Comparison

ScratchQ vs TaxBird

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

Head to head
About

ScratchQ

This app serves as a digital scratchpad for everyday calculations, allowing users to save annotated versions for future reference. It features a color-coded system for organizing calculations and a custom keyboard for easy editing and access to operators.

Highlights
  • Save annotated calculations
  • Color-coded file system
  • Custom keyboard for editing
  • Easy access to arithmetic operators
  • Organize everyday math problems
Features
Read full description

ScratchQ is a scratch pad for all of the "back-of-the-envelope" calculations that we do in everyday life. Whether it is calculating the commission earned on a sale, the square footage of a room, or your grade point average, ScratchQ allows you to save an annotated version of the calculation that you can refer back to again and again. A simple color-coded file system allows you to categorize your calculations. ScratchQ comes with a custom keyboard that allows for easy editing of your saved calculations and easy access to the most common arithmetic operators.

About

TaxBird

Effortlessly track your days spent in different countries, US states, or Canadian provinces for tax residency purposes. This app uses background location services for real-time tracking and provides reports to support your residency status. Plan your travel and avoid exceeding residency thresholds with automatic notifications.

Highlights
  • Real-time background tracking
  • Country, US state, and Canadian province tracking
  • Automatic residency threshold notifications
  • Comprehensive tax residency reports
  • Battery-efficient location gathering
  • Projected count planning
Read full description

Stop worrying about counting days for tax residency. TaxBird automatically tracks where you spend your time throughout the year, helping you stay aware of residency thresholds before they become a tax problem. Using secure background location tracking, TaxBird keeps an accurate record of your days across multiple jurisdictions and shows exactly how many days you've spent in each location — and how many remain before reaching residency limits. Perfect for snowbirds, remote workers, frequent travelers, and anyone managing residency across multiple locations. Track Residency Across Multiple Regions TaxBird supports: • Country-level tracking worldwide • State-level tracking in the United States • Province-level tracking in Canada • New York City residency tracking Key Features • Automatic background day tracking • Real-time counts for every location • Alerts when you're approaching residency thresholds • Detailed yearly reports to document residency status • Battery-efficient location tracking • Planned travel tracking for projected day counts At the end of the year, generate a comprehensive report summarizing your residency days — ready to share with your accountant or retain for your records. Free Trial Start with a free 30-day trial to see how easy residency tracking can be. Subscription Options • Annual — $39.99 • Monthly — $4.99 Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. Subscriptions can be managed and auto-renewal turned off in your Account Settings after purchase. Cancellation of the current subscription is not allowed during the active subscription period. For more information see our: End User License Agreement https://www.taxbird.com/end-user-agreement/ Privacy Policy https://www.taxbird.com/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

ScratchQ4 screens
TaxBird4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: TaxBird at Free against ScratchQ's $7.99. TaxBird also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 22 months) and ratings volume (244 vs 1). ScratchQ's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 3.9) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). On ads, device support 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

TaxBird is free to download; ScratchQ costs $7.99 up front. TaxBird sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. ScratchQ asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ScratchQ holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TaxBird has 244 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ScratchQ ships an update every 22 months, TaxBird every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on November 2, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
ScratchQ versus TaxBird: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScratchQTaxBird
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better3.9 (244 ratings)
Positive reviews—33.8% of reviews
Number of ratings1244 — better
Update frequencyEvery 22 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAutoolmaq LLCware2now

Customer experience

ScratchQ

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

TaxBird

All ratings244 ratings
Positive71.3%
Neutral4.9%
Negative23.8%
Written reviews77 reviews
Positive33.8%
Neutral10.4%
Negative55.8%

Bugs and requests

ScratchQ

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

TaxBird

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • App crashes when selecting certain locations (UAE, Germany, Singapore)
  • Location tracking fails to detect movement under 500m
  • App displays wrong location (e.g., Denmark instead of Switzerland)
  • Freezing when opening app or navigating between tabs
  • Missing days not properly synced despite location permissions
Show 8 more
  • Double-counting days when traveling between states
  • App requires force close and restart to function
  • Spinning wheel/loading issues when entering historical data
  • Navigation tabs not responding to user input
  • Crashes when editing location entries
  • Subscription charged multiple times
  • App stops working after trial period
  • False 'missing days' alerts when days are actually recorded

Requested features

8 requests
  • Ability to force location check-in manually
  • Improved editing and deletion of entries
  • Better handling of international locations
  • Separate tracking for Puerto Rico outside US aggregate
  • Apple Shortcuts automation for background updates
Show 3 more
  • Expanded date range visibility in calendar view
  • More forceful notifications for tracking failures
  • Better support for multi-state residency scenarios

In-app purchases

None

ScratchQ

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

TaxBird

Subscriptions2
  • TaxBird Monthly Auto-renewing$4.991 Month
  • TaxBird Annual Auto-renewing2 variants$39.991 Year

Questions

Is ScratchQ free?
ScratchQ costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is TaxBird free?
TaxBird is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ScratchQ or TaxBird?
ScratchQ is rated higher. ScratchQ averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while TaxBird averages 3.9 from 244 ratings.
Do ScratchQ or TaxBird have ads?
Neither ScratchQ nor TaxBird shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ScratchQ or TaxBird?
ScratchQ ships an update every 22 months, and TaxBird every 5 weeks. Most recently, ScratchQ was updated on November 2, 2026 and TaxBird on November 2, 2026.

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