Butcombe vs Brakspear
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Butcombe
Access exclusive facilities, rewards, and benefits at participating pubs. Earn points, book tables, and discover the latest offers. Order meals and drinks directly from your table and learn about the brewery.
- Earn rewards and benefits
- Book tables at participating pubs
- Discover latest offers
- Order meals and drinks from table
- Learn about the brewery
- Purchase gift cards
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You will have access to exclusive facilities, rewards and benefits when you use the Butcombe app. Earn rewards, book tables and get the latest offers in all participating pubs. Find out about the brewery, purchase gift cards and for selected outlets book overnight stays or order your meal and drinks whilst sat at your table – no need to move! We would love to have you onboard!
Brakspear
Discover pubs and explore scenic walks across the South of England. Find detailed information on 125 pubs and enjoy 200 circular routes, each starting and ending at a pub, with GPS-guided navigation.
- Pub details and facilities
- 200 circular walking routes
- GPS-enabled route navigation
- Locate pubs across South England
- Walks start and end at pubs
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Great pubs, refreshing drinks, delicious food and wonderful walks. We have 125 pubs across the South of England and our app will help you explore each one. View the details and facilities for each pub and enjoy 200 circular walks that all start and end at a pub. Each walk has an easy to follow route that uses your phone's GPS to show your position on the map as you walk.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Brakspear at 5.0 against Butcombe's 3.9. Brakspear also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). Butcombe's advantage is ratings volume (37 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Brakspear holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Butcombe has 37 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Butcombe ships an update every 2 months, Brakspear every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Butcombe | Brakspear |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (37 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 32.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 37 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 33 MB | 149 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Butcombe Brewery Limited | WH Brakspear & Sons Ltd |
Customer experience
Butcombe
Brakspear
Bugs and requests
Butcombe
Reported bugs
19 issues- App repeatedly defaults screen brightness to 100%
- App crashes when trying to pay with card
- App exits/shuts down when trying to register loyalty card
- Required fields faulty during sign-up
- App menu text is unreadable in light mode
Show 14 moreShow fewer
- App does not save user details
- Autofill does not work on iPhone
- QR code payment system is hopeless on latest iPhone
- App does not offer menu or loyalty membership access
- App does not remember user details for bookings
- App does not update with new venues
- App crashes occasionally
- App does not allow loyalty card registration
- App does not work with Apple Pay
- App does not allow card details stored in Keychain
- App doesn't allow redemption of points
- App is complicated and doesn't do autofill
- App doesn't recognize loyalty card details
- App doesn't recognize card on camera feature
Requested features
13 requests- Accept Apple Pay for QR code payments
- Allow autofill from saved card details
- Improve app navigation
- Remember user details for bookings
- Allow editing or cancelling bookings online
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Add a bar snacks menu
- Allow redemption of loyalty points through the app
- Add option to order at the bar
- Improve visibility of new venues
- Add loyalty transactions history
- Allow ordering basic items like tea/coffee
- Provide option to order with a server
- Make app menu text readable in light mode
Brakspear
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Butcombe
No in-app purchases
Brakspear
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Butcombe free?
Is Brakspear free?
Which has better reviews, Butcombe or Brakspear?
Do Butcombe or Brakspear have ads?
Which is updated more often, Butcombe or Brakspear?
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