Big Butterfly Count vs OpenBat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Big Butterfly Count
Participate in a national butterfly and moth survey by identifying and counting species in your local environment. Your observations contribute to understanding the health of UK wildlife. Features an identification guide and a map to view submitted sightings.
- Butterfly and moth identification guide
- Count and submit sightings
- View submitted records on a map
- Contribute to wildlife research
- 15-minute nature observation
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Take part in the UK’s annual Big Butterfly Count with this easy to use and informative app. Spend 15 minutes in nature and help butterflies at the same time. All you need to do is identify and count the relevant butterfly and moth species you spot. Then submit your sightings to help take the pulse of nature. Your records help to show how butterflies are faring in the UK. The app features a beautiful ID guide to help you identify and learn about the 21 species that are the focus of this study. You can also view all of your submitted counts and see everyone's records on the map within the app.
OpenBat
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OpenBat is a free iOS app that turns a compatible ultrasonic USB microphone into a live bat detector. It captures audio at up to 384 kHz, shows a real-time spectrogram, detects individual echolocation pulses, and, where an open-source model exists for your region, suggests species IDs on-device. Currently covers the US and Canada, with UK/Europe in beta. ** Bat detection requires an external ultrasonic microphone. Visit OpenBat.app to learn more. ** Hear bats in real time OpenBat uses two ways to turn ultrasonic bat calls into sound you can actually hear: - Heterodyne: tunes into a band of frequencies and scales it down. Preserves rhythm and loudness, but can sound clicky. - Time expansion: records a call, then plays it back at a fraction of the speed. Preserves the character of the call, but not the rhythm. - Het + TE hybrid: both running at once. Analyse your recordings Record what you hear, then break down the calls in Playback. Extract the parameters used to identify species, save them for later, or post recordings straight to iNaturalist for the community to help confirm an ID. Learn about bats AutoID suggests which species might be around you in real time. The Field Guide covers bats in your area and worldwide, curated by bat experts and kept up to date — and if you know your local bats, you can contribute too. Share it, or keep it to yourself Play the bats you're hearing through your device's speakers, or plug in headphones and listen alone.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: OpenBat at every 4 days against Big Butterfly Count's monthly. Big Butterfly Count's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Big Butterfly Count ships an update monthly, OpenBat every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Big Butterfly Count | OpenBat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (12 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 77.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 12 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Butterfly Conservation Trading Ltd | Niall Bell |
In-app purchases
Big Butterfly Count
No in-app purchases
OpenBat
No in-app purchases









