Comparison

Audubon Bird Guide vs Costa Rica Birds Basic

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

Head to head
About

Audubon Bird Guide

Identify North American birds with a comprehensive field guide. Features include real-time bird identification, detailed species information, and sighting logs. Connect with a community of birdwatchers and conservationists.

Highlights
  • Real-time bird identification tool
  • Detailed species profiles with photos and audio
  • Personalized bird sighting logs and life lists
  • Nearby birding hotspots and sightings
  • Community photo sharing
  • Conservation news and action opportunities
Features
Read full description

The Audubon Bird Guide is a free and complete field guide to over 800 species of North American birds, right in your pocket. Built for all experience levels, it will help you identify the birds around you, keep track of the birds you’ve seen, and get outside to find new birds near you. With over 2 million downloads to date, it is one of the best and most trusted field guides for North American birds. KEY FEATURES: ALL-NEW: BIRD ID It's now easier than ever to identify a bird you just saw. Enter all you were able to observe—what color was it? How big? What did its tail look like?—and Bird ID will narrow down a list of possible matches for your location and date in real time. LEARN ABOUT THE BIRDS YOU LOVE Our field guide features over 3,000 photos, over eight hours of audio clips of songs and calls, multi-season range maps, and in-depth text by leading North American bird expert Kenn Kaufman. KEEP TRACK OF ALL THE BIRDS YOU SEE With our completely redesigned Sightings feature, you can keep a record of every bird you encounter, whether you're hiking, sitting on the porch, or simply catching a glimpse of birds out the window. We'll even keep an updated life list for you. EXPLORE THE BIRDS AROUND YOU See where the birds are with nearby birding hotspots and real-time sightings from eBird. SHARE PHOTOS Post your photos to the Photo Feed so other Audubon Bird Guide users can see your best bird shots. GET INVOLVED WITH AUDUBON Keep up with the latest news from the world of birds, science, and conservation. Find an Audubon location near you to go birding. Or see where your voice is needed and take action to protect birds and the places they need, right from your app. Have any questions or need help? Contact us at audubonconnect@audubon.org About Audubon: The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon’s state programs, nature centers, chapters, and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, Audubon’s vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive.

About

Costa Rica Birds Basic

A field guide to common Costa Rican birds, featuring images, vocalizations, and detailed descriptions. It includes search filters, personal lists, and note-taking capabilities, with options to record GPS and email sightings.

Highlights
  • Bird identification with images and vocalizations
  • Range maps and detailed descriptions
  • Comprehensive search and filtering
  • Personalized target lists
  • Note-taking with GPS recording
  • Similar species comparison
Features
Read full description

Field guide for Costa Rica showing 360 of the most spectacular and commonly encountered bird species. -Images for each species. -Vocalizations for most. -Range maps, descriptions, field marks, and other information for all. NO ADVERTISEMEMTS. FREE UPGRADES. Additional features include: -Comprehensive SEARCH filter -Search by name -Sorting options -Make target lists -Check as seen, heard, or unseen/heard -Personal notes -Camera, email notes and photos. -Similar Species feature allows quick comparison of field sightings New, improved note keeping, including note filtering, recording GPS position, and emailing 1 or a batch of notes in eBird format. 'Which Bird is it?' Record and photo bird, email to us for help in identification

Screenshots

Audubon Bird Guide4 screens
Costa Rica Birds Basic1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Audubon Bird Guide at Free against Costa Rica Birds Basic's $2.99. Audubon Bird Guide also leads on ratings volume (4.5K vs 3) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Costa Rica Birds Basic's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 64%) and ads (none vs shown). On rating, in-app purchases and device support 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

Audubon Bird Guide is free to download; Costa Rica Birds Basic costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Audubon Bird Guide against 4.3 for Costa Rica Birds Basic. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Audubon Bird Guide has 4.5K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 64% of Audubon Bird Guide's written reviews are positive against 100% of Costa Rica Birds Basic's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Audubon Bird Guide ships an update every 3 weeks, Costa Rica Birds Basic every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Audubon Bird Guide versus Costa Rica Birds Basic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAudubon Bird GuideCosta Rica Birds Basic
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.3 (4.5K ratings)4.3 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.5K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supported — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.69.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size355 MB265 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNational Audubon SocietyPatrick ODonnell

Customer experience

Audubon Bird Guide

All ratings4,525 ratings
Positive82.3%
Neutral4.1%
Negative13.6%
Written reviews240 reviews
Positive64.2%
Neutral6.3%
Negative29.6%

Costa Rica Birds Basic

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Audubon Bird Guide

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes when opening settings
  • Incorrect sighting location recording
  • Unreliable login and account features
  • Compatibility issues with newer devices
  • Syncing and data loss problems

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add photo ID and sound ID features
  • Improve location-based bird sightings
  • Expand coverage to more regions/countries
  • Allow offline access to field guide
  • Provide more detailed bird information
Show 2 more
  • Improve sorting and filtering options
  • Sync sightings with other platforms

Costa Rica Birds Basic

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Audubon Bird Guide

No in-app purchases

None

Costa Rica Birds Basic

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Audubon Bird Guide free?
Audubon Bird Guide is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Costa Rica Birds Basic free?
Costa Rica Birds Basic costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Audubon Bird Guide or Costa Rica Birds Basic?
Costa Rica Birds Basic is rated higher. Audubon Bird Guide averages 4.3 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while Costa Rica Birds Basic averages 4.3 from 3 ratings.
Do Audubon Bird Guide or Costa Rica Birds Basic have ads?
Audubon Bird Guide shows ads; Costa Rica Birds Basic does not.
Which is updated more often, Audubon Bird Guide or Costa Rica Birds Basic?
Audubon Bird Guide ships an update every 3 weeks, and Costa Rica Birds Basic every 2 months. Most recently, Audubon Bird Guide was updated on November 6, 2026 and Costa Rica Birds Basic on November 2, 2026.

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