# The Bowling Buddy vs Five Pin Bowling Lite

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.

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.

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.

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.

## The numbers

| Metric | The Bowling Buddy | Five Pin Bowling Lite |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $1.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.5 (127 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-bowling-buddy/id530220181/reviews) | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/five-pin-bowling-lite/id6473798358/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **127** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | **90.0% of reviews** | 0.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 months** | Every 6 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 2 MB | 83 MB |
| Requires iOS | **6.0** | 13.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Beasleyville](https://appshunter.io/developer/530220184) | [Vito Sassone](https://appshunter.io/developer/1644565532) |

## What reviewers say

### The Bowling Buddy

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-bowling-buddy/id530220181)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Simple and to the point
- 👍 Good for tracking scores
- 👍 Tracks averages well
- 👍 Keeps league scores separate

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashing and won't open
- 🐛 Not functional for some users
- 🐛 Cannot compile long tournaments into one list
- 🐛 Paid app expectations not met
- 🐛 Inconsistent performance across devices (iPad unstable)

**Reported bugs**

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

**Requested features**

- 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


### Five Pin Bowling Lite

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/five-pin-bowling-lite/id6473798358)

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:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked 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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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*