Comparison

Garmin Catalyst™ vs PB Buddy

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

Head to head
About

Garmin Catalyst™

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
Read full description

For motorsports drivers of all levels, the Garmin Catalyst™ app provides a simple, intuitive way to access your Garmin Catalyst™ performance data — including lap times, session summaries and customizable driver profiles— on your compatible smartphone or tablet. The app also tracks your annual driving activity metrics and provides a record of weather conditions for each session. Garmin Catalyst™ App • Easily access your Garmin Catalyst™ performance data with use of this app on your compatible smartphone or tablet • Shows your session summaries, lap times, session weather conditions, lap-by-lap data and annual driving activity metrics • Customizable icons within the app let you tailor the look of your driver profile and vehicle icons • View vehicles and track notes from your Garmin Catalyst™ device

About

PB Buddy

This lap timer app is designed for HPDE and time trials, offering a simple interface for drivers of all levels. It provides instant feedback on lap and sector times, helping users improve their performance on the track. Users can also export their session data for further analysis.

Highlights
  • Easy setup and use
  • Instant lap and sector feedback
  • Big, bright visual elements
  • Data export (CSV and developer-friendly)
  • Supports US race tracks
  • Works with built-in and external GPS
Features
Read full description

PB Buddy is a lap timer app for HPDE and time trials. It offers an easy-to-use, minimalist interface that allows you to focus on what matters most. The user experience has been crafted to work well for drivers of all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned racers. The app has been tested at numerous Time Trials and helped set over a dozen class records across the US. Key features: 1. Easy to set up. The app walks you through the setup and explains how to use it. You don’t need to be an IT professional just to see your lap times. 2. Easy to use. Once the initial setup is complete, simply open the app, press the button to start recording, confirm the track, and you're ready to go! 3. Quickly get feedback on your current lap. Thanks to big, bright visual elements and fun, vibrant colors, you can easily see if you’re on a good lap or lost too much time to set a new personal best (PB). Forget counting the number of tiny LEDs! 4. Fast and targeted feedback. It’s too late to review data in the paddock if you only have one session in the morning when the conditions are best! With PB Buddy, you get instant feedback for each sector of the track (or even per corner!), so you can turn even a bad lap into an opportunity to try something new in that tricky corner you’re struggling with, and find another tenth of a second for your next hot lap. 5. YOU own your data. Export data for each session in CSV format compatible with many existing third-party apps, or export every byte recorded by the app in a developer-friendly format if you enjoy tinkering with data. 6. Supports most race tracks in the US, with more tracks and configurations coming soon. 7. Supports the built-in GPS receiver, but works best with third-party Bluetooth-enabled GPS devices.

Screenshots

Garmin Catalyst™4 screens
PB Buddy3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PB Buddy at 100% against Garmin Catalyst™'s 80%. PB Buddy also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Garmin Catalyst™'s advantage is ratings volume (120 vs 10). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PB Buddy holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Garmin Catalyst™ has 120 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Garmin Catalyst™'s written reviews are positive against 100% of PB Buddy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Garmin Catalyst™ versus PB Buddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGarmin Catalyst™PB Buddy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (120 ratings)5.0 (10 ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings120 — better10
Update frequencyMonthlyMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.515.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size220 MB19 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperGarminTimur Iskhodzhanov

Customer experience

Garmin Catalyst™

All ratings120 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews61 reviews
Positive80.3%
Neutral8.2%
Negative11.5%

PB Buddy

All ratings10 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Garmin Catalyst™

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • 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.
Show 2 more
  • Friend integration is currently pretty lacking. When I try to compare laps it complains that the tracks aren't similar enough.
  • Worse though is that there's no apparent way of sharing your sessions with friends.

Requested features

17 requests
  • 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
Show 12 more
  • Compare data from other sessions
  • Use for Sim racing games
  • More functionality to come
  • Make it even more simple
  • Overall leaderboard
  • Leaderboards of other tracks
  • Compare session data between friends
  • Fix track matching issues for friend comparison
  • Allow browsing friend's sessions
  • Add option to compare against other sessions
  • Add dark mode option
  • Add advanced analytics dashboard

PB Buddy

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Garmin Catalyst™

No in-app purchases

None

PB Buddy

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Garmin Catalyst™ free?
Garmin Catalyst™ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PB Buddy free?
PB Buddy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Garmin Catalyst™ or PB Buddy?
PB Buddy is rated higher. Garmin Catalyst™ averages 4.8 out of 5 from 120 ratings, while PB Buddy averages 5.0 from 10 ratings.
Do Garmin Catalyst™ or PB Buddy have ads?
Neither Garmin Catalyst™ nor PB Buddy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Garmin Catalyst™ or PB Buddy?
Garmin Catalyst™ ships an update monthly, and PB Buddy monthly. Most recently, Garmin Catalyst™ was updated on October 21, 2026 and PB Buddy on October 15, 2026.

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