Barbizon Handbook vs MxU
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Barbizon Handbook
This digital handbook provides entertainment technicians with essential references for electrical terms, lighting fixtures, lamps, and more. Access all the information from the printed edition, including interactive contacts for global office locations and updated lookup tools.
- Indexed navigation
- Electrical and lighting references
- Zoom and pan handbook pages
- Interactive office contacts
- Updated lamp lookups
- Color, pattern, and pipe references
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The Barbizon Lighting Company is giving Entertainment technicians their coveted little flipbook AND MORE. No more wondering "Where did I leave my Barbizon Flipbook!? If I only had it with me, I could cross-reference my CTB by manufacturer!" Every page, formula, gel and lamp reference you'd find in the printed edition is here. • Handbook Indexed Navigation! • References for Electrical Terms, Wire and Cable, Lighting Fixtures, Lamps, Color, Patterns, Pipe, Knots, and More... • Zoom and Pan of Handbook pages • Interactive Contacts for All Barbizon Office locations, worldwide! • Updated tools and lamp lookups (including data projectors) For every Barbizon employee - from accounting to sales to shipping - there is a single driving philosophy: Connect the customer with what they need, when they need it, at a fair price. With this Handbook App, Barbizon is providing technicians and designers with one more means of connection - through your mobile device. Whatever your stage, Barbizon has products, experience and expertise for lighting professionals and amateurs in every field!
MxU
This app provides tools and training videos to help churches effectively recruit, train, and retain their volunteer teams. It offers features for team management, custom content integration, and guided learning experiences to foster excellence in church leadership.
- Team management with user activity metrics
- Extensive library of training videos
- Upload and integrate custom training content
- Create guided learning courses
- Assign learning paths and track progress
- Streamline volunteer onboarding process
- Connect with other church production leaders
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Software tools and training videos that help churches recruit, train, and retain their volunteer teams. MxU exists to see church teams steward their volunteers well, with intentional tools for leadership that inspire excellence. --- Team Management Feeling like the bottleneck? Team Management gives you the tools you need to lead your team from a high level, allowing for growth and progress that goes beyond you. User activity metrics will give you greater awareness of how to best lead your team and ultimately retain them for the long-haul. Delegate team management in MxU to other leaders on your team to ensure recruitment, training, and retaining initiatives stay on track. MxU Training There’s always more to learn when it comes to executing live production in the church. That’s why we’ve created a never-ending library of training videos, designed for all who want to pursue a new standard of excellence in audio, video, and lighting. 101, 201, and 301 level training — there are no pre-qualifications for learning in MxU. Custom Content Want to take a more catered approach to training your team? Upload your own training content to MxU and integrate with all the powerful features the platform has to offer. Use your content alongside MxU Training to build unique Onboarding, Courses, and Assignments for your team. Record, deploy, and track custom training content for your team, all simply done from your smartphone. Courses A guided learning experience through MxU Training. Learn complex topics over time through a series of related MxU Training videos and Custom Content. Start from our templates or build your own courses from scratch to create a custom learning path for your team. Assignments Stop wondering if your team is learning the right things. With Assignments, you can create custom learning paths for individuals, groups, or all members of your team. Progress metrics give you the latest info on which members of your team are leveling up their skills through MxU. We’ll tee up a “nudge” notification from you to send off when someone on your team appears to be falling behind in their training. MxU will suggest pre-built assignments for you to send to specific team members who might need help re-engaging in training. Onboarding Are you tired of losing potential volunteers before they even start? With Onboarding, you can finally streamline your recruitment process. No more missed follow-ups, forgotten text messages, nobody falls through the cracks. You never have to wonder what the next step is for a new volunteer wanting to get involved on your team. Use customized interactions like sending an Assignment to ensure team members always know their next step. Gain new team members from a simple QR code; added to walk-in slides, printed materials, etc. MxU Community Stop leading alone. Stay connected with production leaders around the world who are just like you. Ask questions, share stories, and create new friendships in the exclusive MxU Slack community. --- A paid MxU subscription is required to access Team Management, MxU Training, Custom Content, Courses, Assignments, Onboarding and MxU Community features. Terms of Use: https://getmxu.com/terms
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Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Barbizon Handbook at 100% against MxU's 33%. Barbizon Handbook also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). MxU's advantage is update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. MxU sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $349.00 per month. Barbizon Handbook asks for nothing beyond the download.
Barbizon Handbook holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 18 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Barbizon Handbook's written reviews are positive against 33% of MxU's.
Barbizon Handbook ships an update every 3 weeks, MxU every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Barbizon Handbook | MxU |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better | 4.3 (18 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 33.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 7 | 18 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.2 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 62 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | BARBIZON ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC | MxU |
Customer experience
Barbizon Handbook
MxU
In-app purchases
Barbizon Handbook
No in-app purchases
MxU
- MxU Unlimited$349.001 Month
Questions
Is Barbizon Handbook free?
Is MxU free?
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