Bonhams vs Aether Auctions
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bonhams
Explore and bid on fine art, antiques, collectables, and motor cars from a global auction house. Discover valuations and sales advice across 60 specialist areas worldwide.
- Fine art auctions
- Antique auctions
- Collectables auctions
- Motor car auctions
- Valuation services
- Global sales network
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Bonhams Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers: auctioneers of art, pictures, collectables and motor cars. Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street and Knightsbridge; and a further three in the UK regions and Scotland. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Connecticut in the USA; and Germany, France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Australia. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas.
Aether Auctions
Participate in live auctions and manage your bidding activity directly from your mobile device. Browse upcoming sales, save favorite items, and place bids remotely. Receive timely reminders to ensure you never miss an opportunity.
- View auction calendar
- Search and save favorite lots
- Register for sales
- Receive bid reminders
- Place absentee bids
- Bid live
- Track bidding activity
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The new Aether Auctions app lets you view our auction calendar and bid live in our auctions from your mobile device. Participate in our sales wherever you are using your mobile device and by gaining access to the following features:- - View calendar of past and future sales - Search lots - Save favorite lots - Register for upcoming sales - Receive reminders to ensure you never miss a chance to bid in a sale - Leave absentee bids - Bid live - Track your bidding activity
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Aether Auctions at 4.0 against Bonhams's 3.1. Aether Auctions also leads on iOS requirement (13.4 vs 15.1). Bonhams's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (monthly vs every 13 months). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Aether Auctions holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bonhams has 149 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 19% of Bonhams's written reviews are positive against 0% of Aether Auctions's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Bonhams ships an update monthly, Aether Auctions every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bonhams | Aether Auctions |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (149 ratings) | 4.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 18.8% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 149 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 13 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 13.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bonhams 1793 Limited | Aether Auctions plus Appraisals, LLC. |
Customer experience
Bonhams
Aether Auctions
Bugs and requests
Bonhams
Reported bugs
72 issues- App fails constantly
- Does not connect with website
- Requires constant re-login
- Does not work with facial recognition
- Lost connection frequently
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- Missed lots due to poor UX
- Hard to follow items
- Logged out everyday
- Not showing historical bids
- Constantly 'unable to connect'
- Photos not loading
- App keeps trying to load after update
- Error loading more auctions
- Spinning progress arrows annoying
- Laggy and unstable
- Impossible to follow lots
- Every lot shown from beginning of time
- Forces email account for condition report
- App doesn't update with upcoming auctions
- No customer service responses
- No invoice available on app
- Tedious scrolling for auctions
- No way to search auction location
- No filter for item category
- App is unusable
- Many functions unusable
- Get stuck in search screen
- Login difficult
- Requires re-creating account
- Cannot enter app with iOS 17.4.1
- Rubbish app
- Never get reply
- No longer select sales by location
- No Italian language option
- Bad customer support replies
- High user charge (28%)
- Telephone support on hold/hangs up
- No digital payment interface
- Icons too small
- Bidding not fit for purpose
- Fails to send bids
- Cannot save favorite artists
- No notification for favorite artists
- Malfunctioning watch sold
- App does not show current bid
- Not notified when outbid
- No filter to exclude US auctions
- Insensitive customer service for pickup
- No obvious way to sort auctions by location
- Location not shown upfront
- Cannot create account on iPhone (button hidden)
- App initializing for over a month
- Constantly crashing and unreliable
- Can't find specific auctions (NY, type)
- Outrageous buyer's premium (30%)
- Difficulty changing password/account issues
- Wrong descriptions and bottles shown
- Slide bar wouldn't work for bidding
- Always lag, lose for the lot
- Misrepresented lot with wrong registration mark
- Difficult to navigate
- Impossible to sign off
- Keeps asking to sign up for newsletter
- No one responds to email
- Password doesn't work / account doesn't exist
- Unorganized and poorly run business
- Terrible, temperamental, unreliable, confusing
- Not user friendly
- Browsing auctions almost impossible
- No search function
- Cannot access today's sale results
- Cannot get auction details
Requested features
17 requests- Most recent followed lots on top
- Embed condition report in app
- Search for auction location
- Filter by item category
- Sort auctions by location
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- Save favorite artists and get notifications
- Filter available auctions to exclude specific regions
- Italian language option
- Ability to sort auctions by location
- Display auction location upfront
- Functionality to register for auction via app
- Functionality to bid through the app
- Load online auctions onto the app
- Search function for artists
- Improved UI for viewing artworks (like Christie's)
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
Aether Auctions
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Bonhams
No in-app purchases
Aether Auctions
No in-app purchases
