# BirdNET vs Bird Sound Identifier

The clearest difference is price: BirdNET at Free against Bird Sound Identifier's $2.99. BirdNET also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.4). Bird Sound Identifier's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.0) and review sentiment (100% vs 66%). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

BirdNET is free to download; Bird Sound Identifier costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Bird Sound Identifier holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 215 and 190 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of BirdNET's written reviews are positive against 100% of Bird Sound Identifier's.

BirdNET ships an update every 3 months, Bird Sound Identifier every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | BirdNET | Bird Sound Identifier |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $2.99 |
| Rating | [4.0 (215 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/birdnet/id1541842885/reviews) | **[4.9 (190 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bird-sound-identifier/id1541890005/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **215** | 190 |
| Positive reviews | 66.5% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 months** | Every 6 months |
| Monetization | **Free** | Paid |
| Size | 98 MB | 154 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.0** | 16.4 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Stefan Kahl](https://appshunter.io/developer/1541842887) | [Rafael Francisco](https://appshunter.io/developer/1516302666) |

## What reviewers say

### BirdNET

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/birdnet/id1541842885)

Identify bird species by their sounds using AI. Record audio with your device and discover the birds around you. Contribute to conservation research by submitting your recordings.

**Highlights:** AI-powered bird sound recognition, Identify common North American and European species, Record audio with internal microphone, View probable bird species identification, Contribute to conservation research, Learn about local birds

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 💚 Excellent bird identification accuracy
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- 🔍 Helpful links to Wikipedia and other resources
- 🎉 Enjoyable and educational for bird enthusiasts
- 🗺️ Leverages location data to improve identification

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 App crashes or freezes on some devices
- 🔍 Struggles to identify multiple birds singing simultaneously
- 🔇 Unable to play back previous recordings in some cases
- 🗺️ Inaccurate or incomplete regional bird data
- 🤔 Questionable identification results in some cases

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when trying to access observation history
- Recordings disappearing after app updates
- Inability to start a new recording without exiting the app
- Microphone not working on certain devices
- Incorrect or missing bird species in regional databases

**Requested features**

- Ability to manually select frequency ranges for analysis
- Option to delete individual observations or recordings
- Import/export functionality for recordings and observations
- Improved handling of background noise and interference
- More detailed feedback when multiple birds are detected


### Bird Sound Identifier

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bird-sound-identifier/id1541890005)

Identify bird species by their calls using advanced on-device AI. Access detailed information about each species, including conservation status, directly from Wikipedia. Enjoy a clean, intuitive interface for seamless bird sound recognition.

**Highlights:** Identify birds by sound, Offline on-device inference, Supports 6362 species, Species information from Wikipedia, Conservation status included, Simple user interface

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is BirdNET free?

BirdNET is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Bird Sound Identifier free?

Bird Sound Identifier costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, BirdNET or Bird Sound Identifier?

Bird Sound Identifier is rated higher. BirdNET averages 4.0 out of 5 from 215 ratings, while Bird Sound Identifier averages 4.9 from 190 ratings.

### Do BirdNET or Bird Sound Identifier have ads?

Neither BirdNET nor Bird Sound Identifier shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, BirdNET or Bird Sound Identifier?

BirdNET ships an update every 3 months, and Bird Sound Identifier every 6 months. Most recently, BirdNET was updated on October 29, 2026 and Bird Sound Identifier on October 25, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*