Comparison

ElixirPlace vs BarVault

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

Head to head
About

ElixirPlace

Features
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ElixirPlace is your companion for exploring, tasting and collecting spirits: whiskies, rums, gins, cognacs, tequilas, vodkas and much more. SCAN ANY BOTTLE Point your camera at a label or barcode and identify a spirit in seconds. Open its full profile: aromas, tasting notes, origin and community reviews. DISCOVER WHAT SUITS YOUR TASTE Take a fun taste quiz and get personalized recommendations based on your aroma profile. The more you rate, the sharper the suggestions get. YOUR CELLAR, ALWAYS WITH YOU Manage your bottle collection and keep track of fill levels, your wishlist and your favorites. Your whole collection at your fingertips. SHARE AND LEVEL UP Log your tastings, read reviews from fellow enthusiasts, and earn badges and loyalty points with every discovery. GIFTS AND COCKTAILS Keep a record of the bottles you give as gifts and create your own cocktail recipes. ElixirPlace is free. A Premium subscription unlocks advanced cellar management, the gift log, recipes and more. Please drink responsibly. You must be of legal drinking age to use this app.

About

BarVault

Features
Read full description

BarVault is a home bar inventory for people who collect bottles: whiskey, bourbon, scotch, gin, rum, tequila, mezcal, brandy, vodka, wine, sake, vermouth and liqueurs. See what you own, what's open, how much is left and what you want to buy next. No account and no sign-up. YOUR BAR, GROUPED Bottles are grouped by product, so three bottles of the same whiskey sit together. A compact list fits a whole shelf on one screen, or switch to cards. Mark each bottle sealed or opened, set how much is left with a slider, and add a photo and notes. FAST TO ADD Start typing and BarVault suggests from a built-in catalogue of more than 2,000 brands and 4,700 bottles, filling in the type, strength and country. Bottles that aren't in the catalogue are typed in freely and remembered for next time. OPENED BOTTLES THAT DON'T LAST Vermouth, port, sherry, cream liqueurs, wine and sake fade once opened. BarVault suggests a typical number of days after opening, which you can change, and flags bottles before they turn. EVERY DETAIL A COLLECTOR KEEPS Date bought, where you bought it, store pick, barrel, batch and release year. Give a product your own star rating and a "buy again?" mark, and sort by what has been on the shelf the longest. A finished bottle moves to a Finished list, and one tap puts it back on the wishlist. A WISHLIST THAT SHOPS WITH YOU Keep the bottles you're hunting for with the price you want to pay. In a shop, type the price and size on the label and see the price per litre and how it compares with your target. Turn on Restock and bottles running low or recently finished show up on the wishlist. BRING YOUR SPREADSHEET Import bottles from a CSV file saved in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets: match the columns, check the preview, then add. Export the whole collection to a CSV any time. FIND ANY BOTTLE Search by name or brand, even with a typo, and filter by type, opened, sealed, expiring or finished. BACKUP YOU CONTROL Save the whole collection to one file, see when you last saved, and restore it on a new phone. Choose replace or merge. PRIVATE AND CALM BarVault has no account and no server of its own. Your collection stays on your device unless you save a backup or switch on Keep in iCloud, which uses your own t themes. Volumes in ml, cl or fl oz. InEnglish, Russian and Armenian. FREE AND SUPPORTER Everything above is free. The free app holds 5s 50 finished ones and shows a small banner ad. Supporter is a one-time purchase, no subscription, and adds: no ads, no bottle limit, Keep in iCloud on iPhone and iPad, a pour log with each bottle's history, cics screen with your own exchange rates, andaccent colours. Made by a solo developer with a home bar of their own.

Screenshots

ElixirPlace4 screens
BarVault4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ElixirPlace at none against BarVault's 4. ElixirPlace also leads on ads (none vs shown). BarVault's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence 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. BarVault sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. ElixirPlace asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ElixirPlace ships an update every 5 days, BarVault every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 3 level
ElixirPlace versus BarVault: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElixirPlaceBarVault
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB34 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperELIXIRPLACEKaren Simonyan

In-app purchases

None

ElixirPlace

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

BarVault

One-time4
  • Small tip$1.99
  • Supporter$4.99
  • Tip$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Generous tip$9.99

Questions

Is ElixirPlace free?
ElixirPlace is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BarVault free?
BarVault is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ElixirPlace or BarVault have ads?
BarVault shows ads; ElixirPlace does not.
Which is updated more often, ElixirPlace or BarVault?
ElixirPlace ships an update every 5 days, and BarVault every 10 days. Most recently, ElixirPlace was updated on October 28, 2026 and BarVault on October 26, 2026.

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