AUT vs iNaturalist
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AUT
Access campus news, events, and personal academic information. Navigate student life with interactive maps, class schedules, and job listings. Stay connected with community chat and personalized notifications.
- Personal class timetable
- Customized news and events feed
- Interactive campus maps
- Student job listings
- Community chat with chatbot
- Real-time computer lab availability
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With the official AUT App, you have access to up-to-date news, events and information about AUT anytime, anywhere. New tools and functionality allow you to navigate student life at AUT both physically and virtually. By logging in with your student Network ID you’ll be able to: • See your personal class timetable • Access a customised feed of news and events • Add events and activities to direct to your schedule • Get quick access to your grades • Receive timely and personalised notifications direct to you • Engage in community chat, including AUT’s chatbot Tua • Make use of interactive campus maps and navigation • Check the live shuttle bus schedule • See and apply for student jobs • Launch an enquiry with Student Hub • Be guided on how to develop your Pepeha and gain confidence in Te Reo • See real-time computer lab availability • And more! Auckland University of Technology Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau is committed to enhancing student communications across our 30,000 students. The app allows AUT to send meaningful notifications along with in-app messages relevant to you, reducing the volume of email and one size fits all communications. The AUT Student App provides endless tools to engage with you and support you on your student journey. Plus, got a great idea to add to the app – let us know. The app was built in-house by AUT Grads keen to develop and deliver new functionality to serve you, our awesome student community.
iNaturalist
Identify plants, animals, and fungi using your camera or imported photos. Get AI-powered species suggestions and connect with a global community of nature enthusiasts to learn more about the natural world and contribute to scientific conservation efforts.
- AI species identification
- Record species observations
- Contribute to scientific data
- Explore biodiversity
- Connect with nature enthusiasts
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Your photos of plants, animals, fungi, and more can help protect nature all around the world. iNaturalist is free, nonprofit, and community-powered. iNaturalist helps millions of people learn about and document the nature around them. Point your camera at plants, animals, and fungi to get instant identification suggestions, then share your photos or sound recordings as an "observation." Then, see your observation get reviewed by a global community of knowledgeable nature-lovers to turn it into a useful data point for science and conservation efforts. Your everyday moments of curiosity can directly contribute to protecting nature, and you don't need any previous experience or knowledge to get started. iNaturalist is a mission-driven nonprofit dedicated to connecting people to nature and advancing biodiversity science and conservation, and is freely available thanks to the generous support of our community. KEY FEATURES • Identify species from anywhere in the world • Contribute to science by sharing your observations • Keep a record of species you see • Explore and protect biodiversity • Connect with and learn from other nature enthusiasts
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: AUT at 5.0 against iNaturalist's 4.1. AUT also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). iNaturalist's advantage is ratings volume (684 vs 1) and review sentiment (49% vs 30%). 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.
AUT holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iNaturalist has 684 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 30% of AUT's written reviews are positive against 49% of iNaturalist's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
AUT ships an update every 5 weeks, iNaturalist fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AUT | iNaturalist |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.1 (684 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 30.0% of reviews | 48.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 684 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #88 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 220 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Auckland University of Technology | iNaturalist |
Customer experience
AUT
iNaturalist
Bugs and requests
AUT
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
iNaturalist
Reported bugs
5 issues- App freezes when suggesting IDs on audio clips
- Inconsistent tap responsiveness in search menu
- Observation time not accurately filling based on upload time
- Map showing incorrect observation locations
- Crashes and performance issues on some devices
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to type in address/coordinates for location
- Option to add observations to projects during upload
- Batch editing/uploading of observations
- More precise search filters (e.g. aquatic, parasitic, migratory)
- Bring back colored observation markers on map
In-app purchases
AUT
No in-app purchases
iNaturalist
No in-app purchases









