Comparison

Bird Journal vs Hill Bagging

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

Head to head
About

Bird Journal

Record, explore, and share your bird and wildlife observations. This app allows for detailed data entry, including photos and habitat information, with a vast global species library. Access your records across devices and contribute to conservation efforts.

Highlights
  • Record observations with custom data entry
  • Explore records with reports, graphs, and maps
  • Share records and contribute to conservation
  • Access data on any device
  • Secure cloud storage for data
  • Import existing records from other apps
Features
Read full description

Bird Journal is the best way to record, explore and share your bird & wildlife observations and experiences. It has thousands of users across the world, and now brings its full power to iPhone and iPad in one beautifully native app. Start keeping a record of your bird & wildlife observations now with a free account. RECORD ANYTHING Enter bird & wildlife observations, photos, habitat and more with customisable data entry. Bird Journal's growing library contains hundreds of checklists and taxonomies, with over 100,000 species and subspecies worldwide. EXPLORE YOUR RECORDS Enjoy looking back through your data with beautiful entry reports, species lists, graphs*, maps*, reports* & a redesigned photo gallery. Search instantly by date, species, location & more. POWERFUL TOOLS, NOW ON MOBILE Import and export your records, replace species across your data, and build your own custom checklists, taxonomies and synonym packs — all for the first time on your phone or tablet. SHARE YOUR RECORDS Export, print and share records, species lists and photos straight to friends and other apps. eBird and BirdTrack systems are fully supported, so you can conveniently contribute to conservation efforts. ACCESS ANYWHERE Access and enter your records on any supported device or computer. Data is stored on each device, meaning you always have access even when on the move, in the field or abroad. REMEMBER FOREVER Never lose your data. Everything added to Bird Journal is safely and securely stored in Bird Journal's cloud. If you lose your device or your computer malfunctions, simply sign back in to your account to carry on from where you left off. BRING YOUR DATA Get started quickly by importing existing records from any other system or app. eBird, BirdTrack & Wildlife Recorder records can be imported directly. * Requires an upgrade to a Bird Journal Premium account.

About

Hill Bagging

Track your hill climbing progress with this app, featuring offline logging and interactive maps. Access a vast community-shared database of ascents and over 70 UK hill lists. Designed for quick on-the-hill use, it simplifies planning and recording your climbs.

Highlights
  • Offline hill logging
  • Interactive maps with multiple layers
  • Progress tracking for 70+ UK hill lists
  • Community-shared routes and waypoints
  • Quick tick ascent recording
  • Hills Near Me feature
Read full description

The Hill Bagging app is designed to be simple and fast for on-the-hill use, even when there is poor or no signal. With over two million hill ascents logged since our website launched in the mid 1990s, you can tap into starting points and waypoints for walks shared by our active community who share their routes for all the hills - including the less popular ones. You can track your progress in climbing hills across over 70 hill lists including relative hill lists like the Marilyns, Humps and Tumps and classic lists like the Munros, Corbetts, Grahams, Wainwrights and Nuttalls plus the Significant Islands of Britain (SIBs). Benefits of Hill Bagging app compared to our website: • Designed for on-the-hill use - app is designed to be simpler and quicker for using while walking • Offline use - hills can be logged when you have no, or poor signal • Speed - screens load straightaway since pages don’t need to be downloaded • Usability - quicker to plan and log ascents since designed for mobile • Permanent sign-in - Users stay signed-in each time app is loaded (can sign out) About Hill Bagging CIC and the the Database of British and Irish Hills: Hill Bagging is created by Hill Bagging CIC, a Community Interest Company (CIC) designed for not-for-profit social enterprises that aim to benefit the community. In line with these aims, access to the website and mobile apps is freely available to our community of registered users of the site who share their walk descriptions. The Hill Bagging team manage the technology platform for the Database of British and Irish Hills which contains the most comprehensive and up-to-date list of hills in Britain and Ireland. DoBIH contributors and a team of editors use the Hill Bagging website to submit, edit and verify changes to hill heights and locations based on the latest surveying to ensure hill information is up-to-date. This website is the main online presence of the Database and an app is planned for release in 2026. App benefits: - Free interactive maps with multiple layers (Open Topo Map, Ordnance Survey and Satellite) - View hills as sortable tables or map with summit markers and labels - Quickly show ‘Hills Near Me’, or for the whole country on maps - “All hills” overlay to explore nearby summits - Smooth clustering for large hill lists (including 16K+ Tumps) - Smart labels on maps update to show hill name, height and climb status - Show recommended walk start locations and waypoints on the map - Record ascents using 'Quick tick' feature or add detailed descriptions - Show progress for over 60 UK hill lists by country

Screenshots

Bird Journal4 screens
Hill Bagging3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hill Bagging at none against Bird Journal's 1. Hill Bagging also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 76%). Bird Journal's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (16 vs 2). On price, rating, ads 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. Bird Journal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Hill Bagging asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.0 for Bird Journal against 3.0 for Hill Bagging. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bird Journal has 16 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of Bird Journal's written reviews are positive against 100% of Hill Bagging's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bird Journal ships an update weekly, Hill Bagging every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Bird Journal versus Hill Bagging: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBird JournalHill Bagging
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (16 ratings)3.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews76.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings16 — better2
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size95 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBluebird Technology LimitedHill Bagging Community Interest Company

Customer experience

Bird Journal

All ratings16 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral6.3%
Negative43.8%
Written reviews51 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral3.9%
Negative19.6%

Hill Bagging

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Bird Journal

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • App crashes when going for Brazil or USA
  • App not matching birds for UK
  • Cannot add recent sightings of Boobys etc.
  • App no longer runs reliably on iOS
  • App is buggy and unclear
Show 4 more
  • Cannot sign in
  • Data lost on phone replacement
  • Sync issues between mobile and desktop
  • Orientation issues on iPad

Requested features

52 requests
  • Add Avilist taxonomy support
  • Update to current species naming conventions
  • Filter species by name or family
  • Species pages to list sightings
  • Way to jump to early dates in entries
Show 47 more
  • Manually enter coordinates for new locations
  • Auto-populate location and weather
  • Attach photos in the app
  • Share information with groups of friends
  • Add mammals to the update version
  • Add checklists for other wildlife (dragonflies, butterflies)
  • Add missing counties to lists
  • Add a pull-down box for sites when adding sightings
  • Geotag and move sightings after seeing them
  • World list and other wildlife lists
  • Life List section
  • Custom species entry
  • Location filtering for own locations
  • Improved species list customization
  • Improved list management on mobile
  • More intuitive export function
  • More detailed statistics on mobile
  • County species lists enhancements
  • Add dragonflies, butterflies checklists
  • Add mammals to the app
  • Add world list and other wildlife lists
  • Add Life List section
  • Add custom species entry
  • Add location filtering for own locations
  • Improve species list customization
  • Improve list management on mobile
  • Improve export function
  • Add more detailed statistics on mobile
  • Enhance county species lists
  • Add photo attachments to the app
  • Add ability to share trips with other users
  • Add ability to share entries with another user
  • Add ability to share a trip
  • Add mammals to the update version
  • Add checklists for other wildlife (dragonflies, butterflies)
  • Add missing counties to lists
  • Add a pull-down box for sites when adding sightings
  • Geotag and move sightings after seeing them
  • World list and other wildlife lists
  • Life List section
  • Custom species entry
  • Location filtering for own locations
  • Improved species list customization
  • Improved list management on mobile
  • Improved export function
  • Add more detailed statistics on mobile
  • Enhance county species lists

Hill Bagging

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Bird Journal

One-time1
  • One Year Premium Subscription$34.99
None

Hill Bagging

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bird Journal free?
Bird Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hill Bagging free?
Hill Bagging is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bird Journal or Hill Bagging?
Bird Journal and Hill Bagging are both rated 3.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 16 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Bird Journal or Hill Bagging have ads?
Neither Bird Journal nor Hill Bagging shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bird Journal or Hill Bagging?
Bird Journal ships an update weekly, and Hill Bagging every 4 months. Most recently, Bird Journal was updated on October 16, 2026 and Hill Bagging on October 17, 2026.

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