# Balcony Lab vs Rooftop Buddies

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Balcony Lab at none against Rooftop Buddies's 1. Balcony Lab also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Rooftop Buddies's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 8 days). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Rooftop Buddies sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Balcony Lab asks for nothing beyond the download.

Balcony Lab ships an update every 8 days, Rooftop Buddies every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Balcony Lab | Rooftop Buddies |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days | **Every 2 days** |
| Size | 103 MB | 79 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.0** | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Koichi Iwasaki](https://appshunter.io/developer/1308795626) | [로완인터렉티브](https://appshunter.io/developer/1824703605) |

## What reviewers say

### Balcony Lab

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/balcony-lab/id6755426670)

**In-app purchases:** none


### Rooftop Buddies

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rooftop-buddies/id6818834609)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full Garden Unlock | $2.90 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Balcony Lab free?

Balcony Lab is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Rooftop Buddies free?

Rooftop Buddies is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Balcony Lab or Rooftop Buddies have ads?

Balcony Lab shows ads; Rooftop Buddies does not.

### Which is updated more often, Balcony Lab or Rooftop Buddies?

Balcony Lab ships an update every 8 days, and Rooftop Buddies every 2 days. Most recently, Balcony Lab was updated on November 9, 2026 and Rooftop Buddies on October 31, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*