Bonhams vs Phillips
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.
Phillips
Participate in global auctions for 20th and 21st-century art, design, and luxury items. Buy, sell, and explore curated collections with real-time bidding and expert valuations.
- Browse upcoming auctions
- Track favorite lots
- Place real-time bids
- Submit items for appraisal
- Explore by maker
- Set custom alerts
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Buy, sell, and explore with the Phillips Online app. Explore upcoming auctions, track favorite lots, place real-time bids, and enjoy seamless access to our world-class auctions. BUY — place bids effortlessly in our live and online auctions. SELL — submit images of your property to our experts for complimentary valuations and appraisals. EXPLORE — browse works by your favorite makers, create an account, register to bid, and set custom alerts. About Phillips Phillips is modernizing the collecting experience for all. As a leading global platform for buying and selling 20th and 21st-century works, Phillips offers dedicated expertise in Modern & Contemporary Art, Design, Photographs, Editions, Watches, and Jewels. Auctions and exhibitions are primarily held in New York, London, Geneva, and Hong Kong, with representative offices based throughout Europe, the United States, and Asia. Phillips offers a regular selection of live and online auctions, as well as items available for immediate purchase. Phillips also offers a range of services across all aspects of collecting, including private sales, appraisals, valuations, and fiduciary planning.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Phillips at 80% against Bonhams's 19%. Phillips also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.1) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly). Bonhams's advantage is ratings volume (149 vs 30) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Phillips holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 149 and 30 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 19% of Bonhams's written reviews are positive against 80% of Phillips's.
Bonhams ships an update monthly, Phillips every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bonhams | Phillips |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (149 ratings) | 4.5 (30 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 18.8% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 149 — better | 30 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 184 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Bonhams 1793 Limited | Phillips Auctioneers LLC |
Customer experience
Bonhams
Phillips
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
Phillips
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Bonhams
No in-app purchases
Phillips
No in-app purchases
