Comparison

Birdathon vs M.E.R.P

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

Head to head
About

Birdathon

This app helps birdwatchers create and organize detailed checklists of their observations. It automatically records time and location, allowing for easy editing and customization. Users can visualize their sightings on maps, add field notes, and export data for sharing or further analysis.

Highlights
  • Observation-centric checklists
  • Automatic time and location recording
  • Customizable maps with boundary overlays
  • Field notes for additional observations
  • Multiple checklist sorting options
  • Data export to CSV and other formats
  • Create checklist templates
Features
Read full description

Birdathon is an observation-centric tool for creating birding checklists. It helps you organize your checklists and share them with others. Use Birdathon in the field to quickly record whether and where a bird is seen or heard and the number observed. The time and location of each observation is automatically recorded. You can adjust the location, time entries and the count of birds observed at any time to ensure your records are accurate. You can add breeding codes to your observations. Checklist maps display the locations of your observations. You can overlay county boundaries for every US state. You can add a range circle such as a 5MR (5-mile Radius) to your maps. You can import and overlay custom kml/kmz files onto your maps. An Overview feature lets you see your combined observations for any time period, and displays a map showing any boundaries you have selected, so you can utilize the map feature even when you are not actively checklisting. You can export Overview data into a csv text file or create a new checklist template from the Overview. Your checklists can be viewed in taxonomic order, alphabetically, by rarity or as a timeline of species. You can enrich your checklist with field notes and add observations such as mammals, butterflies, wildflowers, etc., to make it a more complete record of your experience. You can organize your checklists into categories such as Day List, Year List, County List, Life List, etc., and assign color themes to your lists. Bird species may be added and deleted from your lists at any time. You can create new checklist templates from your previous lists or import templates created by others. You can change which template is being used. You can import text files into Birdathon, making them into templates or new checklists. Different export options for your checklists allow you to import into eBird or another copy of Birdathon. The bird species source data and other resources used in this app come from the following sources: AviList, a unified global checklist of birds, is the core data set used for Birdathon. https://www.avilist.org. Some data has been integrated from the following sources: The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world (https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/), the American Ornithological Society's (AOS) Checklist of North and Middle American Birds (https://checklist.americanornithology.org), and the American Birding Association's (ABA) checklist of North American Birds (https://www.aba.org/listing-taxonomy/) Alpha codes come from The Institute for Bird Populations’ Standardized 4- and 6-letter Bird Species Codes. https://www.birdpop.org/pages/birdSpeciesCodes.php. County boundary data is from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) TIGER/Line 2019 Shapefiles found on the United States Census Bureau's website at https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/tiger-line-file.2019.html. Boundaries should be used as general guidelines and not be considered precise. Note especially where county boundaries follow creeks, rivers, ridge lines and other natural features, and so are of much finer resolution than can be shown on Birdathon’s maps. California breeding bird atlas blocks come from the California Bird Atlas, https://www.californiabirdatlas.org. California Bird Atlas logo and breeding code descriptions used with permission.

About

M.E.R.P

This platform enables users to create customized emergency response plans for schools and businesses. It offers a web-based solution for comprehensive safety preparedness.

Highlights
  • Customizable emergency plans
  • School district planning
  • Business safety preparedness
  • Web-based platform
  • Emergency response tools
Features
Read full description

Safeguard Risk Solutions has introduced its Mobile Emergency Response Plan (known as MERP, for short), a web-based platform that allows users to customize plans for their school districts or businesses.

Screenshots

Birdathon4 screens
M.E.R.P2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: M.E.R.P at none against Birdathon's 4. M.E.R.P also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.1). Birdathon's advantage is ratings volume (15 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and monetization model 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. Birdathon sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. M.E.R.P asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

M.E.R.P holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Birdathon has 15 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Birdathon ships an update every 4 months, M.E.R.P every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Birdathon versus M.E.R.P: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBirdathonM.E.R.P
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (15 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings15 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.113.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size192 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBarry Langdon-LassagneSafeguard Risk Solutions

Customer experience

Birdathon

All ratings15 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

M.E.R.P

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

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Birdathon

One-time4
  • Good Tip$0.99
  • Great Tip$1.99
  • Amazing Tip$2.99
Show 1 more
  • Incredible Tip$4.99
None

M.E.R.P

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Birdathon free?
Birdathon is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is M.E.R.P free?
M.E.R.P is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Birdathon or M.E.R.P?
M.E.R.P is rated higher. Birdathon averages 4.7 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while M.E.R.P averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Birdathon or M.E.R.P have ads?
Neither Birdathon nor M.E.R.P shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Birdathon or M.E.R.P?
Birdathon ships an update every 4 months, and M.E.R.P every 3 months. Most recently, Birdathon was updated on October 24, 2026 and M.E.R.P on October 14, 2026.

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