What types of devices are you needing the show controller to trigger and what functions are you intending the alternative system to perform (e.g. audio playback, timecode distribution, etc...)?
I had a quick read over the live cues site and their documentation is vague to non-existent. My biggest question that is not clear from the admittedly small amount of research I did is what is the remote app driving (or is it not a remote app, and the phone/tablet app is a stand-alone product)? The QLAB app is not really doing much other than connecting back to your QLAB rig and acting as a really fancy remote control.
Have you tried contacting them through the form on their website?
Typically you get what you pay for, and at $20 I wouldn't expect much. That said, it's not a terrible loss if you buy it and it's a dud. A full QLAB license I think is running close to $1,000 retail these days, so looking towards a $20 solution to act as a replacement is not going to deliver the same quality product.
If you can give me a bit more information I'll be happy to think on it a bit further and recommend something.