Comparison

Barkontrol vs Backbar

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

Head to head
About

Barkontrol

Streamline inventory for restaurants, cafes, and hotels. This solution emphasizes real-time measurements and accountability to optimize stock management.

Highlights
  • Inventory management
  • Real-time measurements
  • Accountability focus
  • Restaurant, cafe, hotel support
Features
Read full description

Inventory management solution for restaurants, cafes and hotels with focus on accountability and real time measurements.

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

Barkontrol4 screens
Backbar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Barkontrol at none against Backbar's shown. Barkontrol also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.1). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and in-app purchases 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Barkontrol ships an update monthly, Backbar every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 5, 2026 and July 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Barkontrol versus Backbar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBarkontrolBackbar
PriceFreeFree
Rating—3.6 (33 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews — better60.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—33 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB32 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperBar Kontrol Pro SRLBackbar

Customer experience

Barkontrol

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Backbar

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

In-app purchases

None

Barkontrol

No in-app purchases

None

Backbar

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Barkontrol free?
Barkontrol is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Backbar free?
Backbar is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Barkontrol or Backbar have ads?
Backbar shows ads; Barkontrol does not.
Which is updated more often, Barkontrol or Backbar?
Barkontrol ships an update monthly, and Backbar every 3 weeks. Most recently, Barkontrol was updated on June 5, 2026 and Backbar on July 26, 2026.

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