CitSci vs Budburst
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CitSci
Empower your community with a tool for collecting and uploading scientific observations. This app facilitates citizen science projects, allowing users to contribute valuable data directly to a central platform.
- Data collection for citizen science
- Upload observations to CitSci.org
- Empowers community science projects
- Syncs with web platform
- Facilitates observation contribution
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The CitSci mobile app is a data collection app for citizen scientists that syncs up with CitSci.org. The app augments the web site by empowering users to collect and upload observations to CitSci.org. The app helps people and communities do great citizen science.
Budburst
Observe and record plant data to contribute to a national community science project. Identify plants, monitor their life cycles, and collaborate with others to understand and preserve nature.
- Observe plants with interactive map
- In-app plant identification tool
- Monitor plant life cycles
- Track plant-animal interactions
- Collaborate in community groups
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Capturing the beauty of nature and collecting plant data has never been easier. With the Budburst app, you can contribute to a national community science project by observing plants, uploading your data, and sharing your findings in an instant. When you use the Budburst app, you can observe plants in your area with the interactive map, learn about plants with the in-app identification tool, monitor plant life cycles and plant-animal interactions over time, and collaborate in groups with other community scientists. Preserve the nature around you by helping us better understand it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: CitSci at 4.5 against Budburst's 4.2. Budburst's advantage is ratings volume (13 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
CitSci holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Budburst has 13 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
CitSci ships an update every 6 weeks, Budburst every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CitSci | Budburst |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (2 ratings) — better | 4.2 (13 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 13 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 33 MB | 50 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Greg Newman | Chicago Botanic Garden |
Customer experience
CitSci
Budburst
In-app purchases
CitSci
No in-app purchases
Budburst
No in-app purchases
