Comparison

ApiNote vs HiveHelper

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

Head to head
About

ApiNote

This app helps beekeepers manage their apiaries and hives. It allows for detailed tracking of inspections, treatments, feedings, and honey harvests. Features include AI voice logging, weather tracking, and cloud storage for easy access and collaboration.

Highlights
  • AI Voice hive inspections
  • Track hive inspections and health
  • Manage apiary and hive data
  • Monitor honey production
  • Plan beekeeping tasks
  • Weather tracking
  • Cloud storage and multi-user access
Features
Read full description

ApiNote is a beekeeping hive log and apiary manager built for real work at the bee yard. Keep a complete history for every colony and know what needs attention before your next visit. HIVE RECORDS THAT STAY ORGANIZED • Record hive inspections and observations • Track queens and queen history • Log mite checks, treatments and feeding • Record honey and pollen harvests • Create tasks and reminders • Review hive history and statistics • Track income and expenses HANDS-FREE HIVE INSPECTIONS Keep your hands on the hive. Speak during an inspection and ApiNote can turn your observations into a structured hive record. MANAGE YOUR ENTIRE APIARY See apiaries, hives, recent activity and open tasks in one place. Check local weather, map bee flight ranges and use QR codes to open the right hive quickly. AI FOR BEEKEEPERS Use the AI Beekeeping Advisor for questions or the Voice Hive Inspection while working your bees. YOUR RECORDS ACROSS DEVICES ApiNote synchronizes your beekeeping records through the cloud so your hive history stays available on your devices. START FREE Manage up to 5 hives for free. ApiNote Pro unlocks unlimited hives, AI tools and advanced features. Less paperwork. Better hive records. More time with your bees.

About

HiveHelper

This app provides a structured way to log beekeeping inspections, track hive health, and receive expert advice based on your data. It helps manage multiple hives, visualize trends, and offers offline capabilities for detailed record-keeping.

Highlights
  • Structured inspection logging
  • Hive health dashboard
  • Mite trend charting
  • Season summary and analysis
  • Manage multiple hives
  • Expert action items
  • Offline first functionality
Read full description

HEALTHIER HIVES, BUILT ONE INSPECTION AT A TIME Strong colonies come from catching small signals early — the brood pattern that's slipped from solid to spotty, the mite count nosing past 2%, the stores running thin before fall, the queen you didn't see this visit. HiveHelper captures these signals and converts them into coaching drawn from your hive's data. AI COACHING FROM YOUR HIVE'S DATA After every inspection, HiveHelper Insights reviews your data and the trend across recent visits, then returns 3 to 5 prioritized action items: what's urgent, what to monitor, what trend is worth noting. Guidance is calibrated to Honey Bee Health Coalition Varroa thresholds and Randy Oliver's Scientific Beekeeping protocols, then tuned by your hive's history: mite trajectory, brood pattern changes, treatment effectiveness, queen age, and stores trend. Spotty brood after a solid pattern? HiveHelper names the likely causes and what to confirm next visit. Mites drifting up despite a recent treatment? It flags possible resistance and suggests switching active ingredient class. Stores running thin as fall approaches? It calls out winter starvation risk before the cluster forms. WHAT EVERY INSPECTION CAPTURES The inspection form takes under 60 seconds and covers what experienced beekeepers track: - Queen status: queen seen, eggs seen, brood pattern, queen cell type (swarm, supersedure, emergency) - Mite checks: alcohol wash, sugar roll, or sticky board, with auto-calculated mite % - Colony strength: population, stores, frames of brood and honey, temperament - Actions: treatments (Apivar, Apiguard, Formic Pro, Oxalic Acid, more), feeding, box changes - Context: weather, date, ZIP-aware seasonal cues - Notes and photos for everything else LOG AT THE HIVE — EVEN WITHOUT YOUR PHONE Field Notes lets you work on paper at the hive and sync later. Print a QR-encoded field sheet, fill it in during your inspection, then scan it back into the app. HiveHelper reads your data and pre-fills the inspection form — no re-keying, no lost notes. WHAT YOU GET - HiveHelper Insights: AI coaching after every inspection - Hive health dashboard: queen, brood, mites, and stores at a glance - Mite trend chart: Varroa history with 2% and 3% threshold lines - Season summary: per-hive stats and an AI narrative of your year - Unlimited hives - Full inspection history and CSV export - Field Notes: paper log → QR scan → pre-filled inspection form - Seasonal task calendar: what your bees need this month - Offline-first: works in the apiary with no signal - Frame analysis (coming soon): varroa and queen detection from photos BUILT BY A BEEKEEPER HiveHelper was built by a beekeeper who got tired of losing track between inspections. Guidance comes from the Honey Bee Health Coalition's Varroa management guidelines and Randy Oliver's research at Scientific Beekeeping. If you run 1 hive or 10 and inspect weekly or biweekly, HiveHelper is built for you. TRY FREE FOR 7 DAYS Start a 7-day free trial. No charge until the trial ends; cancel anytime in your Apple ID subscription settings. The free tier includes 1 hive and 3 full HiveHelper Insights reviews. Pro includes unlimited hives and unlimited full guidance after every inspection. Terms of Use: https://matrixnj.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://matrixnj.com/privacy

Screenshots

ApiNote4 screens
HiveHelper4 screens

Verdict

The call

ApiNote and HiveHelper both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of HiveHelper's written reviews are positive against 67% of ApiNote's. HiveHelper also leads on monetization model (free vs freemium) and ratings volume (15 vs 4). ApiNote's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, update cadence 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. ApiNote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and HiveHelper sells 4 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 — 5.0 for ApiNote against 5.0 for HiveHelper. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 15 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of ApiNote's written reviews are positive against 100% of HiveHelper's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ApiNote ships an update every 2 weeks, HiveHelper every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
ApiNote versus HiveHelper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterApiNoteHiveHelper
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (15 ratings)
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings415 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size150 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPetr DrabekMatrix Digital Media LLC

Customer experience

ApiNote

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%

HiveHelper

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

ApiNote

Subscriptions3
  • ApiNote Pro$4.991 Month
  • ApiNote Pro monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • ApiNote Pro yearly$29.991 Year
4 purchases

HiveHelper

Subscriptions4
  • HiveHelper Pro — Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • HiveHelper Pro — Monthly7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • HiveHelper Pro — Semiannual7 Days trial$29.996 Months
Show 1 more
  • HiveHelper Pro — Annual1 Month trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is ApiNote free?
ApiNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is HiveHelper free?
HiveHelper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ApiNote or HiveHelper?
ApiNote and HiveHelper are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 15 ratings respectively.
Do ApiNote or HiveHelper have ads?
Neither ApiNote nor HiveHelper shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ApiNote or HiveHelper?
ApiNote ships an update every 2 weeks, and HiveHelper every 3 weeks. Most recently, ApiNote was updated on October 24, 2026 and HiveHelper on October 24, 2026.

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