Zooniverse vs Budburst
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Zooniverse
Participate in real scientific research by classifying data for projects across various disciplines. Contribute to discoveries and datasets that advance knowledge, all from your mobile device. This platform connects volunteers with professional researchers for impactful citizen science.
- People-powered research platform
- Volunteer opportunities
- Access to mobile-friendly projects
- Push notification updates
- View publications
- Contribute to scientific discoveries
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The Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research. This research is made possible by volunteers—hundreds of thousands of people around the world who come together to assist professional researchers. Our goal is to enable research that would not be possible, or practical, otherwise. Zooniverse research results in new discoveries, datasets useful to the wider research community, and many publications. The Zooniverse Mobile App provides push notification updates about our projects, as well as access to our most mobile-friendly projects and publications.
Budburst
Observe and record plant data to contribute to a national community science project. Identify plants, monitor their life cycles, and collaborate with others to understand and preserve nature.
- Observe plants with interactive map
- In-app plant identification tool
- Monitor plant life cycles
- Track plant-animal interactions
- Collaborate in community groups
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Capturing the beauty of nature and collecting plant data has never been easier. With the Budburst app, you can contribute to a national community science project by observing plants, uploading your data, and sharing your findings in an instant. When you use the Budburst app, you can observe plants in your area with the interactive map, learn about plants with the in-app identification tool, monitor plant life cycles and plant-animal interactions over time, and collaborate in groups with other community scientists. Preserve the nature around you by helping us better understand it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Budburst at 4.2 against Zooniverse's 3.7. Zooniverse's advantage is review sentiment (59% vs 50%) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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.
Budburst holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 38 and 13 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 59% of Zooniverse's written reviews are positive against 50% of Budburst's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Zooniverse | Budburst |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (38 ratings) | 4.2 (13 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 58.8% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 38 — better | 13 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 50 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Zooniverse | Chicago Botanic Garden |
Customer experience
Zooniverse
Budburst
In-app purchases
Zooniverse
No in-app purchases
Budburst
No in-app purchases
