling interval is too frequent. The app has settings to reduce polling or disable it when the car is asleep. Most users report negligible battery drain with sensible settings. If you notice the car waking more often, adjust the polling interval.
Is Tessie safe to connect to my Tesla account?
Yes. Tessie uses the same Tesla API authentication as the official app. You log in with your Tesla credentials and can revoke access at any time through your Tesla account settings. Tessie does not store your password and the connection is encrypted.
Does Tessie offer a free trial?
Yes, typically one month with full access to all features. Cancel before the trial ends and you pay nothing. The trial gives you enough time to go through several charge cycles, see the battery health data start to build, and decide whether the app earns a place on your home screen.
I have used Tessie with my 2021 Model 3 Long Range for years. The battery health tracking is what I check most often and the charging cost tracking is what I find most practically useful. Knowing exactly what each charge costs, rather than estimating from kWh added, gives me a much clearer picture of what the car actually costs to run on my Intelligent Octopus Go tariff at 8p/kWh overnight.
I pay annually at £39.99 and consider it good value for those two features alone. The widgets are a nice bonus but I do not use the automations much. The free trial is genuinely useful. One month gives you enough data to see whether Tessie is something you will actually open regularly or something that sounded interesting but you forget about after the first week.
I’m Steven, founder of MoneyAppReviews. I test money apps, referral programs, and EV tools in real life before I write about them. I drive a 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range, use Octopus Intelligent Go for home charging, and regularly track costs, savings, and app performance over time. I focus on practical, evidence-based reviews that help people decide what is actually worth using, not just what pays the highest commission.
