Comparison

Rain Bird vs Birdfy

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

Head to head
About

Rain Bird

Control your sprinklers remotely from your mobile device. Automate watering schedules and adjust for weather conditions to conserve water and reduce costs. Compatible with various Rain Bird controller models.

Highlights
  • Remote sprinkler control
  • Customizable watering schedules
  • Automated weather adjustments
  • Water and money saving
  • Controller model compatibility
Features
Read full description

Smart Watering Made Simple. Connect your Rain Bird controller to your mobile device to turn on sprinklers, set up customized watering schedules, and automate weather adjustments, saving you water and money. Compatible with the following Rain Bird controller models: ST8-WIFI ESP-TM2 ESP-RZXe ESP-Me ESP-ME3 RC2 ARC8 For more information: http://wifi.rainbird.com 1-800-RAINBIRD

About

Birdfy

Monitor your backyard visitors in real-time with live streaming and automatic video capture of birds and animals. Organize clips by species, track nesting processes, and share your discoveries with a global community. Optional cloud services offer advanced AI recognition and extended recording.

Highlights
  • Live stream bird and animal activity
  • Automatic video capture of detected moments
  • Categorize clips by bird species
  • Track nesting and hatching processes
  • Community sharing of observations
  • AI-powered species identification (cloud service)
  • Customizable highlight reels (cloud service)
Features
Read full description

The Bird Side of Life 1. Live Stream: Real-time Bird Visitor Tracking - View the device's live feed anytime, anywhere to track birds or animals visiting your backyard. 2. Moment Auto-Capture: Automatically Record Wonderful Moments - The device automatically records short video clips when it detects birds or other creatures, saving key moments without manual operation. You can view these directly within the app. 3. Categorized Collection: Manage Wonderful Clips by Bird Species - Sort videos by bird species based on recognition results or your manual selection, allowing you to easily find, manage, and browse your collected video content. 4. Community Sharing: Explore Other Users' Fascinating Observations - Share or browse wonderful content of bird visits with users worldwide. Enjoy an immersive video stream experience that supports Browse by bird species, expanding your birdwatching horizons. 5. Bird Nesting & Hatching Process Tracking (for Birdhouse Devices) - Automatically identify and record the complete process of birds from nest building, laying eggs, hatching, to fledging. The process is automatically archived by stages, allowing you to browse the entire lifecycle on a timeline. Finally, a merged video is generated, fully presenting the precious process of nesting and raising young. 6. Cloud Services (Optional Paid Premium Features) - AI Recognition Cloud Service: When enabled, it supports more intelligent video analysis and content organization, including: * Accurate Identification: 6000+ bird/animal identification, accurately recognizing species like birds, squirrels, and other visiting animals in your device's footage. * Highlights: Automatically generates daily highlights, selecting the most exciting moments of the day. * Monthly/Annual Recap: The system organizes and generates monthly and annual highlight video compilations for easy review and saving. * Birdfy Data: Records bird visit times, frequency, and species, generating data reports. * Smart Moment List Filtering: Supports quick filtering of interesting bird videos by recognition results, improving Browse efficiency. - MVR Cloud Service * Standard recording is 20 seconds. Subscribing provides longer moment recording times (30 seconds+) and longer moment preservation times. - Collection Cloud Service * Standard users have only 5GB of collection memory. Subscribing increases collection memory to 20GB+.

Screenshots

Rain Bird4 screens
Birdfy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Rain Bird at 4.7 against Birdfy's 4.1. Rain Bird also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ratings volume (79K vs 3.9K). Birdfy's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (49% vs 31%). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Birdfy sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.39 per month. Rain Bird asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Rain Bird holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Rain Bird has 79K ratings behind it against 3.9K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 31% of Rain Bird's written reviews are positive against 49% of Birdfy's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Rain Bird ships an update every 2 months, Birdfy every 10 days. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Rain Bird versus Birdfy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRain BirdBirdfy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (79K ratings) — better4.1 (3.9K ratings)
Positive reviews31.2% of reviews49.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings79K — better3.9K
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.5
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB290 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRain Bird CorporationNETVUE, INC.

Customer experience

Rain Bird

All ratings66,807 ratings
Positive93.0%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews894 reviews
Positive31.2%
Neutral17.4%
Negative51.3%

Birdfy

All ratings3,864 ratings
Positive76.4%
Neutral4.9%
Negative18.7%
Written reviews818 reviews
Positive49.1%
Neutral7.9%
Negative42.9%

User reviews

Rain Bird

From 79K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to program
  • 🚀 Convenient remote control
  • 👍 Versatile
  • 👍 Must have
  • 👍 Ease of mind

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Connectivity issues
  • 🐛 Slow and clunky app
  • 🐛 Date/time not updating
  • 🐛 Unreliable system
  • 🐛 Limited functionality

Birdfy

From 3.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Intuitive app layout
  • 🎥 Great video quality
  • 🐦 Excellent for bird watching
  • 💡 Useful community features

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
  • 🔌 Connectivity issues
  • 🤖 Inconsistent bird identification
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate/use
  • 💰 Paywall for advanced features

Bugs and requests

Rain Bird

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Constant connection errors
  • App crashes frequently
  • Date/time not syncing correctly
  • Seasonal adjustment not working as expected
  • Manual controls not functioning properly

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add water usage history and analytics
  • Allow pausing of individual zones
  • Improve manual control options
  • Add weather integration and smart scheduling
  • Improve notification system
Show 1 more
  • Add ability to turn off entire system remotely

Birdfy

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inability to delete devices
  • Unreliable live view and video uploads
  • Unexpected app logout and account deletion

Requested features

5 requests
  • Batch editing for misidentified birds
  • Favorites/frequently spotted section
  • Landscape mode support
  • Customizable notification sounds
  • Motion detection sensitivity adjustments

In-app purchases

None

Rain Bird

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Birdfy

Subscriptions9
  • Collection Storage Basic mo.$2.391 Month
  • MVR - Basic - Monthly$2.391 Month
  • MVR - Plus - Monthly$3.591 Month
Show 6 more
  • Hummingbird Recognition mo.$4.691 Month
  • Bird Recognition Basic mo.$5.891 Month
  • Collection Storage Pro mo.$7.091 Month
  • Collection Storage Basic ann.$23.491 Year
  • MVR - Basic - Annual$23.491 Year
  • Bird Recognition Basic ann.$57.991 Year
One-time1
  • Bird Recognition Lifetime Plan$99.99

Questions

Is Rain Bird free?
Rain Bird is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Birdfy free?
Birdfy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Rain Bird or Birdfy?
Rain Bird is rated higher. Rain Bird averages 4.7 out of 5 from 79K ratings, while Birdfy averages 4.1 from 3.9K ratings.
Do Rain Bird or Birdfy have ads?
Neither Rain Bird nor Birdfy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Rain Bird or Birdfy?
Rain Bird ships an update every 2 months, and Birdfy every 10 days. Most recently, Rain Bird was updated on November 5, 2026 and Birdfy on November 5, 2026.

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