Comparison

BirdGuides vs NCMD

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

Head to head
About

BirdGuides

Access comprehensive bird news and sightings with an interactive map and advanced search. Submit your own observations and receive personalized notifications for desired species. Discover local and rare birds with detailed information and navigation assistance.

Highlights
  • Interactive BirdMap with sightings
  • Filter sightings by rarity
  • Sophisticated search of sightings database
  • Submit bird sightings from the field
  • Personalized species notifications
  • Detailed sighting information and directions
Features
Read full description

Whether you're the keenest of twitchers, a local birdwatcher or someone with a passing interest in what birds are being seen near you, the newly updated BirdGuides app gives you all the information you need โ€“ and plenty more besides. Major new features include: โ€ข New and improved design โ€“ delivering sightings to you in sleek format, with reports now colour-coded by rarity and individual sighting details with added map view; โ€ข Enhanced BirdMap โ€“ view all sightings on an interactive full-screen map, either for the current day or any past date; โ€ข Quickly filter sightings by rarity level on both list and map view; โ€ข Sophisticated search function โ€“ you can now explore our entire sightings database, stretching back to November 2000, on a map as well as in list format; โ€ข A wider range of notification sound options are now available. Using the BirdGuides app, you can: โ€ข View all sightings from today or any previous date in order to help you see great birds; โ€ข Submit your sightings quickly and accurately from the field with our submissions form โ€“ all sightings are proudly shared with BirdTrack; โ€ข Update and create Filters within the app to get notified about the species you want to see. Each sighting can be expanded to give full location details and further information, such as time seen, number of birds, detailed directions and parking instructions. A single click will load the best route to the bird in your map provider. Birding has never been so easy!

About

NCMD

Access your membership account, stay updated with the latest news, and engage in community forums. Document your discoveries by photographing them and recording their precise location.

Highlights
  • Membership account access
  • Latest news updates
  • Community forum
  • Competitions
  • Find documentation (photo & location)
  • Legislation updates
Read full description

The NCMD App is for members who want to access their membership account on the go. Featuring latest news, members' forum, competitions, plus what to do in the event of a major find. There is also the ability to photograph finds and record their location using what3words. National Council for Metal Detecting provides insurance to metal detectorists and represents members at Government level on the creation of or any changes to legislation that may affect the hobby of metal detecting.

Screenshots

BirdGuides4 screens
NCMD4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: NCMD at 100% against BirdGuides's 61%. NCMD also leads on iOS requirement (13.4 vs 17.1). BirdGuides's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BirdGuides ships an update every 2 weeks, NCMD every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and June 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 5 level
BirdGuides versus NCMD: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBirdGuidesNCMD
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews60.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews โ€” better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks โ€” betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS17.113.4 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size5 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWarners Group Publications PLCBRAVE BEAR MARKETING LIMITED

Customer experience

BirdGuides

Written reviews51 reviews
Positive60.8%
Neutral9.8%
Negative29.4%

NCMD

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

BirdGuides

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notifications not working
  • Sightings not updating properly
  • Crashes and freezes after updates
  • Subscription issues after updates

Requested features

4 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Improved map with precise locations
  • Ability to set alerts for specific counties
  • Better sorting and filtering options

NCMD

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

BirdGuides

No in-app purchases

None

NCMD

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BirdGuides free?
BirdGuides is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is NCMD free?
NCMD is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do BirdGuides or NCMD have ads?
Neither BirdGuides nor NCMD shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BirdGuides or NCMD?
BirdGuides ships an update every 2 weeks, and NCMD every 2 months. Most recently, BirdGuides was updated on September 7, 2026 and NCMD on June 5, 2026.

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