SpareRoom vs Turtle Bay
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SpareRoom
Find your ideal room or flatmate with the UK's leading platform. Browse thousands of listings across the UK, connect with potential housemates, and secure your perfect living situation on the go.
- Room and roommate search
- Thousands of UK listings
- On-the-go access
- User support
- Connect with housemates
Read full descriptionHide full description
As the UK’s number 1 flatshare site, we’ve helped over 13,000,000 people to find their perfect room or roommate. With our apps, you can do it all while on-the-go. Repeatedly featured by Apple as App Of The Day and in the categories of Your New Home, Apps for the Weekend, What’s Hot, and Popular Apps and Games. Rated by The Sunday Times as one of the top apps on the App Store. SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE Whether you’re starting university, relocating to the UK, tired of living alone, weighing up what to do with an empty room, or, quite simply, searching for another flatmate or flatshare, we’re the service for you. UNRIVALLED CHOICE With thousands of flatsharing opportunities to choose from in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and right across the UK, you’ll be able to find your perfect flatmate or flatshare. OUR PHILOSOPHY Experience has taught us that flatsharing is as much about the people as it is about the property. To help you find the best of both, we provide unparalleled tools, choice, and support. As a result, on average, every 3 minutes someone finds a flatmate through SpareRoom. HELP & SUPPORT Our award-winning customer support team are here to help you with your search. If you require support, come across a problem, or want to provide feedback, you can get in touch by email (support@spareroom.co.uk) or phone (1 877 834 2909).
Turtle Bay
Join a club to earn stamps with each visit and receive gifts after collecting a set number. Access exclusive content like recipes, playlists, and student perks. Turn on notifications for surprise freebies.
- Earn stamps on visits
- Receive gifts after collecting turtles
- Birthday gifts
- Secret cocktails
- Exclusive recipes
- Playlists
- Student perks
Read full descriptionHide full description
Get freebies when you join the Bay Club. Earn a Turtle stamp on each visit to Turtle Bay – and a gift after 3, 6 and 9 Turtles. You’ll also find birthday gifts, secret cocktails, exclusive recipes, playlists, student perks and more. Make sure your notifications are turned on so you hear about surprise freebies coming your way too. We'll catch you soon for rum, reggae and jerk!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Turtle Bay at none against SpareRoom's 10. Turtle Bay also leads on review sentiment (83% vs 49%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). SpareRoom's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (4.2K vs 7). On price, ads, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. SpareRoom sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Turtle Bay asks for nothing beyond the download.
Turtle Bay holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SpareRoom has 4.2K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of SpareRoom's written reviews are positive against 83% of Turtle Bay's.
SpareRoom ships an update fortnightly, Turtle Bay every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SpareRoom | Turtle Bay |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (4.2K ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 48.7% of reviews | 83.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4.2K — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 12.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 59 MB |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | Flatshare Ltd | Turtle Bay Hospitality Ltd |
Customer experience
SpareRoom
Turtle Bay
User reviews
SpareRoom
From 4.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 👍 Great for finding rooms/flatmates
- 💡 Useful features like filters
- 🌟 Positive overall experience
Room to improve
- 🐛 Bugs and glitches
- 💰 Expensive paid features
- 🤖 Fake/unresponsive listings
- 🚫 Discrimination in listings
Turtle Bay
From 7 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent in-restaurant service and staff friendliness
- 🍹 High-quality cocktails and drinks selection
- 🍽️ Delicious Caribbean food
- 🎉 Great atmosphere and ambiance
- 💰 Valuable loyalty rewards program with turtles and vouchers
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes and won't open
- 🐛 App login issues and authentication errors
- ⏱️ Slow service during busy periods
- ⏱️ Long wait times for drinks and food
- 🍽️ Inconsistent portion sizes
Bugs and requests
SpareRoom
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes and sign-outs
- Inconsistent behavior between app and website
- Issues with updating and editing listings
Requested features
4 requests- Better messaging/communication tools
- More advanced search and filtering options
- Improved verification of listings and users
- Feedback/review system for landlords/tenants
Turtle Bay
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes instantly since end of February update
- App won't open - constant loading errors
- Login fails with 'customer already exists' error message
- App won't load perks section despite emails about vouchers
- Rewards not properly credited after meals
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Discounts not applied to bills despite staff confirmation
- Blue Light discount not applied despite claims
- App incompatible with older devices
- Cyber attack affecting app functionality
- Turtle rewards capped at lower amounts than earned
Requested features
7 requests- Improve app performance and loading speed
- Better offline functionality for app
- More frequent and varied promotional offers
- Clearer explanation of how to earn and redeem rewards
- Expanded menu options beyond small plates
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- More transparency on portion sizes
- Better staff training on discount application
In-app purchases
SpareRoom
- Boost$9.99
- 7-Day Upgrade$12.99
- 1-Week Upgrade2 variants$15.00
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Verification$15.00
- 14-Day Upgrade$23.99
- 30-Day Upgrade2 variants$25.99
- 4-Week Upgrade2 variants$30.00
Turtle Bay
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SpareRoom free?
Is Turtle Bay free?
Which has better reviews, SpareRoom or Turtle Bay?
Do SpareRoom or Turtle Bay have ads?
Which is updated more often, SpareRoom or Turtle Bay?
Other comparisons















