Comparison

Card Barcodes vs Ash

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

Head to head
About

Card Barcodes

Features
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Card Barcodes keeps your loyalty, membership and gym cards on your iPhone, ready to scan at the checkout. SCAN A CARD IN SECONDS Point the camera at a card's barcode and Card Barcodes reads it. It supports QR codes, EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-E, Code 128, Code 39, Code 93, Aztec and PDF417. If a card has no barcode, type its number in. READY AT THE CHECKOUT Open a card and the screen brightens, so the scanner reads it first time. The number sits under the barcode for when it needs typing in. YOUR NEAREST CARD ON THE HOME SCREEN Add the widget and it shows the barcode of the card for where you are, or a card you choose. Tap it to open the card. A REMINDER WHEN YOU ARRIVE Add the places you use a card, from the map or by ZIP code. When you get there, a notification reminds you, and tapping it opens the card. The list shows how far away each card's places are, and you can add where you are straight from a card. EVERY CARD IN ITS OWN COLOR Choose from 23 colors or pick any color you like. Text stays readable on all of them. ON YOUR IPHONE AND IPAD Your cards sync through your own iCloud account, so they are on your iPhone, iPad and iPhone Duo. There is no account to create. PRIVATE There are no ads or analytics, and nothing tracks you. Your current location is only used on your device. Export your cards to a file whenever you want. FOR EVERYONE Card Barcodes works with VoiceOver, larger text sizes and dark mode.

About

Ash

Features
Read full description

Native SSH client for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Open a shell, push files over SFTP, forward a port, monitor a server. Terminal โ€” multiple sessions, configurable shell, fonts, theme. Hold-and-drag cursor scrub, two-finger paste, pinch zoom. โŒ˜T / โŒ˜W / โŒ˜1-9 on iPad and Mac. SFTP โ€” browse, upload, download, edit text files inline. Save with sudo when needed. Drag-and-drop from Files or Finder. Server Dashboard โ€” live CPU, RAM, disk, latency. OS, kernel, uptime. Port Forwarding โ€” local (-L) and remote (-R) tunnels, multiple per host. SSH Keys โ€” generate Ed25519 or RSA on-device. Import from Files or clipboard. Stored in iOS Keychain. Face ID / Touch ID lock. Connections survive the lock screen. Keepalive defeats NAT timeouts. Auto-reconnect on Wi-Fi / cellular handoff. No telemetry. No analytics. No ads. Host configs sync only via your private iCloud, opt-in.

Screenshots

Card Barcodes4 screens
Ash4 screens

Verdict

The call

Card Barcodes and Ash are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters โ€” price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Card Barcodes ships an update every 5 months, Ash every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Card Barcodes versus Ash: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCard BarcodesAsh
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 months โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad โ€” better
Requires iOS18.017.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size2 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPaul SerbyArtem Sharifullin

In-app purchases

None

Card Barcodes

No in-app purchases

None

Ash

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Card Barcodes free?
Card Barcodes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ash free?
Ash is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Card Barcodes or Ash have ads?
Neither Card Barcodes nor Ash shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Card Barcodes or Ash?
Card Barcodes ships an update every 5 months, and Ash every 3 months. Most recently, Card Barcodes was updated on November 9, 2026 and Ash on October 28, 2026.

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