# Thorium vs BirdNET

The clearest difference is rating: Thorium at 4.5 against BirdNET's 4.0. Thorium also leads on iOS requirement (8.2 vs 13.0). BirdNET's advantage is ratings volume (212 vs 2). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Thorium holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BirdNET has 212 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 67% and 66% positive.

Thorium ships an update every 2 months, BirdNET every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Thorium | BirdNET |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thorium/id653964281/reviews)** | [4.0 (212 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/birdnet/id1541842885/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 2 | **212** |
| Positive reviews | **66.7% of reviews** | 66.5% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 months** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 1 MB | 98 MB |
| Requires iOS | **8.2** | 13.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [YoctoPlay](https://appshunter.io/developer/337781260) | [Stefan Kahl](https://appshunter.io/developer/1541842887) |

## What reviewers say

### Thorium

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thorium/id653964281)

Explore the potential of thorium as an energy source. This educational app uses videos to explain nuclear fission and contrast thorium-based reactors with current energy technologies like solar and wind.

**Highlights:** Thorium energy transformation explained, Nuclear fission concepts, Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) comparison, Contrast with current energy sources, Educational video series

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


### BirdNET

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/birdnet/id1541842885)

Identify bird species by their sounds using AI. Record audio with your device and discover the birds around you. Contribute to conservation research by submitting your recordings.

**Highlights:** AI-powered bird sound recognition, Identify common North American and European species, Record audio with internal microphone, View probable bird species identification, Contribute to conservation research, Learn about local birds

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 💚 Excellent bird identification accuracy
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- 🔍 Helpful links to Wikipedia and other resources
- 🎉 Enjoyable and educational for bird enthusiasts
- 🗺️ Leverages location data to improve identification

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 App crashes or freezes on some devices
- 🔍 Struggles to identify multiple birds singing simultaneously
- 🔇 Unable to play back previous recordings in some cases
- 🗺️ Inaccurate or incomplete regional bird data
- 🤔 Questionable identification results in some cases

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when trying to access observation history
- Recordings disappearing after app updates
- Inability to start a new recording without exiting the app
- Microphone not working on certain devices
- Incorrect or missing bird species in regional databases

**Requested features**

- Ability to manually select frequency ranges for analysis
- Option to delete individual observations or recordings
- Import/export functionality for recordings and observations
- Improved handling of background noise and interference
- More detailed feedback when multiple birds are detected


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Thorium free?

Thorium is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is BirdNET free?

BirdNET is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Thorium or BirdNET?

Thorium is rated higher. Thorium averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while BirdNET averages 4.0 from 212 ratings.

### Do Thorium or BirdNET have ads?

Neither Thorium nor BirdNET shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Thorium or BirdNET?

Thorium ships an update every 2 months, and BirdNET every 3 months. Most recently, Thorium was updated on September 25, 2026 and BirdNET on October 15, 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.*