Comparison

Birdathon vs Speak Cantonese

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

Speak Cantonese

Learn Cantonese with a daily phrase, native pronunciation, and context. This app focuses on practical vocabulary and a gentle learning habit for heritage speakers. It offers a structured approach to reconnecting with the language.

Highlights
  • Daily phrase with context
  • Native Hong Kong pronunciation
  • Jyutping romanization
  • Top 100 useful phrases
  • Two-minute daily practice
  • Streak tracking and XP
  • Dark mode and themes
Features
Read full description

Reconnect with Cantonese — one phrase at a time. Speak Cantonese gives you one carefully chosen phrase each day: native Hong Kong pronunciation, Jyutping romanization, and the little bit of context that makes it stick. No firehose of vocabulary. No streaks you dread. Just a quiet daily habit that brings the language of home back to your tongue. Built for heritage learners — the children and grandchildren of Cantonese speakers who understand a little, or used to, and want to find their way back. What you get —A new phrase every morning, chosen to be genuinely useful —Tap any character to hear it on its own —Native Hong Kong pronunciation, with a slow-listen mode —Jyutping romanization on every phrase —The Top 100 phrases that really come up — greetings, family, yum cha, shopping, getting around —A two-minute daily practice: listen, match, and say it aloud —Track your streak, earn XP, and watch your level grow —Three calm themes and a full dark mode Whether you are getting ready to visit family, planning a trip to Hong Kong, or simply keeping a connection alive, Speak Cantonese meets you where you are — a few minutes a day, every day. 加油 — add oil. Let’s begin.

Screenshots

Birdathon4 screens
Speak Cantonese4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Birdathon at none against Speak Cantonese's shown. Birdathon also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported) and ratings volume (15 vs 2). Speak Cantonese's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, in-app purchases, 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Speak Cantonese 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 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Birdathon ships an update every 4 months, Speak Cantonese fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Birdathon versus Speak Cantonese: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBirdathonSpeak Cantonese
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (15 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings15 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size192 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBarry Langdon-LassagneNico Liu

Customer experience

Birdathon

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

Speak Cantonese

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Birdathon

No in-app purchases

None

Speak Cantonese

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Birdathon free?
Birdathon is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Speak Cantonese free?
Speak Cantonese is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Birdathon or Speak Cantonese?
Speak Cantonese is rated higher. Birdathon averages 4.7 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Speak Cantonese averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Birdathon or Speak Cantonese have ads?
Speak Cantonese shows ads; Birdathon does not.
Which is updated more often, Birdathon or Speak Cantonese?
Birdathon ships an update every 4 months, and Speak Cantonese fortnightly. Most recently, Birdathon was updated on November 2, 2026 and Speak Cantonese on November 3, 2026.

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