Th3rdwave vs Where Chefs Eat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Th3rdwave
Discover and find coffee shops with this comprehensive directory and community app. Track visited locations, save favorites, and manage loyalty cards. Explore new brews with a premium subscription service.
- Discover new and trendy cafes
- Search over 5,000 cafes worldwide
- Advanced search filters
- Track visited places and favorites
- Manage loyalty cards and rewards
- Premium monthly coffee subscription
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Whether you’re on-the-go or at home, Th3rdwave is your companion and guide for great coffee. With over 100,000 users, Th3rdwave is the largest coffee app in Canada helping people discover, find and enjoy coffee. DISCOVER NEW CAFÉS Explore new, trendy and hidden neighborhood cafés in your city using our map. FIND THE RIGHT CAFÉS Search over 5,000 cafés across Canada and major cities around the world using our advanced filters — like outstanding filter brewing, multi-roaster offering, laptop-friendly, and more. YOUR COFFEE BOOK Track the places you’ve visited, save your favorites and create personalized lists. COLLECT YOUR LOYALTY CARDS Keep your loyalty cards and rewards all in-one-place. Collect stamps every time you order coffee and earn free coffee. Our loyalty platform is offered for free to all independent cafés. Whether visiting a coffee shop or buying from a local roaster, there’s something out there for every coffee lover. Let Th3rdwave help you find the right coffee for your mood. The app provides you free access to our coffee directory. Th3rdwave is built on the idea that coffee should be accessible, and through accessibility new opportunities can emerge for coffee lovers and artisans. BREW NEW COFFEES EVERY MONTH [PREMIUM SERVICE] Members enjoy a variety of new coffees every month. Coffee are curated based on their taste profile. Coffees are sourced from small local roasters. Delivered freshly-roasted every month. Our subscription service is currently only available in Canada.
Where Chefs Eat
Discover over 7,000 restaurant recommendations from 650+ world-renowned chefs across 70+ countries. Find the best places for any occasion, from breakfast to high-end dining, with detailed information on opening times and cuisine styles.
- Over 7,000 chef recommendations
- Covers 4,500+ restaurants
- Recommendations by country
- Categorized dining options
- Restaurant opening times
- Cuisine style information
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Third edition of the global restaurant guidebook. Forget the restaurant guides with entries chosen by a panel of 'experts'. This guide is by the real specialists, featuring over 7,000 recommendations for more than 4,500 restaurants in more than 70 countries from more than 650 of the world's best chefs, including: Jason Atherton, Shannon Bennett, Helena Rizzo, Stephen Harris, Yotam Ottolenghi, Yoshihiro Narisawa, and hundreds more. Download this app now and access the best places to eat near you or research the best places to eat for your next trip. Broken down by recommendations for the best places for breakfast, late night, regular neighbourhood, local favorite, bargain, high end, wish I’d opened and worth the travel. Additional information for each restaurant from opening times, style and cuisine will help you select the best eateries near and far.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Th3rdwave at 78% against Where Chefs Eat's 6%. Th3rdwave also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.2). Where Chefs Eat's advantage is ratings volume (196 vs 30) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 16.4). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Th3rdwave holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Where Chefs Eat has 196 ratings behind it against 30, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of Th3rdwave's written reviews are positive against 6% of Where Chefs Eat's.
Th3rdwave ships an update every 3 weeks, Where Chefs Eat fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 20, 2026.
| Parameter | Th3rdwave | Where Chefs Eat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (30 ratings) — better | 4.2 (196 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.6% of reviews — better | 6.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 30 | 196 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 122 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Reseau Social Walkin Inc. | Phaidon Press |
Customer experience
Th3rdwave
Where Chefs Eat
Bugs and requests
Th3rdwave
Reported bugs
8 issues- Cannot log back in after logout
- No coffee shops available in user's city
- Map function not working
- Order button location inconsistent
- Location services inaccurate
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- Loading screen issues
- Technical problems and bugs
- Slow chat communication
Requested features
8 requests- Color-coded map for visited places
- Search for boroughs
- Filter for '3rd wave' cafes
- Add rating on map
- Consistent location for 'Order' button
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- Show reason for unavailable ordering
- Edit posts after publishing
- More intuitive loyalty card interaction
Where Chefs Eat
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Th3rdwave
No in-app purchases
Where Chefs Eat
No in-app purchases
