Hatchpedia vs Fly Tying Simulator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hatchpedia
Identify hatching insects while fishing with this pocket entomologist. Search by description or example, view curated photos, and access detailed information about bug lifecycles and regional hatch times. Plan trips and learn about aquatic insects, even offline.
- Identify hatching insects by description
- Search by example with graphical tools
- Curated photos of all lifecycle phases
- Detailed bug information and taxonomy
- Offline functionality
- Location and date-based hatch predictions
- Trip planning for fishing expeditions
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A mayfly lands on you. What is it? What's a good fly to tie on? Hatchpedia puts a pocket-sized aquatic entomologist in your hand. Identify mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies, and hundreds of other aquatic insects using everyday observations. Explore detailed photos, life stages, and hatch timing, whether you’re beside your favorite stream or planning your next trip. DESCRIBE THE BUG. DISCOVER THE INSECT. Upright wings. Yellow body. Two tails. 1/2 inch body. Describe what you see in your own words. Hatchpedia’s purpose-built search engine matches your observations against more than 520 insects that trout love to eat. No scientific names or special search syntax required. Not sure where to start? Search by Example gives you ready-made descriptions to try and adapt. BUILT FOR DAYS OFF THE GRID Your favorite fishing spots don’t always come with cell service. Hatchpedia’s insect identification and reference content work offline, so you can stay on the water instead of searching for a signal. Subscribers can use Hatchpedia offline for up to 14 days after their last successful subscription verification. Open the app online before heading into the backcountry. SEE THE DETAILS THAT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE Explore more than 1,000 professionally licensed photographs selected to help you recognize aquatic insects through their life stages. Look beyond a name with detailed information including: - Common and scientific names - Approximate adult size - Known U.S. hatch regions and seasonal timing - An explanation of why an insect matched your search - Life-stage guidance explaining why each phase matters to trout FIND WHAT FITS YOUR WATER Use your location and date to narrow your search to insects associated with your area and season. Planning a trip? Choose a U.S. region and date to explore likely hatches before you pack your fly box. START LEARNING FOR FREE Explore Hatchpedia’s free educational pages about aquatic insects and their life cycles. Subscribe to unlock identification and the full reference experience. From the first insect you notice to a deeper understanding of your home water, Hatchpedia helps you fish with knowledge and confidence. Privacy policy: https://www.hatchpedia.com/privacy Terms and conditions: https://www.hatchpedia.com/terms Join our community: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hatchpedia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hatchpedia X: https://twitter.com/hatchpedia
Fly Tying Simulator
Design and catalog custom fishing flies in detailed 3D. Explore a vast library of materials and tying styles, or follow guided tutorials to learn new techniques. Share your creations and discover patterns from a global community.
- Detailed 3D fly creation
- Extensive material library
- Guided tying tutorials
- Freeform design mode
- Save and catalog flies
- Community sharing and discovery
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Fly Tying Simulator allows you to create new fly patterns, catalog your favorite flies, and share your creations with the community. You create your flies in detailed 3D, choosing from a huge variety of materials, and view your flies from any angle as you create them. Fly Tying Simulator offers guided tying mode, walking through the steps to create many styles of flies, from Catskill dry flies to bead-head nymphs, marabou streamers, married wing wet flies, Tenkara flies and more. In guided mode you choose your materials for each component of the fly in the order you would add them in the real world. It’s a great teaching tool for new fly tiers. In non-guided mode you’re free to add any components of any materials in any order. This gives you the freedom to explore new ideas for countless flies quickly and easily. The material selection is broad: • A large assortment of hook styles • Round and conic beads in metallic and painted colors • Dozens of colors of thread • Dry fly, wet fly and schlappen hackles • More than 20 natural hackle colors • More than 50 dyed solid hackle colors • Grizzly and badger hackles in more than 50 dyed colors • Natural and dyed partridge feathers • Quill feather sections in natural colors and many dyed colors • Other feathers like grouse, guinea hen, pheasant, etc. • Marabou and CDC in over 50 colors • Wire, oval and flat tinsel for metallic bodies and ribs • Chenille and yarn in basic and reflective colors • A wide variety of floss • Stripped hackle stems and peacock quills • Dubbing in a wide variety of natural and dyed colors • Elk hair in natural colors • Deer hair in natural and dyed colors • Bucktail, squirrel tail, calf tail • Peacock and ostrich herl, plus peacock sword As you create flies you’ll pick from a wide assortment of fly components, and different styles for each of them. For example, just within dry fly wings you can choose: • Paired upright wings • Parachute posts • Comparadun hair wings • Down wings • Spent wings • Cripple wings • Caddis front wings Within each you can pick the perfect material and color. You can also customize most components. You can select a different hackle size and a thicker or more sparse application. When adding dubbing you can pick the fiber length, coarseness and shape it in a taper, flat, reverse taper, double taper, etc. You can even combine multiple colors in the same component. That includes mixing any combination of dubbing colors, wedding quill sections for multi-colored wings, stacking layers of bucktail on a streamer, etc. You can save all the flies you create and sort them by name, style, or creation date. You can view the recipe, reload the fly, give them your own star ratings, and even watch the flies get tied again. You also get access to flies created by the community. You can add any published fly to your own collection, and publish the flies you create yourself. Fly Tying Simulator is also available as a feature of the Complete Package in Fly Fishing Simulator HD. There you have all the same features, and can also use your flies to fish in the simulation.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Hatchpedia at Free against Fly Tying Simulator's $4.99. Hatchpedia also leads on ratings volume (74 vs 1). Fly Tying Simulator's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and rating (5.0 vs 4.5). On update cadence and ads 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
Hatchpedia is free to download; Fly Tying Simulator costs $4.99 up front. Hatchpedia sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month. Fly Tying Simulator asks for nothing beyond the download.
Fly Tying Simulator holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hatchpedia has 74 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Hatchpedia's written reviews are positive against 100% of Fly Tying Simulator's.
Hatchpedia ships an update every 5 days, Fly Tying Simulator weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hatchpedia | Fly Tying Simulator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (74 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 74 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.1 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 724 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | James Speaker | Pishtech LLC |
Customer experience
Hatchpedia
Fly Tying Simulator
In-app purchases
Hatchpedia
- Monthly7 Days trial$2.491 Month
- Annual7 Days trial$26.991 Year
Fly Tying Simulator
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Hatchpedia free?
Is Fly Tying Simulator free?
Which has better reviews, Hatchpedia or Fly Tying Simulator?
Do Hatchpedia or Fly Tying Simulator have ads?
Which is updated more often, Hatchpedia or Fly Tying Simulator?
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