SmartShanghai vs Catalumia
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SmartShanghai
Access a comprehensive directory of over 16,000 Shanghai businesses, events, and classifieds. Discover nearby venues, happy hours, and essential city information. Find housing, jobs, and buy/sell items with this city guide.
- 16,000+ business directory
- Location-based venue discovery
- Curated editorial content
- Comprehensive events calendar
- Housing and job classifieds
- Buy & Sell marketplace
- Emergency contact information
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Discover and bookmark the best of Shanghai. SmartShanghai is Shanghai’s longest-running online English-language city guide. For over 20 years, our editors on the ground have been discovering, reviewing and curating the places, events and things worth knowing about. From restaurants and bars to exhibitions, concerts, family activities and hidden neighborhood spots, we help you find the best of Shanghai — and save the things you want to come back to. Discover Browse our hand-picked selection of restaurants, bars, cafés, shops and other places around Shanghai. Save Your Favorites Bookmark places, events and articles you want to come back to and build your own Shanghai list. What’s On Find things happening around the city, from live music and nightlife to exhibitions, markets, dining events and family activities. Editorial Guides, recommendations and stories from our Shanghai-based editorial team, covering the city for more than 20 years. Housing Browse apartments for rent across Shanghai, with thousands of current listings from local agencies and landlords. Tickets Discover upcoming shows and events and buy tickets directly through SmartShanghai. Essential Shanghai Practical information for living in and visiting Shanghai, including useful services and emergency information. Whether you’ve just arrived, are visiting for a few days, or have lived here for years, SmartShanghai helps you discover more of Shanghai — and keep track of the places you don’t want to forget.
Catalumia
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Catalumia is made by a team that has worked in education and travel since 2012. Everything about your trip in one place: your programme, your own route and what to read before you go. YOUR PROGRAMME, LIVE Enter your group code and your programme appears. The day-by-day flow, times, meeting points and stops are the same ones your tour leader is working from. If a time changes, it changes on your screen. The programme is saved on your device, so it opens on the plane or when your data runs out. BUILD YOUR OWN ROUTE Pick cities on the map, put them in order, see how many nights you spend where. The route is shown with city photographs, not as a plain list. It works without an account. READ BEFORE YOU GO Preparation files for 59 cities: what to wear, how to pay, which transport pass to buy, what to watch out for. Local phrases come with their sound, so you can hear how they are said. GET TO KNOW THE CITY For eight cities: the city's own moods, its rituals, the places that stay and the things that happen at certain times of year. Not a list of sights, but how the city is lived. CATALUMIA CLUB IS FREE Verify your account and Club opens: all the preparation files, the city entries and the audio. No price, no subscription, no payment details. THREE LANGUAGES The interface follows your device language: Turkish, English, Spanish. Catalumia S.L. · Barcelona
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Catalumia at every 9 days against SmartShanghai's every 3 months. SmartShanghai's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SmartShanghai ships an update every 3 months, Catalumia every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SmartShanghai | Catalumia |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (561 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 39.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 561 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | 上海煌飞商务咨询有限公司 | Catalumia |
Bugs and requests
SmartShanghai
Reported bugs
4 issues- Venues randomly disappearing from the app
- Inability to access favorites after updates
- Compatibility issues with newer iOS devices
- Frequent crashes and freezes
Requested features
4 requests- Improve search and filtering functionality
- Add ability to rate and review venues
- Integrate more location-based features
- Provide regular content updates
Catalumia
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SmartShanghai
No in-app purchases
Catalumia
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SmartShanghai free?
Is Catalumia free?
Do SmartShanghai or Catalumia have ads?
Which is updated more often, SmartShanghai or Catalumia?
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