Comparison

Ari's Kitchen vs Backstage

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

Head to head
About

Ari's Kitchen

Build and expand your own restaurant by unlocking new recipes and upgrading kitchen equipment. Serve a growing number of customers as your establishment levels up.

Highlights
  • Create and grow a restaurant
  • Upgrade appliances
  • Unlock new dishes
  • Serve customers
  • Expand store
  • Increase level
Read full description

Create and grow your restaurant as you upgrade your appliances to unlock new dishes. Keep up with the rush of customers as your store expands and your level increases.

About

Backstage

Manage a fictional artist's music career from obscurity to stardom. Write music, make career choices, and climb the charts. Design your artist and manage relationships in this single-player simulation.

Highlights
  • Write and record music
  • Manage artist career choices
  • Climb music charts
  • Design artist look
  • Manage artist relationships
  • Single-player simulation
Features
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Backstage is a single-player music-career simulation. Take one fictional artist from garage obscurity to the top of the charts — your choices, your sound, your rise. WRITE THE MUSIC Cut tracks in the Studio: pick a genre, a theme, and an era, then split your effort across lyrics, melody, and production. Smart pairings chart harder — but repeat yourself and the songs go stale. Every release rolls a quality score worth chasing. RUN THE CAREER Every week the industry throws something at you — a gig, a feud, a label offer, a lucky break. Every choice costs something. There's no perfect move, only the one you can live with. CLIMB THE CHARTS Watch your singles debut on the Top 40 and fight for #1. Build a loyal audience, grow your reach from the garage to the arena, and bank streaming and merch royalties that keep accruing between sessions. MAKE IT YOURS Design your artist's look in a hand-drawn print style, name your own songs, and manage the relationships — allies and rivals — that shape your run. No accounts. No servers. No ads once you go full-time. Just you, one artist, and one shot. Backstage features entirely fictional artists, songs, and labels. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://backstage-game.vercel.app/privacy

Screenshots

Ari's Kitchen4 screens
Backstage4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Ari's Kitchen at 5.0 against Backstage's 2.0. Ari's Kitchen also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 9) and ads (none vs shown). Backstage's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, ratings volume and device support 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. Backstage sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Ari's Kitchen asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ari's Kitchen holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Ari's Kitchen versus Backstage: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAri's KitchenBackstage
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better2.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews—0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings3 — better2
Update frequency—Every 2 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB32 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperJASON STEVEN WASHINGTONMehmet Efe Aytas

In-app purchases

None

Ari's Kitchen

No in-app purchases

9 purchases

Backstage

Subscriptions1
  • Backstage VIP Monthly$1.991 Month
One-time8
  • Energy Refill$0.79
  • Studio Boost$0.79
  • Neon Nights$1.49
Show 5 more
  • Festival Season$1.49
  • Underground$1.49
  • Silver Screen$1.49
  • All Access$3.99
  • Full Unlock$7.99

Questions

Is Ari's Kitchen free?
Ari's Kitchen is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Backstage free?
Backstage is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ari's Kitchen or Backstage?
Ari's Kitchen is rated higher. Ari's Kitchen averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Backstage averages 2.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Ari's Kitchen or Backstage have ads?
Backstage shows ads; Ari's Kitchen does not.

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