Comparison

The Bowling Buddy vs Five Pin Bowling Lite

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

Head to head
About

The Bowling Buddy

Easily track your bowling scores without complex data entry. This app provides a simple interface to log your game results, calculate averages, and view key statistics. It supports multiple bowlers and leagues, making it perfect for casual and serious bowlers alike.

Highlights
  • Simple score tracking
  • Overall average calculation
  • Multiple bowler support
  • Multiple league support
  • Score export via email
  • Handicap calculation
  • 5 Pin Bowling support
Features
Read full description

Hi, I’m The Bowling Buddy, but my friends call me Buddy. A while back a friend of mine was looking for a simple app to save all his bowling scores. He didn't need to track every pin or frame, just his scores. So I decided to help him. I went to work, and created a super simple to use bowling score tracker. - iOS10 support - Overall average for each bowler - Additional statistics in Blast-O-Gram - Improved Autocomplete - Social media integration - Export scores via email attachment - Rearrange Bowlers and Leagues - Up to 12 games per Series - 5 Pin Bowling Support - Calculate Handicaps - Multiple Bowler Support - Multiple Leagues / Score Categories per Bowler. - Perfect for tracking all your scores. - Tracks all your scores with minimal effort. - Instantly updates your average. - Easily edit or delete old scores. My friend seems to like it and I hope you will too. Thanks, Buddy PS. I'm always open to suggestions on how to make this better so please, just let me know.

About

Five Pin Bowling Lite

This app helps you track your five-pin bowling scores and analyze your game. It provides detailed statistics to identify patterns and improve your performance on the lanes. Easily record scores, track various metrics, and back up your data.

Highlights
  • Score keeping
  • Strike, spare, and open frame analysis
  • Ball speed calculator
  • Pins left standing statistics
  • Sortable score results
  • Database backup and restore
Features
Read full description

Five Pin Bowling Lite is a bowling score keeper, tracker and statistical reporting tool, that will reveal patterns within your game for scoring improvements leading to greater enjoyment on the lanes. The app is easy to use and only requires minimal set up before you're up and running. Note: This app is for five pin bowling only. If you're interested in ten pin, search for Spare Me in the App Store. Score keeping is as simple as keying in first ball count and pins left on the deck. Once your game is completed, save score and then dig into the details. Enter as many bowlers, leagues and practice sessions as desired and track each independently or combined. With Five Pin Bowling Lite, only one bowler can be scored at a time. For multiple bowler scoring (teams), Baker Scoring and League Secretary, please check out the full version of Five Pin Bowling. The database engine supporting the app is robust, expandable and portable, which allows for unique analytics, future functionality, extensive history and operational recovery (backups and restores). Five Pin Bowling Lite includes: - Score keeping - Strike, spare, open, split and pin conversation rates - Ball speed calculator - Pins left standing stats for 7 and 8 first ball open frames - Sortable score results by bowler, league or practice session - Complete 3 game series score sheet - Average pins per frame chart - Database backup to Cloud or on device - Data transfer to new device or to the full version of Spare Me Five Pin Bowling (full version) includes all the above plus: - Multi-function app for individuals and multiple bowlers, high school/collegiate competition and bowling leagues - Multiply player tracking (up to 5 per game), great for teams - League Secretary, includes all you need to record league play and create standings sheets - Baker Scoring System for 2, 3 or 5 bowlers per game, plus statistics - Handicap tracking - Bowling ball entry and statistics - Scoring trends - Score probability and dispersions - Future estimations (what-if scenarios) - Data export in csv format (i.e., Excel) - Share score sheet with friends, family or fellow bowlers Future considerations for Spare Me: - Bowling ball management improvements - Oil patterns, house and sport - Suggestions welcomed… For questions, comments and support reach us at sparemeservice@gmail.com. Please allow 24-48 hours for response.

Screenshots

The Bowling Buddy4 screens
Five Pin Bowling Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: The Bowling Buddy at 90% against Five Pin Bowling Lite's 0%. The Bowling Buddy also leads on ratings volume (127 vs 2) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 6 months). Five Pin Bowling Lite's advantage is price (Free vs $1.99) and rating (5.0 vs 4.5). On ads, in-app purchases, 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

Five Pin Bowling Lite is free to download; The Bowling Buddy costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Five Pin Bowling Lite holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Bowling Buddy has 127 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 90% of The Bowling Buddy's written reviews are positive against 0% of Five Pin Bowling Lite's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Bowling Buddy ships an update every 3 months, Five Pin Bowling Lite every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
The Bowling Buddy versus Five Pin Bowling Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Bowling BuddyFive Pin Bowling Lite
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (127 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews90.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings127 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS6.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB83 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBeasleyvilleVito Sassone

Customer experience

The Bowling Buddy

All ratings126 ratings
Positive92.1%
Neutral3.2%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews70 reviews
Positive90.0%
Neutral7.1%
Negative2.9%

Five Pin Bowling Lite

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

The Bowling Buddy

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes and won't open
  • App doesn't work at all after purchase
  • Unstable on iPad

Requested features

46 requests
  • Tournament option
  • Input frames for each game
  • Ability to input frames for each game
  • Ability to score each game as you bowl
  • Notes section for each week
Show 41 more
  • Invite others to view scores
  • Create a single league and assign bowlers
  • Cumulative ranking from a single league page
  • Updated version for latest generation phones
  • Sync other info to iPad
  • Keep track of team scores
  • Track which house bowled better
  • Track which ball bowled better with
  • Track total pins (scratch + handicap)
  • Android version
  • Group scores for team tracking
  • Sign in/backup to an account for multi-device access
  • Manual handicap entry for past scores
  • Notes area per game/league
  • Show scratch and handicap scores
  • iPhone X support
  • Breakdown average by games
  • Graph option to view averages over time
  • Track strikes and spares per game
  • Add more than 12 games in a series
  • Option to put scores in (manual entry)
  • Tournament tracking
  • Team functionality
  • More stats (handicap history, 200+ games, high/low scores, performance by house, ball performance)
  • Notes under each individual week
  • Simple per game score keeper
  • Group/team view for single game scores
  • Indicate pre-bowls
  • Indicate missed days (average -10%)
  • More functions like highest game, highest triple
  • Graph showing progress over time
  • Ability to add ongoing handicap when starting a league
  • Import scores back in case of phone loss
  • Export/import data files
  • Discern games on different lanes
  • Comment on each game
  • Synchronization between iPhone and iPad
  • Sort and move profiles on main screen
  • Enter scores for multiple people on one screen
  • Add more games per league (for tournaments)
  • Improvements and new features

Five Pin Bowling Lite

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

The Bowling Buddy

No in-app purchases

None

Five Pin Bowling Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is The Bowling Buddy free?
The Bowling Buddy costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Five Pin Bowling Lite free?
Five Pin Bowling Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, The Bowling Buddy or Five Pin Bowling Lite?
Five Pin Bowling Lite is rated higher. The Bowling Buddy averages 4.5 out of 5 from 127 ratings, while Five Pin Bowling Lite averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do The Bowling Buddy or Five Pin Bowling Lite have ads?
Neither The Bowling Buddy nor Five Pin Bowling Lite shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Bowling Buddy or Five Pin Bowling Lite?
The Bowling Buddy ships an update every 3 months, and Five Pin Bowling Lite every 6 months. Most recently, The Bowling Buddy was updated on November 6, 2026 and Five Pin Bowling Lite on November 4, 2026.

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