Comparison

Backbar vs The Irish Colleen

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

The Irish Colleen

Features
Read full description

Our Irish Beer Menu is Inspired by Vintage Recipes. Irish beer is ancient. You can trace it back no fewer than 5,000 years, back into the earliest days of Irish agriculture, when the magical trilogy of fertile soil, soft rain and gentle, cool breezes made for a climate that could produce superb barley. If you are looking to hold a party for family and friends then why not the book the Snug Room, the room can accommodate 24 people and we will ensure you get a dedicated server to look after you.

Screenshots

Backbar4 screens
The Irish Colleen4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: The Irish Colleen at none against Backbar's shown. The Irish Colleen also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (13.4 vs 15.1). On price, 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Backbar ships an update every 3 weeks, The Irish Colleen every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Backbar versus The Irish Colleen: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBackbarThe Irish Colleen
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (32 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings32 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.113.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB35 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperBackbarKevin Johnston

In-app purchases

None

Backbar

No in-app purchases

None

The Irish Colleen

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Backbar free?
Backbar is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Irish Colleen free?
The Irish Colleen is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Backbar or The Irish Colleen have ads?
Backbar shows ads; The Irish Colleen does not.
Which is updated more often, Backbar or The Irish Colleen?
Backbar ships an update every 3 weeks, and The Irish Colleen every 2 days. Most recently, Backbar was updated on November 3, 2026 and The Irish Colleen on October 13, 2026.

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