Comparison

BirdingApp. vs Roost Social

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

Head to head
About

BirdingApp.

Connect with fellow birdwatchers, organize your birding activities, and stay updated on sightings. Discover local guides, plan routes, and receive real-time alerts for rare birds. Engage in friendly competition and challenges.

Highlights
  • Create user profiles and connect with friends
  • Location-based chat for local sightings
  • Real-time rare bird alerts
  • Plan birding routes and trips
  • Bird quizzes and leaderboards
  • Offline chat and location sharing
Features
Read full description

BirdingApp is here to help you connect with other birders in the field and keep your birding life organized. Whether you're looking for a local guide, want to plan your daily birding routes and trips, or just want realtime updates on birds being seen, we've built tools to help you out! -Connect with Nearby Birders: Introduce yourself, link your eBird stats, and discover friends to follow and connect with. Also mark patches you're familiar with birding and regions you're interested in visiting. Our privacy settings allow control over who can see your details. -Convos and Chats: Enjoy familiar chat app functionality with a range of features, like support for location pins, photos and emoji reactions. We automatically detect and link eBird checklists and Macaulay Library references. Create your own private chat groups or engage with various public topics. -- Nearby Birder Chat: A geospatial chat room where messages are stored based on location and can be interacted with based on your proximity. Stay informed about recent birding conditions, sightings, and hotspot details, and connect with local birders wherever you are! No need to fret about how to join the local birding group and what app they might be using. -- Rare Bird and Hotspot Chats: Tapping on an RBA in your activity feed or directly from hotspots on maps will transport you to a view of the chat focused on a radius around that location. Find out if the bird is still being seen and discuss strategies for relocating it before making the trip! -- BirdChirp: We also include an off-grid chat and location sharing feature for those of you going into remote areas without cell coverage. Check our website for more info! -Robust Bird Alerts: Rarity notifications can be highly customized to your preferences. Never miss out on a nearby Slaty-backed Gull again! Post RBAs in BirdingApp to send out local or state-level rarities instantly and get feedback about who is chasing or seeing the bird. Set your interested radius, and optionally mute notifications for continuing birds or specific species. Through the Birding Arena section we also offer alerts for your target birds that may not be considered "rare". -Birding Arena: This is a place for friendly competition and solo challenges. Take on daily hotspot challenges and complete bird quizzes to earn points for spending on target bird alerts nearby or in other regions! Leaderboards keep track of rankings for daily birding in your region and total points earned on the app. -Hotspot Insights: From clear county lines to color-coded markers, our maps make it easy to find the best hotspot for your next stop. Photos and tips from birdinghotspots.org are integrated, and we've added both ratings and reviews so you can quickly check the quality or leave your assessment for others. -Routes, Itineraries, and Trips: Create and share birding routes, with the app displaying rarities from eBird near your chosen route! Utilize the itineraries feature to design routes and schedule multiple trips, while keeping track of all your planned adventures on a convenient calendar. Don't forget to invite your friends to join you! -Trip Chats: Once you book a birding trip, our app automatically adds you to a dedicated trip chat. This feature is perfect for discussing trip details, staying connected with fellow birders, and sharing corrections on your eBird lists afterward. -User Supported, Ad-free: We don't like ads either, so please consider supporting our mission and help cover the costs of the app by signing up for a quarterly or yearly subscription. Some extra perks include additional RBA preferences, viewing rarities anywhere on the map, getting notified about specific target birds and ABA-level rarities, more media uploads, and priority notifications. We are always working on new features, so let us know what you'd like to see! iOS Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Roost Social

Send messages via virtual pigeons that fly across a real map to your friends. Collect and train different bird species to speed up deliveries. Enjoy a social experience focused on your connections, not an endless feed.

Highlights
  • Asynchronous pigeon messaging
  • Real-time bird flight tracking
  • Collect and train various bird species
  • Mini-games to boost bird speed
  • Friend-focused social experience
  • Weekly rewards and rotating events
Features
Read full description

Roost brings back old school messages with carrier pigeons and snail mail. You send a note, a bird picks it up, and it flies across the world to your friends. No instant delivery. No read receipts ten seconds later. Just a little bird in the air, carrying your words, taking the time it takes. Watch yours and your friends birds fly in real time around the world. Be in the moment. Send something and go live your day. When your bird lands, it lands. BUILD YOUR ROOKERY Catch birds of every feather. Your favorite New York Pigeon, rare cardinals, mythical phoenixes. Every one has its own speed based on their real speeds. Feed them, level them up, watch your flock grow. REAL MAPS, REAL FLIGHTS Every delivery flies a real route across a real map. Track your bird as it goes. See where it is, how far it's come, when it's landing. FRIENDS, NOT FEEDS No algorithms. No endless scroll. Just your people and the birds that carry your words. Add friends by username and keep your circle small and good. TRAIN YOUR FLOCK Quick mini games boost speed, have fun. A faster pigeon means a faster message. A better flock means a better rookery. WEEKLY REWARDS Log in for daily drops. Claim new birds from rotating events. Hunt for mythic birds in limited time releases. Slow your messages down. Send them by pigeon. Download Roost and launch your first flight. Subscription EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

BirdingApp.4 screens
Roost Social4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: BirdingApp. at none against Roost Social's shown. BirdingApp. also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). Roost Social's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs fortnightly) and ratings volume (2.2K vs 34). On price, rating, review sentiment and in-app purchases 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. BirdingApp. sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 3 months and Roost Social sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for BirdingApp. against 4.8 for Roost Social. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Roost Social has 2.2K ratings behind it against 34, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of BirdingApp.'s written reviews are positive against 85% of Roost Social's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BirdingApp. ships an update fortnightly, Roost Social every 2 days. Both last shipped on September 25, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
BirdingApp. versus Roost Social: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBirdingApp.Roost Social
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (34 ratings) — better4.8 (2.2K ratings)
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews84.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings342.2K — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#182 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB175 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperEpter LLCLogan Mendelsohn

Customer experience

BirdingApp.

All ratings34 ratings
Positive97.1%
Neutral2.9%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%

Roost Social

All ratings2,156 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral1.3%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews428 reviews
Positive84.8%
Neutral4.0%
Negative11.2%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

BirdingApp.

Subscriptions2
  • Supporter - 3 Months, renewing$6.993 Months
  • Supporter - 1 Year, renewing$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Supporter - 1 Year only$24.99
10 purchases

Roost Social

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Supporter$4.991 Month
  • Annual Supporter Tier$34.991 Year
One-time8
  • $0.99 Bird$0.99
  • $1.99 Bird$1.99
  • $2.99 Bird$2.99
Show 5 more
  • Philippine Eagle$4.99
  • $4.99 Bird$4.99
  • $9.99 Bird$9.99
  • $19.99 Bird$19.99
  • Supporter Pass$59.99

Questions

Is BirdingApp. free?
BirdingApp. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Roost Social free?
Roost Social is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, BirdingApp. or Roost Social?
BirdingApp. is rated higher. BirdingApp. averages 4.9 out of 5 from 34 ratings, while Roost Social averages 4.8 from 2.2K ratings.
Do BirdingApp. or Roost Social have ads?
Roost Social shows ads; BirdingApp. does not.
Which is updated more often, BirdingApp. or Roost Social?
BirdingApp. ships an update fortnightly, and Roost Social every 2 days. Most recently, BirdingApp. was updated on September 25, 2026 and Roost Social on September 25, 2026.

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