Comparison

Sober Lantern vs SoberBud

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

Head to head
About

Sober Lantern

This app helps individuals in sober living navigate their recovery journey. It offers daily motivation, a sobriety counter, and tools to organize legal documentation and proof of residency. It also simplifies payments, overnight requests, and finding local meetings.

Highlights
  • Daily motivationals
  • Sobriety counter
  • Legal documentation organization
  • Proof of residency
  • Payment processing
  • Overnight request management
  • Local meeting finder
Features
Read full description

Let’s face it… Entering sober living is a huge adjustment. Lots of new rules, new environment, learning the area… It’s a lot to navigate. Lantern Sober Living Management can help light the path for your recovery journey. Daily motivationals, along with a sobriety counter are just some of the tools available with this program. Lantern helps to organize important documentation for legal issues and provides proof of residency. It essentially becomes a one stop option to make payments, requests overnights and find local meetings. From a provider standpoint, Lantern delivers an overview of your program including open beds, total bed count, smart drug screen monitoring, financial tracking and geo-specific meeting check-ins. Communication with management and staff is simplified, making sure everyone gets important notifications and stays on the same path. Lantern Sober Living Management was created by sober living owners, for sober living owners. Our systems are intuitive and simple, providing the most relevant information for your Program in real time, at all times. Entering Sober living is typically a life saving decision. Using a quality management system is a decision which enables your Program to be more effective in saving those lives.

About

SoberBud

This app supports your sobriety journey with a tracker, personalized AI companion, and gamified progress system. It offers tools for accountability, self-reflection, and celebrating milestones, helping you stay motivated and empowered.

Highlights
  • Sobriety counter with live tracking
  • Personalized Buddy AI companion
  • Gamified level-up system with achievements
  • Customizable dashboards
  • Journal and mood logging
  • Savings tracker
  • 12 Step progress tracker
Features
Read full description

The path to sobriety should not be taken alone. SoberBud is a sobriety app and recovery tracker designed to help you quit drinking, overcome addiction, and stay sober. Whether you’re beginning your recovery journey or maintaining years of sobriety, SoberBud is your personal buddy, always in your pocket to keep you motivated, accountable, and supported. Designed to be fun, insightful, and empowering, the app rewards healthy behaviors and personal growth with achievements, experience points, and skill development as you progress on your journey. Alongside powerful tools like customizable dashboards and personal reports, SoberBud features Buddy AI, a smart companion that learns from your check-ins and progress to give you timely support, encouragement, and insights. Key Features: Sobriety Counter - Track how long you’ve been sober down to the second with a live counter that celebrates your progress. Custom Dashboards - Choose from 3 dashboard styles and personalize them with your own photo backgrounds or serene presets. Buddy AI - Your intelligent, in-app companion. Buddy learns from your habits and provides custom encouragement, suggestions, and motivation right when you need it. Level Up System - Earn experience and unlock levels as you complete activities, challenges, and check-ins. Recovery Skill Points - Develop 5 unique recovery skills that matter: Trigger Control, Recovery Wisdom, Mindful Living, Social Strength andHealthy Routines Achievements - Unlock over 100 achievements for sobriety milestones, challenges, daily streaks, and more. Journeys - Choose from themed recovery paths—each with a series of engaging challenges, helpful readings, and self-assessments to keep you focused and growing. Check-ins - Stay accountable with daily or weekly check-ins. Rate your mood, reflect with journal entries, and track your progress over time. Journal & Mood Log - Record how you're feeling and why. Great for identifying patterns and building awareness. Progress Reports & Insights - Visualize your progress over time with easy-to-read insights. See trends in mood, behavior, and activity. 12 Step Progress Tracker - Track your personal journey through AA's 12 Steps with progress markers and reflections. Savings Tracker - Calculate and celebrate the money you’ve saved by staying sober. Inspirations - Access a large and growing library of inspirational quotes and motivational messages. Health & Wellness - Learn how sobriety impacts your health and get tips for living a more balanced, energetic life. Reminders & Notifications - Stay on track with optional reminders and supportive nudges from your Buddy. SoberBud is more than just an app—it's a pocket companion built by and for people in recovery. Regular updates, fresh content, and community-driven development keep the experience meaningful and alive. Start your journey today. You're not alone.

Screenshots

Sober Lantern3 screens
SoberBud4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: SoberBud at every 9 days against Sober Lantern's every 3 weeks. Sober Lantern's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Sober Lantern against 5.0 for SoberBud. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sober Lantern ships an update every 3 weeks, SoberBud every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Sober Lantern versus SoberBud: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSober LanternSoberBud
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB39 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperCode & Cakes LLCSteve Thompson

Customer experience

Sober Lantern

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

SoberBud

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Sober Lantern

No in-app purchases

None

SoberBud

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sober Lantern free?
Sober Lantern is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SoberBud free?
SoberBud is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sober Lantern or SoberBud?
Sober Lantern and SoberBud are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Sober Lantern or SoberBud have ads?
Neither Sober Lantern nor SoberBud shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sober Lantern or SoberBud?
Sober Lantern ships an update every 3 weeks, and SoberBud every 9 days. Most recently, Sober Lantern was updated on October 15, 2026 and SoberBud on October 1, 2026.

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