# Barista Simulator vs City Shop Simulator

The clearest difference is rating: City Shop Simulator at 4.8 against Barista Simulator's 3.2. City Shop Simulator also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (84% vs 58%). Barista Simulator's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 months). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. City Shop Simulator sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Barista Simulator asks for nothing beyond the download.

City Shop Simulator holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: City Shop Simulator has 1.3K ratings behind it against 67, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of Barista Simulator's written reviews are positive against 84% of City Shop Simulator's.

Barista Simulator ships an update every 6 days, City Shop Simulator every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Barista Simulator | City Shop Simulator |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.2 (67 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/barista-simulator/id1667096503/reviews) | **[4.8 (1.3K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/city-shop-simulator/id6502181069/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 67 | **1.3K** |
| Positive reviews | 57.7% of reviews | **83.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 6 days** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | **Ad-supported** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 502 MB | 174 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 13.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [CUBECUBE SPORTS BILISIM VE TEKNOLOJI LIMITED SIRKETI](https://appshunter.io/developer/1502835725) | [Dmitriy Dedkov](https://appshunter.io/developer/1144501643) |

## What reviewers say

### Barista Simulator

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/barista-simulator/id1667096503)

Experience the life of a barista in this realistic coffee simulation game. Prepare a wide variety of coffee drinks, upgrade your equipment, and manage your own coffee shop. Satisfy customer orders and even decorate your cafe.

**Highlights:** Realistic coffee preparation, Wide variety of coffee recipes, Machine and shop upgrades, Coffee shop management, Cafe decoration system, Character and cafe skill upgrades

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

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Fun and addictive gameplay
- 💡 Great game idea
- ☕️ Realistic barista simulation
- 💰 Easy to make money
- 📈 Quick progress

**What reviewers complain about**

- 📺 Too many ads
- 🐛 Frequent crashes
- ✋ Difficult controls
- 💾 No auto-save
- 🧊 Freezing issues

**Reported bugs**

- Game crashes frequently
- Game freezes
- Save feature not working
- Does not save progress
- Invisible trash can

**Requested features**

- Add controller compatibility for mobile
- Add NPC workers to mobile version
- Add an auto-save feature
- Add option to buy ad-free
- Add Russian language support


### City Shop Simulator

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/city-shop-simulator/id6502181069)

Build and manage your own supermarket, starting from a small shop and expanding into a bustling retail empire. Customize your store's interior, manage inventory, hire staff, and strategically set prices to attract customers and maximize profits.

**Highlights:** Build and expand your store, Customize interior and exterior, Manage inventory and product assortment, Hire and manage staff, Set prices and analyze demand, Serve customers at checkout

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Small currency pack | $0.99 | one-time |
| Limited offer | $0.99 | one-time |
| Medium currency pack | $2.99 | one-time |
| Big currency pack | $7.99 | one-time |
| Huge currency pack | $19.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great game mechanics
- 🚀 Excellent variety of products
- 💡 Ability to view price changes
- 👍 No order amount restrictions
- 👍 Customization options

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Stock rack labels cannot be removed
- 🐛 Cannot put empty boxes on stock racks
- 🐛 Stocker doesn't have an option to put boxes on non-labeled stock racks
- 🐛 Box picture covered by action button when holding a box
- 🐛 Restockers getting stuck in corners

**Reported bugs**

- Restockers getting stuck in corners
- Customers not being served due to slow cashiers
- Customers complaining about missing products that are actually in stock
- Issues with cash purchases not being properly recorded

**Requested features**

- Add self-checkout machines
- Increase number of cashiers
- Expand storage room capacity
- Improve staff work speed
- Add more product licenses (e.g., fruits, vegetables, toys)


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Barista Simulator free?

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

### Is City Shop Simulator free?

City Shop Simulator is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Barista Simulator or City Shop Simulator?

City Shop Simulator is rated higher. Barista Simulator averages 3.2 out of 5 from 67 ratings, while City Shop Simulator averages 4.8 from 1.3K ratings.

### Do Barista Simulator or City Shop Simulator have ads?

Barista Simulator shows ads; City Shop Simulator does not.

### Which is updated more often, Barista Simulator or City Shop Simulator?

Barista Simulator ships an update every 6 days, and City Shop Simulator every 2 months. Most recently, Barista Simulator was updated on October 19, 2026 and City Shop Simulator on October 22, 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.*