Comparison

BarShelf vs MADBAR

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

Head to head
About

BarShelf

Catalog your home bar's bottles, track pours, and discover cocktail recipes based on what you own. Get AI-powered suggestions and insights into your drinking habits. Share your collection and tasting notes visually.

Highlights
  • Catalog bottles with details (ABV, volume, fill level)
  • Track tasting notes and ratings
  • AI cocktail suggestions based on owned bottles
  • Log drinking moments and analyze taste patterns
  • Create shareable collection and review cards
  • Visualize your digital home bar shelf
Features
Read full description

Start without an account. Scan a whiskey bottle and let AI fill in the details. Log a pour and watch your collection become a calendar of bottles, amounts, moods, and tasting notes. Then see which of 57 classic cocktails you can make from what you already own. POUR CALENDAR & JOURNAL - See every drinking day at a glance - Tap any date to revisit the bottle, amount, mood, and note - Turn your pour history into a personal whiskey journal Your home bar deserves more than a dusty shelf. BarShelf helps you catalog every bottle, remember every pour, and discover cocktails you can make from what you already own. Start without an account — no signup required. ADD BOTTLES IN SECONDS - Snap a photo of any bottle and AI recognizes the name, category, and ABV - No barcode needed — works on whiskey, gin, rum, tequila, and more - Or add manually with full control over every detail ORGANIZE YOUR HOME BAR - Add whiskey, sake, gin, rum, tequila, vodka, liqueurs, wine, and more - Build a visual digital shelf that mirrors your real collection - Track bottle details, ABV, volume, price, origin, rating, and fill level - Sort and filter your spirits by category, rating, status, or shelf ORGANIZE, KEEP, AND SHARE - Tag and label bottles so your shelf is sorted your way - Keep a wishlist of the bottles you want next - Buy again: restock a finished bottle in one tap from your Archive - Export your whole collection to CSV whenever you want - Share your shelf as a web link friends can open without the app - Get a weekly report on what you poured REMEMBER EVERY POUR - Write tasting notes for nose, palate, and finish - Rate bottles and keep a personal record of what you loved - Archive finished bottles so your collection becomes a drinking journal - Look back on past pours, favorite bottles, and memorable nights AI BARTENDER FROM YOUR OWN SHELF - Get cocktail ideas based on the bottles you already own - Ask for recipes by mood, flavor, occasion, or preferred style - Save favorite AI recipes to your personal recipe book - Get suggestions that understand your shelf and taste profile WHAT YOU CAN MAKE TONIGHT - See which of 57 classic cocktails you can make right now - Matched live against the exact bottles on your shelf - Discover what one more bottle would unlock INSIGHTS FOR YOUR TASTE - Log drinking moments and see patterns over time - Discover which categories, flavors, and styles you return to most - Unlock deeper monthly insights, trends, and palate analysis with BarShelf Pro SHARE YOUR COLLECTION - Create beautiful shelf cards from your favorite bottles - Turn tasting notes into shareable review cards - Show your home bar in a way that looks as good as it tastes BarShelf Pro unlocks unlimited bottles, AI Bartender, personalized palate profile, advanced insights, premium themes, and more. Whether you collect bourbon, explore Scotch, mix cocktails, host friends, or simply want to remember what is on your shelf, BarShelf gives your home bar a place to live. Download BarShelf and pour with purpose. Please enjoy responsibly. SUBSCRIPTION BarShelf Pro is a weekly, monthly, or annual auto-renewing subscription. The annual plan includes a 3-day free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. It renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. Privacy Policy: https://barshelfapp.com/en/policy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

MADBAR

Transform your home bar into a professional cocktail lounge. This app uses AI to scan your bottles, import recipes, suggest drinks based on your inventory, and help plan parties. It offers advanced inventory tracking and smart shopping lists.

Highlights
  • AI-powered bottle scanning
  • Recipe import from URLs and menus
  • AI bartender suggestions
  • Event planning and party mode
  • Smart shopping list generation
  • iCloud sync for data backup
Features
Read full description

Turn your home bar into a premium cocktail lounge with MAD BAR. Designed for casual mixers and serious mixologists alike, MAD BAR combines advanced inventory tracking, recipe curation, and party planning with cutting-edge AI features. No more guessing what you can make or typing in endless lists of bottles. Just record a short video of your bar shelf, and let MAD BAR handle the rest. KEY FEATURES 1. AI-POWERED BAR SCANNER Video Shelf Scanner: Simply take a short video of your liquor cabinet, and Google Gemini AI will identify every visible bottle, mixer, and garnish, immediately pre-filling your inventory. Barcode Identification: Quickly scan barcodes on new bottles to add them to your shelf with accurate details in seconds. 2. YOUR CUSTOMIZABLE RECIPE BOOK Smart URL Import: Found a cocktail recipe online? Paste the link, and the app will instantly scrape, parse, and format the recipe steps and ingredients. Menu Scanner: Take a photo of a cocktail menu at a restaurant or bar, and watch the app translate the picture into customizable recipe drafts. Favs & History: Keep track of your favorites, rate your creations, and log your personal tasting history. 3. AI BARTENDER SUGGESTIONS Tailored Recipes: Get original cocktail recipes created on-demand based on the exact bottles you have on hand. Custom Filters: Customize your AI suggestions to fit your mood or guest preferences (e.g., exclude egg whites, avoid fizz, make it non-alcoholic, or strictly use in-stock bottles). 4. EVENT PLANNER & PARTY MODE Menu & Prep Tracker: Planning a party or dinner? Design a custom menu, link recipes to your event, and view live "makability" status so you know what ingredients you still need. Guest Feedback Logger: Let your guests rate and leave comments on the drinks you served so you always know which recipes were the hit of the night. Beautiful Exports: Generate and print gorgeous PDF menus, prep guides, and inventory spreadsheets to share with friends. 5. SMART SHOPPING LIST Smart-Match Checks: Mark items as bought on your shopping list, and the app will intelligently auto-fill their categories and add them directly into your active inventory. PRIVACY & VALUE FIRST iCloud Sync: Your bar is completely yours. All data is stored locally and backed up/synchronized securely across all your Apple devices via iCloud (CloudKit). Free AI Integration: Connect your own free Google Gemini API key to activate recipe scraping, shelf video scanning, and AI cocktail generation permanently. No Subscriptions: Try all custom and premium features free for 14 days. If you love it, unlock lifetime access permanently with a single, simple one-time purchase.

Screenshots

BarShelf4 screens
MADBAR3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: MADBAR at 5.0 against BarShelf's 3.5. MADBAR also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 weeks). BarShelf's advantage is chart position (#177 vs unranked) and ratings volume (6 vs 2). On price, review sentiment, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. BarShelf sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and MADBAR sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MADBAR holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BarShelf ships an update every 2 weeks, MADBAR every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
BarShelf versus MADBAR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBarShelfMADBAR
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (6 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#177 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better26.3
Further details — not scored
Size98 MB29 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperDefine YouJAMES RICHARD DE HAAN

Customer experience

BarShelf

All ratings6 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

MADBAR

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

BarShelf

Subscriptions3
  • BarShelf Pro Weekly$1.997 Days
  • BarShelf Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
  • BarShelf Pro Annually3 Days trial$39.991 Year
1 purchases

MADBAR

One-time1
  • MADBAR$4.99

Questions

Is BarShelf free?
BarShelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MADBAR free?
MADBAR is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, BarShelf or MADBAR?
MADBAR is rated higher. BarShelf averages 3.5 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while MADBAR averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do BarShelf or MADBAR have ads?
Neither BarShelf nor MADBAR shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BarShelf or MADBAR?
BarShelf ships an update every 2 weeks, and MADBAR every 6 days. Most recently, BarShelf was updated on October 6, 2026 and MADBAR on September 25, 2026.

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