8it vs SFA Events
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
8it
Discover the best NYC food experiences happening now, from pop-ups to limited-time drops. Find expert-recommended dishes near you and organize your culinary adventures.
- Food pop-ups, drops, and collabs
- Explore map for local discovery
- Dish-first food organization
- Customizable dish lists
- Expert recommendations
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8it shows you what’s worth eating in NYC - right now and near you. Dish-first food discovery for pop-ups, limited drops, collabs, and must-eat dishes, recommended by people who work in food. Why 8it - Food pop-ups, limited drops & collabs in one place What’s live, what’s limited, and what you’ll be annoyed you missed. - Explore Map for smarter discovery See expert-approved dishes near you, right now. - Dish-first discovery We organize by dish because you crave food, not a restaurant. - Custom dish lists Build lists for date night, friends in town, and your next food crawl.
SFA Events
Connect with professionals in the specialty food industry. Discover events, network with participants, and build your personalized agenda. Utilize AI assistance for recommendations and interactive maps for easy navigation.
- Discover participants with smart search
- Rich participant profiles
- Direct chat and meeting scheduling
- AI-powered concierge recommendations
- Interactive floor maps
- Personalized agenda building
- Session saving
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Stay connected with the best community in food. Explore and join year-round events and programming from SFA! The Specialty Food Association (SFA) is the not-for-profit trade association of the $219-billion specialty food industry, representing more than 4,400 businesses worldwide including makers, buyers, importers, distributors, and service providers. The SFA Events app keeps you in-the-know about trade shows, networking opportunities, business-building programs, and more. Whatever event you're interested in, you can plan, explore, and connect with ease: - Discover fellow participants with smart search tools - Learn more through rich participant profiles - Chat and schedule meetings directly - Ask Sofie, your AI-powered concierge, for tailored recommendations - Navigate with interactive floor maps - Browse keynotes, sessions, and workshops to build your agenda - Save sessions to create your personalized show plan - And much more to enhance your experience! Visit www.specialtyfood.com for more.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SFA Events at 100% against 8it's 83%. SFA Events also leads on update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). 8it's advantage is ratings volume (206 vs 12) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
8it holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: 8it has 206 ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of 8it's written reviews are positive against 100% of SFA Events's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
8it ships an update fortnightly, SFA Events weekly. Both last shipped on October 7, 2026.
| Parameter | 8it | SFA Events |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (206 ratings) — better | 4.3 (12 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 83.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 206 — better | 12 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 122 MB | 143 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | 8it, Inc. | SPECIALTY FOOD ASSOCIATION, INC. |
Customer experience
8it
SFA Events
Bugs and requests
8it
Reported bugs
5 issues- Password authentication system malfunctioning
- Unresponsive customer support for password recovery
- Location-based search not functioning properly
- Duplicate restaurant results in different searches
- App shows restaurants far outside user's location
Requested features
6 requests- Expand to more cities nationwide
- Expand to Boston area
- Improve geographic coverage beyond NYC and LA
- Global expansion
- Increase search radius beyond 1.5 miles
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- Make app accessible to New Jersey area
SFA Events
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
8it
No in-app purchases
SFA Events
No in-app purchases
