Comparison

Vario vs BarnMate

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

Head to head
About

Vario

Features
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Become a lighting designer in the privacy of your home. Create atmospheric coloured light or let your lighting automatically follow the natural course of the sun. Choose from a set of professionally pre-programmed light sequences or simply become creative at your own: With the App "Vario" and the control device "instalight Vario", impressing lighting creation proves a breeze. Main features: - Control of indoor and outdoor lighting - Control of coloured light with RGB or RGBW - White light with controllable colour temperature (Tunable White TW) - Dynamic light variations with up to 40 changes per second - Intuitive colour selection via colour picker or front camera of the iPhone - Storage of up to four user-defined light colours - Operation via iPhone and Apple Watch - Human Centric Lighting due to sun light simulation synchronised to the time of day - Combined profiles offer separate control of ambient- and general lighting - Automatic operation via internal timer with individual switch-on/-off times for all light scenes - Control interfaces: DALI, PWM, DMX, LEDTRIX Additional note: - Requires control device β€žinstalight Varioβ€œ (see www.insta.de/vario) - Commissioning of the control device via separate App "Vario Setup" (free)

About

BarnMate

Features
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BarnMate is the calm, beautiful planner for your horse β€” built for co-riders, half-board partners and owners who share the same barn life. β€” ONE SCHEDULE, EVERYONE IN SYNC β€” See today, this week or the whole month. Sessions, lessons, competitions, supplements, farrier visits, vaccines and care reminders. Everything is grouped by horse, by day, by rider. β€” EXERCISES & SESSION TEMPLATES β€” A library of 55 exercises sorted by type of work: setup, step-by-step, success criteria. Build your own session templates, apply one to a session and its plan shows up right there. Add your own exercises too. Informational content β€” no substitute for qualified instruction. β€” SHARE WITH YOUR CO-RIDER OR OWNER β€” Invite your half-board partner or owner with a single tap. They get free access to the shared group β€” no separate account, no separate payment. Anyone in the group can plan, log and see the same thing in real time. Several sharers around the same horse? That's covered: each one has their own sessions and their own permissions. β€” TRACK SUBSCRIPTIONS & BILLING β€” Riding lessons paid by the package? BarnMate keeps a clean ledger: deposits, lesson deductions, balance and renewal reminders. No more spreadsheets. β€” PASSPORT & PHOTOS β€” Store each horse's passport number, vaccine record and identification photos. Everything you need at the gate or at a vet visit. β€” SMART REMINDERS β€” Farrier, vaccines, worming, dentist, osteo: BarnMate works out the next due date and reminds you on the day. Farrier coming on the 23rd at 9 am? Set the appointment yourself and get a reminder the evening before β€” no more missed appointments. Several appointments per type of care, as a series if needed (every 6 weeks…). β€” PRIVACY-FIRST β€” Your data syncs through your own iCloud account. We do not run a server. We do not sell anything. Sponsored access for invited co-riders is free. β€” MADE FOR HORSE PEOPLE β€” A typography-led design that doesn't look like a spreadsheet. Quiet, focused, beautiful. β€”β€” PLUS TIERS β€”β€” Solo (1 horse) β€’ Full schedule, supplements, care log, passport, statistics, notifications. β€’ Exercise library and session templates Share / Half-board (multiple horses + sharing) β€’ Everything in Solo β€’ Invite a co-rider or owner β€” free for them β€’ Multiple horses in the same group β€’ Shared billing & care log Each tier is available Monthly, Yearly or Lifetime. Restore purchases at any time. Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. β€”β€” PRIVACY β€”β€” Data is stored on your device and synced through your private iCloud account. Shared groups use Apple's CloudKit Sharing β€” invitations are bound to Apple ID. BarnMate operates no server and collects no analytics. Happy riding. β€”β€” SUBSCRIPTION TERMS β€”β€” β€’ Subscriptions: Solo (monthly/yearly) and Share (monthly/yearly). β€’ Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation. β€’ Subscription auto-renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. β€’ Renewal is charged within 24h prior to the end of the period. β€’ Manage or cancel anytime in iOS Settings β†’ [your name] β†’ Subscriptions. β€’ Any unused free trial portion is forfeited upon purchase. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://barnmate.app/en/privacy

Screenshots

Vario4 screens
BarnMate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Vario at none against BarnMate's 6. Vario also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (8.2 vs 26.0). BarnMate's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 8 months). On price and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. BarnMate sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Vario asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Vario ships an update every 8 months, BarnMate every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences Β· 2 level
Vario versus BarnMate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVarioBarnMate
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 5 days β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS8.2 β€” better26.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size28 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperInsta GmbHMathieu Collet

In-app purchases

None

Vario

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

BarnMate

Subscriptions4
  • Solo Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Share Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Solo Yearly1 Month trial$17.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Share Yearly1 Month trial$22.991 Year
One-time2
  • Solo Β· Lifetime$59.99
  • Share Β· Lifetime$79.99

Questions

Is Vario free?
Vario is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BarnMate free?
BarnMate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Vario or BarnMate have ads?
Neither Vario nor BarnMate shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Vario or BarnMate?
Vario ships an update every 8 months, and BarnMate every 5 days. Most recently, Vario was updated on November 11, 2026 and BarnMate on November 9, 2026.

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