Comparison

Backbar vs Bar In Control

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

Head to head
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

About

Bar In Control

This app helps bar owners track and control their alcohol inventory to reduce losses. It aims to prevent excessive spillage and theft, turning liquor into a quantifiable asset. The goal is to significantly cut down on the financial impact of lost alcohol.

Highlights
  • Alcohol inventory tracking
  • Loss reduction
  • Profit maximization
  • Beverage intelligence
  • Liquor cost control
Features
Read full description

Most bar owners are meticulous when it comes to the cash side of their business, but as for regulating booze, their skills can sometimes be impaired. Even establishments with Class A liquor licenses lose 30% of their alcohol on average. We think of your liquor as money, and liquor lost is money down the drain. It is not uncommon for a bar to lose $1000 per week. When the math is done, that’s $52,000 per year.

Screenshots

Backbar4 screens
Bar In Control4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Bar In Control at 5.0 against Backbar's 3.6. Bar In Control also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Backbar's advantage is ratings volume (33 vs 1). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bar In Control holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Backbar has 33 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Backbar ships an update every 3 weeks, Bar In Control fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Backbar versus Bar In Control: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBackbarBar In Control
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (33 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings33 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.112.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB26 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperBackbarBAR IN CONTROL LLC

Customer experience

Backbar

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

Bar In Control

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Backbar

No in-app purchases

None

Bar In Control

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Backbar free?
Backbar is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bar In Control free?
Bar In Control is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Backbar or Bar In Control?
Bar In Control is rated higher. Backbar averages 3.6 out of 5 from 33 ratings, while Bar In Control averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Backbar or Bar In Control have ads?
Backbar shows ads; Bar In Control does not.
Which is updated more often, Backbar or Bar In Control?
Backbar ships an update every 3 weeks, and Bar In Control fortnightly. Most recently, Backbar was updated on October 19, 2026 and Bar In Control on October 9, 2026.

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