# Happy Prospector vs Patchly

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Patchly at none against Happy Prospector's 2. Patchly also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Happy Prospector sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per year. Patchly asks for nothing beyond the download.

Happy Prospector ships an update every 2 weeks, Patchly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Happy Prospector | Patchly |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Size | 67 MB | 92 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | **15.5** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Blueprint Industries Pty Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1361572116) | [Patchly Labs Pty Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/6773024638) |

## What reviewers say

### Happy Prospector

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/happy-prospector-offline-maps/id6761938854)

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

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Happy Prospector Lite | $7.99 | per year |
| Happy Prospector Premium | $9.99 | per year |


### Patchly

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/patchly/id6773024636)

This app helps gold prospectors and metal detectorists explore and understand goldfields with detailed maps and offline capabilities. It records your activity, classifies finds, and allows for private data management. Navigate to locations and track your findings with detailed logs.

**Highlights:** 90+ curated prospecting layers, Offline map and search functionality, Field recording and smart classification, Off-road navigation to finds, Stash for tracking gold and value, Automatic cloud backup

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Happy Prospector free?

Happy Prospector is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Patchly free?

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

### Do Happy Prospector or Patchly have ads?

Neither Happy Prospector nor Patchly shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Happy Prospector or Patchly?

Happy Prospector ships an update every 2 weeks, and Patchly weekly. Most recently, Happy Prospector was updated on October 6, 2026 and Patchly on October 13, 2026.

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