# Garmin Catalyst™ vs Track Day Essentials

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Track Day Essentials at 13.4 against Garmin Catalyst™'s 16.5. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Garmin Catalyst™ ships an update monthly, Track Day Essentials fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and May 16, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Garmin Catalyst™ | Track Day Essentials |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (120 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/garmin-catalyst/id1603280610/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **120** | — |
| Positive reviews | 81.8% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 220 MB | 18 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.5 | **13.4** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Garmin](https://appshunter.io/developer/411046952) | [BYTEFINE SP Z O O](https://appshunter.io/developer/1699345078) |

## What reviewers say

### Garmin Catalyst™

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/garmin-catalyst/id1603280610)

Access and analyze your motorsports performance data on your smartphone. Review lap times, session summaries, and driver profiles. Track annual driving activity and session weather conditions.

**Highlights:** Access performance data, View lap times, Session summaries, Customizable driver profiles, Track annual activity, Record weather conditions

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use interface
- 🚀 Great performance data
- 💡 Actionable driving insights
- 👍 Simple setup
- 👍 Great for track drivers

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Glitches when logging in
- 🐛 App just glitches
- 🐛 Loading is soooo slow
- 🐛 Not user friendly
- 🐛 Comparing to friends frequently fails

**Reported bugs**

- Everytime you try logging in the app just glitches anyways can’t even get logged in.
- Comparing to others frequently fails
- Compare to friend feature way to frequently fails with the message about the tracks not matching well enough despite being the same track on the same days even.
- New version is off
- It won’t let me compare the laps with other friends on the same day. Says lap not similar. Literally same day same track same session.

**Requested features**

- Option to select 1-5 laps for optimum view
- Watch reference videos side by side on the Catalyst
- Add video review on phone or iPad
- Allow moving videos to iCloud for review
- Ability to download in-car camera footage directly from device to app


### Track Day Essentials

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/track-day-essentials/id6504826080)

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Garmin Catalyst™ free?

Garmin Catalyst™ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Track Day Essentials free?

Track Day Essentials is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Garmin Catalyst™ or Track Day Essentials have ads?

Neither Garmin Catalyst™ nor Track Day Essentials shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Garmin Catalyst™ or Track Day Essentials?

Garmin Catalyst™ ships an update monthly, and Track Day Essentials fortnightly. Most recently, Garmin Catalyst™ was updated on September 23, 2026 and Track Day Essentials on May 16, 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.*