Comparison

iRecord App vs Bug ID

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

Head to head
About

iRecord App

Contribute species sightings with GPS data and descriptions to aid scientific research and nature conservation. Your observations help gather vital biodiversity information, supporting conservation efforts, planning, research, and education.

Highlights
  • Record species sightings with GPS
  • Offline functionality
  • Supports all UK species
  • Automatic data checks
  • Expert review of sightings
  • Share sightings with community
  • Contribute to science and conservation
Features
Read full description

iRecord App enables you to get involved with biological recording. Contribute your species sightings with GPS acquired coordinates, descriptions and other information, thus providing scientists with important new biodiversity information that contributes to nature conservation, planning, research and education. Your data will be kept secure and will be regularly backed up. Automatic checks will be applied to your observations to help spot potential errors, and experts can review your sightings. All wildlife sightings for non-sensitive species are shared with other users and will be made available to National Recording Schemes, Local Record Centres and Vice County Recorders (VCRs). • Works fully offline • Record all the wildlife you see - supports all UK species • Add new records with minimal effort • Benefit from automatic data checks and review by experts • Share your sightings with the recording community • Contribute to science and conservation

About

Bug ID

Instantly identify insects, spiders, butterflies, and slugs by taking a picture. Access detailed information about each species, track your discoveries, and organize them into custom collections. Become an entomology expert with this comprehensive guide.

Highlights
  • Instant insect identification via photo
  • Detailed insect profiles
  • Pest control and prevention tips
  • Track and save insect finds
  • Customizable insect collections
  • AI-powered bug finder
Read full description

Looking for the ultimate insect guide? Search no more, as Bug ID has everything you may need to become an entomology guru! Whether you want to keep pests at bay in your garden or explore butterflies in the local park—our insect identifier has you covered. What can you do with Bug ID at your side? ● Identify insects instantly Ever spotted an unknown bug in your garden and wondered if it’s a pest or a beneficial insect? You don’t have to know all the distinctive features of every species, as our bug finder does! Just snap a bug, butterfly, spider, or slug, and our cutting-edge AI technology will do the rest. Each insect profile has exhaustive information about it: • Clear photos of the bug at all stages of its development • In-depth descriptions • Impact on other people, animals, plants, and other insects • Distribution • Active seasons • Tips on pest control and prevention ● Track your finds Never lose the insects you’ve recognized! You don’t need to keep records of every pest spotted in the garden or a beautiful butterfly seen in the park, as all your finds are automatically saved in Snap History. ● Build and manage custom collections Arrange your custom collections of insects and spiders and navigate them with ease thanks to the smooth interface of our bug identifier. Build up your insect collections, access them instantly, and keep essential information at hand anytime, anywhere. Download Bug ID and start your journey of exploring insects right now! Subscribe to Bug ID Premium to get unlimited access to all the app’s features: ● Subscriptions are billed weekly, monthly, or annually at the rate depending on the subscription plan. ● Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. All personal data is protected in accordance with the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy: https://aiby.mobi/insectid_ios/terms/ https://aiby.mobi/insectid_ios/privacy/ For any questions or inquiries, please use our customer support form at https://aiby.mobi/insectid_ios/support/

Screenshots

iRecord App4 screens
Bug ID4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: iRecord App at 93% against Bug ID's 23%. iRecord App also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 13) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and iOS requirement 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. Bug ID sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. iRecord App asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iRecord App ships an update every 3 weeks, Bug ID every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
iRecord App versus Bug ID: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriRecord AppBug ID
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.0 (814 ratings) — better
Positive reviews93.4% of reviews — better22.7% of reviews
Number of ratings—814 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB52 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCentre for Ecology and HydrologyAIBY

Customer experience

iRecord App

Written reviews61 reviews
Positive93.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.6%

Bug ID

All ratings814 ratings
Positive72.6%
Neutral5.3%
Negative22.1%
Written reviews44 reviews
Positive22.7%
Neutral6.8%
Negative70.5%

User reviews

iRecord App

From App Store reviews

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use interface
  • 👍 Quick and simple recording
  • 👍 Great for citizen science
  • 👍 Valuable for conservation
  • 👍 Expert verification of records

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Slow record verification
  • 🐛 Verification is too conservative
  • 🐛 Observations vanish
  • 🐛 ID confirmation takes months
  • 🐛 Discouraging user experience

Bug ID

From 814 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast identification
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🔍 Accurate identification
  • 🔍 Detailed insect information
  • 💡 Helpful for students and nature enthusiasts

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inaccurate identification
  • 🔒 Deceptive free trial
  • 💰 Subscription required
  • 🙅‍♀️ Difficult to cancel subscription
  • 📷 Struggles with blurry/small images

Bugs and requests

iRecord App

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Records vanish
  • Observations have vanished
  • Unable to login since iOS upgrade
  • Edit function on website freezes
  • Map disappears on edit page
Show 7 more
  • Submit button dead on edit page
  • Wrong date/name shown in app after editing
  • Clunky and unwieldy website for editing/deleting entries
  • Past records lost after logging in again
  • Records buffered when submitting for a week
  • Records don't transfer over when updating phones
  • Logging out of the app deletes all records

Requested features

10 requests
  • Add short videos
  • Add an explore function to view nearby records
  • Add species profile for comparison
  • Link across devices/sync records
  • Allow downloading from camera without re-downloading library
Show 5 more
  • Option to go back to previous sites
  • Add video clips for extra ID material
  • Add dark mode option
  • Add species profile to compare what you think the species is to the actual species data
  • Allow editing submitted records from within the app

Bug ID

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Inconsistent identification results
  • Deleting photos after closing the app

Requested features

3 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Zoom functionality for small insects
  • Ability to provide additional details about insects

In-app purchases

None

iRecord App

No in-app purchases

9 purchases

Bug ID

Subscriptions9
  • Weekly access$4.997 Days
  • Weekly access (3 days trial)3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Weekly access2 variants$5.997 Days
Show 6 more
  • Weekly access (3 days trial)3 Days trial2 variants$5.997 Days
  • Weekly access (3 days trial)3 Days trial$6.997 Days
  • Weekly access$6.997 Days
  • Yearly premium subscription$19.991 Year
  • Yearly premium subscription2 variants$29.991 Year
  • Yearly premium subscription2 variants$39.991 Year

Questions

Is iRecord App free?
iRecord App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bug ID free?
Bug ID is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do iRecord App or Bug ID have ads?
Neither iRecord App nor Bug ID shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iRecord App or Bug ID?
iRecord App ships an update every 3 weeks, and Bug ID every 5 weeks. Most recently, iRecord App was updated on September 18, 2026 and Bug ID on September 25, 2026.

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