Comparison

Mixel vs Backbar

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

Head to head
About

Mixel

Discover cocktails you can make with ingredients you already own. This app offers a vast recipe library, an AI bartender for custom creations, and tools to manage your home bar inventory. Perfect for home bartenders and party hosts.

Highlights
  • 2,600+ cocktail recipes
  • Build home bar inventory
  • AI bartender for custom recipes
  • Step-by-step mixing instructions
  • Shopping list and ingredient optimizer
  • Create and share custom recipes
Features
Read full description

What cocktails can you make right now? Tell Mixel what's in your bar, and instantly see every drink you can mix, from the classic to modern craft cocktails. Whether you're a home bartender, mixology enthusiast, or just hosting friends, Mixel turns your ingredients into perfectly crafted drinks. WHAT YOU GET: • 2,600+ cocktail recipes - IBA classics, tiki drinks, holiday punches, low-ABV options, and modern craft creations • 600+ ingredients, each with hand-crafted pixel art illustrations • Build your home bar inventory and see every cocktail you can make with what you have • Create your own recipes, sync across iPhone and iPad, and share with friends • Bart - your personal AI bartender who creates custom recipes based on your ingredients and taste • Find drinks fast - filter by spirit (whiskey, gin, rum, vodka), flavor profile, ingredient, and more • Sort by "can make now," trending recipes, or your saved favorites • Step-by-step mixing instructions with tasting notes - perfect for beginners • Shopping list + Mixel Maximizer: see which ingredients unlock the most new recipes • Supports metric & imperial measurements Meet BART, Your AI Bartender: Stuck with random bottles? Bart creates custom cocktail recipes based on text and photos. • Chat with Bart to invent new drinks. Describe a flavor, mood, or occasion and get a custom recipe • Preview, tweak, and save. Bart's recipes become part of your personal collection • Snap a photo of your bar shelf or a drink that inspired you - Bart uses it to craft something new • Saved recipes work just like the built-in library - searchable, filterable, and shareable PERFECT FOR: • Home bartenders ready to level up • Party hosts who need the right drink for any occasion • Beginners wondering "What can I make with what I have?" • Cocktail nerds who want a serious, searchable recipe database CORE FEATURES ARE FREE: • 100+ classic IBA recipes (Margarita, Negroni, Whiskey Sour & more) • Full ingredient database (600+) • Try Bart, your AI bartender, 5x per month • Create, save, and edit your own recipes • Shopping list, bar manager, unit conversion GO PREMIUM - UNLOCK EVERYTHING: • All 2,600+ recipes (and every future recipe release) • Unlimited Bart conversations • Real-time recipe sharing with friends • Ratings, tasting notes & community comments • Backup + Sync recipe photos across all your devices • All color themes (multiple light and dark mode themes) TRY MIXEL TODAY Martini. Mojito. Margarita. Mai Tai. Old Fashioned. Negroni. Aperol Spritz. If it's in a glass, it's in Mixel. Download now for the perfect mix!

About

Backbar

This application streamlines bar and restaurant management by simplifying inventory counting, vendor purchasing, and menu costing. It helps reduce costs and improve efficiency for beverage programs. Features include real-time syncing across devices, barcode scanning, and integration with over 1,300 beverage suppliers.

Highlights
  • Real-time inventory syncing
  • Barcode scanning for products
  • Streamlined vendor purchasing
  • Menu costing and pricing optimization
  • Digital invoice management
  • Staff education on beverages
Features
Read full description

Backbar helps restaurants and bars increase profitability, decrease COGS, and run a more efficient beverage program. Backbar, the only free bar inventory app, saves hours on counting inventory and simplifies bar management. Backbar not only solves inventory management, but also streamlines vendor purchasing and tracking, menu costing, and financial tracking. Here are some of the many features of Backbar: - Quickly count inventory across many locations, devices and users, syncing in real-time - Count inventory in multiple locations and on multiple devices simultaneously - Scan barcodes to instantly find and count products - Streamline purchasing by sending orders to all your distributors with a single tap - Track past orders and invoices for all your distributors - Connect to your point-of-sale (POS) system for real-time inventory depletions - Save digital invoices easily by taking a photo - Connect to over 1,300 beverage suppliers for automated product updates and cost changes - Educate staff with tasting notes and drink information - Cost out cocktail recipes and optimize menu pricing - Quickly add a new item from our global database of over 300,000 wines, beers, spirits and other beverages Download the app today and make beverage management easier with Backbar

Screenshots

Mixel4 screens
Backbar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Mixel at 4.8 against Backbar's 3.7. Mixel also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (1.5K vs 32). Backbar's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10). On price, update cadence, monetization model and device support 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. Mixel sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Backbar asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Mixel holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mixel has 1.5K ratings behind it against 32, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Mixel's written reviews are positive against 60% of Backbar's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mixel ships an update fortnightly, Backbar every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Mixel versus Backbar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMixelBackbar
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.5K ratings) — better3.7 (32 ratings)
Positive reviews76.0% of reviews — better60.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1.5K — better32
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#111 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.1
Further details — not scored
Size127 MB32 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperCool Font LLCBackbar

Customer experience

Mixel

All ratings1,509 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews183 reviews
Positive76.0%
Neutral9.3%
Negative14.8%

Backbar

All ratings33 ratings
Positive60.6%
Neutral6.1%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative35.0%

Bugs and requests

Mixel

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Disappearing custom ingredients/recipes
  • Data loss after updates
  • Crashes on certain actions

Requested features

8 requests
  • Customizable cocktail menus
  • Ability to add/edit recipes
  • Ingredient substitution suggestions
  • User-generated recipe sharing
  • Landscape mode support
Show 3 more
  • Multilingual support
  • Ingredient photo/notes
  • Random recipe generator

Backbar

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Mixel

Subscriptions2
  • Premium3 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Premium3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time8
  • User Creations PackFree
  • Gin Pack$0.99
  • Vodka Pack$0.99
Show 5 more
  • Tequila & Mezcal Pack$0.99
  • Whiskey Pack$1.99
  • Tiki Pack$1.99
  • Base Upgrade$3.99
  • Mixel Premium$49.99
None

Backbar

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Mixel free?
Mixel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Backbar free?
Backbar is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Mixel or Backbar?
Mixel is rated higher. Mixel averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.5K ratings, while Backbar averages 3.7 from 32 ratings.
Do Mixel or Backbar have ads?
Backbar shows ads; Mixel does not.
Which is updated more often, Mixel or Backbar?
Mixel ships an update fortnightly, and Backbar every 3 weeks. Most recently, Mixel was updated on October 29, 2026 and Backbar on October 24, 2026.

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