Comparison

SpareRoom vs Turtle Bay

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Room and roommate search
  • Thousands of UK listings
  • On-the-go access
  • User support
  • Connect with housemates
Features
Read 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).

About

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.

Highlights
  • Earn stamps on visits
  • Receive gifts after collecting turtles
  • Birthday gifts
  • Secret cocktails
  • Exclusive recipes
  • Playlists
  • Student perks
Features
Read 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

SpareRoom4 screens
Turtle Bay4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. SpareRoom sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Turtle Bay asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SpareRoom ships an update fortnightly, Turtle Bay every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
SpareRoom versus Turtle Bay: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpareRoomTurtle Bay
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (4.2K ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.7% of reviews83.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.2K — better7
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.012.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB59 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperFlatshare LtdTurtle Bay Hospitality Ltd

Customer experience

SpareRoom

All ratings4,153 ratings
Positive92.2%
Neutral3.4%
Negative4.4%
Written reviews396 reviews
Positive48.7%
Neutral13.4%
Negative37.9%

Turtle Bay

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews178 reviews
Positive83.1%
Neutral3.4%
Negative13.5%

User reviews

SpareRoom

From 4.2K App Store ratings

What 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 ratings

What 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 more
  • 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 more
  • More transparency on portion sizes
  • Better staff training on discount application

In-app purchases

7 purchases

SpareRoom

One-time7
  • Boost$9.99
  • 7-Day Upgrade$12.99
  • 1-Week Upgrade2 variants$15.00
Show 4 more
  • Verification$15.00
  • 14-Day Upgrade$23.99
  • 30-Day Upgrade2 variants$25.99
  • 4-Week Upgrade2 variants$30.00
None

Turtle Bay

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SpareRoom free?
SpareRoom is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Turtle Bay free?
Turtle Bay is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SpareRoom or Turtle Bay?
Turtle Bay is rated higher. SpareRoom averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.2K ratings, while Turtle Bay averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do SpareRoom or Turtle Bay have ads?
Neither SpareRoom nor Turtle Bay shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SpareRoom or Turtle Bay?
SpareRoom ships an update fortnightly, and Turtle Bay every 4 months. Most recently, SpareRoom was updated on November 1, 2026 and Turtle Bay on November 2, 2026.

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