Collections Database vs Meta
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Collections Database
Organize anything with a personal database app. It offers over 20 field types, customizable layouts, and pre-built templates for common uses like books or expenses. Advanced features and iCloud sync are available.
- 20+ field types (text, number, picture, barcode, etc.)
- Customizable fields and display styles
- Pre-built templates (books, contacts, expenses, etc.)
- Organize with collections and subcollections
- Password, Face ID, and Touch ID protection
- iCloud synchronization across devices
- Advanced fields and calculations (Pro version)
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Collections is a personal database app to organize anything. 1. A field for every use Collections supports over 20+ field types: • Text, Number • Boolean • Picture • Select • Email, URL, Phone • Password • Date, Time • Color • Barcode And with the Pro version you can use even more advanced fields. • Document reference - Link documents together • Group - Add multiple values for a field • Formula - Create a formula for calculated values. Powerful formula editor with full support to math functions like SUM, AVG • Sources - Import documents from external APIs with Javascript 2. Customizable • Add and reorder fields • Add a separator between fields to better visualize them • Fields have different display styles like primary, secondary, thumbnail • Filter and sort data 3. Templates Collections includes basic templates to get started: • Books • Contacts • Expenses • Subscriptions • Credentials • Inventory • School 5. Advanced management Collections has different tools to help you creating the data model. SUBCOLLECTIONS Organize data into collections and subcollections. Simply said, they are like folders. LISTS A list contains items used in documents and it's very flexible. It could represent a Genre for a book or a Status like 'Available', 'Out of stock' for an object in the inventory. 6. Security • Protect collections using a password, Face ID or Touch ID • Sensitive data such as passwords are encrypted by default 7. iCloud Sync Data is synced automatically between devices through iCloud. 8. Apple's Shortcuts support Expand the app capabilities with Apple's Shortcuts support. 9. Pro version features • Add unlimited documents (free version is limited to 100 documents) • Add files to documents • Add advanced fields • Views • Grid • Use Summary to perform calculations across documents
Meta
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===Definition data===: A class of data is described by defining multiple properties. The property type of data class supports integer, text, floating point number and date. One property of the data class corresponds to one column of multi row and multi column data. One object of the data class corresponds to one row of multi row and multi column data. ===Edit Data===: You can add and edit objects, import and export objects in CSV format. Objects can be imported from CSV files exported from Number or Excel apps. Or objects can be exported to CSV files to be imported into Number or Excel apps. Import: Copy text or files in CSV format and paste them into the application. Export: Copy the text in CSV format from the application and save it as a CSV file. You can add notes to a single object (text and pictures are supported). ===Exploring data===: You can filter, group, sort, and display the objects of the data class according to any five properties of the data class. Three different filtering and display settings are supported. Support the second quick search on the filtered objects. Filtering supports multiple conditions (text contain, contained in some text, greater than, less than, equal-to, and not-equal). Sorting supports ascending or descending order. Display supports list display and chart display. One grouping property and the other four properties you selected optionally will be displayed in the list. You can set the aggregation type for each property of the other four properties. Filter conditions, display color and precision can be set for each of the five properties. The list group header displays the value of the group property and the aggregation information (count, sum, median, average etc.) of the group. Each row of the list displays four properties of the object according to four importance levels. Precision settings are used for grouping, filtering, and displaying. Chart display, grouped by grouping property, with the first two of the other four attributes you select as the X axis and Y axis, displays line chart, bar chart, point chart and area chart. A sector chart is grouped by the group-by property, displaying the number of groups or the aggregated value of another property. It means that any two properties can be used as the X axis and Y axis to draw a chart. You can set two ruler lines for the X axis or Y axis. === Subscription ===: 30 objects can be created and displayed for free. You can create 99 or 999 objects by subscribing. After unsubscribing, you can still edit and explore the created objects. === EULA ===: [standard Apple Terms of Use (EULA)](https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Meta at every 3 days against Collections Database's fortnightly. Collections Database's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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. Collections Database sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Meta sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Collections Database ships an update fortnightly, Meta every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Collections Database | Meta |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (187 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 87.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 187 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Matteo D'Ignazio | 勇 崔 |
Bugs and requests
Collections Database
Reported bugs
2 issues- Keyboard issues when using search
- Inconsistent behavior between iOS and macOS versions
Requested features
4 requests- Collaborative features for sharing databases
- More advanced reporting and visualization options
- Improved import/export functionality
- Ability to customize the appearance and layout
Meta
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Collections Database
- Collections Ultra (Upgrade)$1.99
- Collections Pro$7.99
- Collections Ultra$9.99
Meta
- 99 objects$0.997 Days
- 999 objects$1.997 Days
- 9999 objects$2.997 Days
Questions
Is Collections Database free?
Is Meta free?
Do Collections Database or Meta have ads?
Which is updated more often, Collections Database or Meta?
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