Comparison

Beta Direct vs Boardsesh

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

Head to head
About

Beta Direct

Easily create and share climbing routes on any wall by uploading a photo. Draw climbs, track your progress, and collaborate with friends by sharing your wall and their routes. Update your wall's configuration as holds change.

Highlights
  • Upload and adjust climbing wall photos
  • Draw and create custom climbs
  • Track and sort all created climbs
  • Update wall configurations with new photos
  • Share walls and climbs with friends
  • Climb friends' routes on your wall
Read full description

Beta Direct allows any climber to make the most of their climbing wall - a home wall or even any gym wall. Take a photo of a climbing wall, add it to Beta Direct, and start creating climbs. Share your wall with friends and let them add climbs too. When some climbing holds change - take a new photo, adjust it so the holds still line-up, and keep climbing. Features: * Easily upload a photo of a climbing wall * Adjust your wall photos to best fit the climbing holds * Create climbs by drawing over your wall photo * Track and sort all climbs on your wall * Update your wall at any time - adjust a new photo so that old existing holds still line-up * Share your wall with friends, including your wall photo * Climb your friend’s climbs on your wall

About

Boardsesh

This app connects to various LED climbing boards via Bluetooth to light up holds on your wall. Browse and filter thousands of community-created climbs, build a queue, and track your progress. It supports group sessions for climbing with friends, whether in the same gym or remotely.

Highlights
  • Connects to LED climbing boards
  • Lights up holds on the wall
  • Browse and filter community climbs
  • Build and manage a climb queue
  • Track climbing attempts and sends
  • Supports group climbing sessions
Features
Read full description

Search a climb, watch your wall light up. Less time on your phone, more time on the wall. ONE APP FOR EVERY BOARD YOU CLIMB Kilter, Tension and MoonBoard each ship their own app for their own board. Boardsesh works across all of them, plus Woods, Decoy, Touchstone, Grasshopper and So iLL, in one place. Your whole climbing history across every board lives here. BOARD HISTORY, ALWAYS ON Share a board and you lose track of the last climb fast, and someone always wipes it by accident. In Boardsesh every board you connect to has a live feed of what's lit on that wall right now: the climb's name, who lit it, who set it, the grade and angle, and recent sends. It updates as the wall changes, so you always know what's up there. SESSIONS WITH YOUR CREW Start a session and you and your crew can share one queue everyone can drive. Anyone can light the next climb on the wall. When you're done you get a recap and tracking: sends and attempts, grade spread, your hardest send, and progress over time. CONTROL FROM YOUR LOCK SCREEN (iOS 17+) iOS Live Activities tell you what climb is on from your lock screen, and allow you to change it without leaving your lock screen. BUILD A WORKOUT Pick Volume, Pyramid, Ladder or Grade Focus, set a target grade and warm-up, preview the climbs, then push them to the wall one at a time. TRACK YOUR CLIMBING Record sends, flashes and attempts, get a recap with duration, grade spread and your hardest send, and watch your sends and grades climb on the Progress tab. BRING YOUR HISTORY WITH YOU Save your session to Apple Health, and import your past Kilter and Tension logbook from Aurora Climbing. FIND MORE TO CLIMB Follow your crew and setters, search climbers, and pin playlists from Discover. Supported boards: Kilter, Tension, MoonBoard (2010, 2016, 2024, Masters 2017, Masters 2019), Woods (12x12, 8x10), Decoy, Touchstone, Grasshopper and So iLL. Boardsesh is a community effort that works with these boards and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any board manufacturer.

Screenshots

Beta Direct4 screens
Boardsesh4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Boardsesh at 4.6 against Beta Direct's 4.0. Boardsesh also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ads (none vs shown). Beta Direct's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.4). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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. Beta Direct sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Boardsesh asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Boardsesh holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 24 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Beta Direct's written reviews are positive against 75% of Boardsesh's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Beta Direct ships an update every 8 days, Boardsesh every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Beta Direct versus Boardsesh: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeta DirectBoardsesh
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (9 ratings)4.6 (24 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings924 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB100 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRobert PierceMarco de Jongh

Customer experience

Beta Direct

All ratings9 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral22.2%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral40.0%
Negative0.0%

Boardsesh

All ratings24 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative16.7%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Beta Direct

One-time3
  • Remove Ads$0.99
  • Wall Image Credit$0.99
  • Unlimited Wall Image Credits$4.99
None

Boardsesh

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Beta Direct free?
Beta Direct is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Boardsesh free?
Boardsesh is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Beta Direct or Boardsesh?
Boardsesh is rated higher. Beta Direct averages 4.0 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while Boardsesh averages 4.6 from 24 ratings.
Do Beta Direct or Boardsesh have ads?
Beta Direct shows ads; Boardsesh does not.
Which is updated more often, Beta Direct or Boardsesh?
Beta Direct ships an update every 8 days, and Boardsesh every 9 days. Most recently, Beta Direct was updated on September 15, 2026 and Boardsesh on October 12, 2026.

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