Comparison

Howrse vs Derby Life

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

Head to head
About

Howrse

Breed, train, and care for a wide variety of horses, ponies, donkeys, and unicorns. Manage your own equestrian center, compete in races and shows, and collaborate with other players to become the best breeder. Create custom artwork and share your passion with a global community.

Highlights
  • Breed diverse horse breeds, ponies, donkeys, and unicorns
  • Care for and train horses for competitions
  • Manage an equestrian center and boarding business
  • Equip horses with tack for performance boosts
  • Compete in Grand Prix events and win trophies
  • Create and share custom horse coats and landscapes
  • Play in teams to improve breeds and climb rankings
Currently charting
Read full description

LET LOOSE YOUR PASSION FOR HORSES! More than 60 million players have already tried Howrse, so what are you waiting for? Join this community of horse lovers today! - BREED the horse of your dreams Choose your horse from over 50 breeds (purebred Arabian, Fjord, French Riding Pony, Shetland…) with 17 different coats. You can even choose ponies, donkeys or unicorns. - TAKE CARE of your new friend Feed it so they'll be healthy, and make sure their energy level stays high. Keep an eye on their morale, and don't hesitate to give them treats or stroke them if their morale drops. - RUN your own equestrian center Create your own equestrian center, develop your horse boarding business, and organize competitions to increase your prestige (Only available on the web version). - TRAIN your horses When your horse is 3 years old, choose a specialty of either classical riding (speed, cross-country, show-jumping, or dressage competitions) or western riding (barrel racing, cutting, reining, western pleasure or trail class competitions), then start training them to enhance their skills. Select the best tack (saddle, saddle cloth, bridle, etc.) to increase your champion's performance. Join Grand Prix events and win prestigious trophies. - CREATE your horse breeding farm Develop the genetic potential of your future foals by choosing the best stallions for your mare and increase their innate skills. Analyze the parents' innate skills and BLUP to make the best decisions. - BECOME the best Breeder Challenge your friends and the community to reach the top of the leaderboards in the different categories (General ranking, best breeders, best horses, best equestrian centers....). - PLAY in teams to climb the rankings Form teams of up to 20 players to improve a breed together and reach the top spots in one of the four available rankings (best genetic potential, number of horses, number of rosettes won, or ranking in the Top 1,000 for Grand Prix competitions). - CREATE your own illustrations and SHARE them with the community: Create your own coats and landscapes. Submit them to the community to win prizes. You can also personalize your horse and landscape with thousands of artworks made by the community. - SHARE your passion Join the forums to talk about your techniques to play and breed horses, run your equestrian center or just chat about your passion. Your new horse club awaits with new friends. - PLAY MANY GREAT GAMES From maze to blast, enjoy a new game every month to win prizes. Join the community ! Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Howrse/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/howrse_official/ Twitter https://twitter.com/howrse This Ubisoft game requires a 3G, 4G or Wifi connection. UBISOFT Feedback? Contact: http://support.ubi.com Need support? Contact: http://support.ubi.com FEATURES RECAP: - Breed horses, ponies, donkeys or unicorns - Groom and train your horses - Equip your horses with various equipment - Win prestigious competitions - Create your horse breeding farm - Run your equestrian center - Challenge your friends to become the best breeder - Share your passion for horses, ponies, donkeys, unicorns with the community in the forums - Play monthly games to win prizes

About

Derby Life

Manage a horse ranch, raise and train your own horses, and compete in races worldwide. Breed horses with unique traits and upgrade facilities to achieve your racing dreams.

Highlights
  • Realistic 3D horse graphics
  • Horse raising and farm management
  • Horse training and stat upgrades
  • Horse breeding for unique traits
  • Global racing competitions
  • Ranch facility upgrades
  • Horse gear upgrades
Features
Read full description

Raise your own horses and participate in races! ◎ Derby Life Tired of the city life, you decide to visit your hometown where grandpa lives. After reuniting with grandpa, who was running the horse ranch alone, and your old friend, you give up on the life in the city and begin to manage the horse farm. Raise horses with your long-awaited friend to race and fulfill your dreams. ◎ Features - Realistic graphics Realistic 3D graphics of horses. - Horse raising and farm management Horse raising through training, condition management and breeding. Upgrade stables, training facilities and more buildings. - Colorful horse types Running styles: Front Runner, Stalker, Pressure and Closer Preferred Track: Grass, Sand and Synth - Train your horses Increase your horses' Speed, Sprint, Stamina, Boost and Agility through training and gear upgrades.. - Participate in races around the world Raise your horses to win in races. - Breed your horses to birth the ultimate race horse All horses have different looks, perks, stats and growth rates. - Upgrade horse gear to boost additional effects! Obtain various gear from boxes. - Upgrade the ranch facilities The ranch environment will change with the upgrades of the facilities.

Screenshots

Howrse4 screens
Derby Life4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Howrse at 4.1 against Derby Life's 2.9. Howrse also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (3.6K vs 98). Derby Life's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. Howrse sells 22 one-off in-app purchases and Derby Life sells 15 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Howrse holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Howrse has 3.6K ratings behind it against 98, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 35% of Howrse's written reviews are positive against 21% of Derby Life's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Howrse ships an update every 4 months, Derby Life every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Howrse versus Derby Life: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHowrseDerby Life
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (3.6K ratings) — better2.9 (98 ratings)
Positive reviews34.8% of reviews — better20.9% of reviews
Number of ratings3.6K — better98
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#172 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size173 MB568 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUbisoftNexelon

Customer experience

Howrse

All ratings3,474 ratings
Positive76.5%
Neutral6.9%
Negative16.6%
Written reviews483 reviews
Positive34.8%
Neutral16.1%
Negative49.1%

Derby Life

All ratings99 ratings
Positive41.4%
Neutral9.1%
Negative49.5%
Written reviews67 reviews
Positive20.9%
Neutral13.4%
Negative65.7%

User reviews

Howrse

From 3.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazing game
  • 🐎 Variety of horse breeds and coats
  • 🌟 Enjoyable gameplay
  • 👍 Great for horse lovers

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitchy tutorial
  • 🔒 Account issues and login problems
  • 🔍 Limited functionality compared to desktop version
  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases

Derby Life

From 98 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Realistic horses
  • 👍 Free coins and gems
  • 👍 Fair monetization
  • 👍 Relaxing atmosphere
  • 👍 Enjoyable gameplay

Room to improve

  • 👎 Graphics like a cheap imitation
  • 👎 Frequent bugs and glitches
  • 👎 Game doesn't load or crashes
  • 👎 Long loading times
  • 👎 Camera moves uncontrollable

Bugs and requests

Howrse

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Freezing and loading issues
  • Inability to progress past tutorial
  • Disappearing horses and lost progress
  • Incorrect login/password errors

Requested features

4 requests
  • Access to Equestrian Center on app
  • More ways to earn passes/currency
  • Ability to skip tutorial
  • Improved navigation and user interface

Derby Life

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Game does not load
  • Crashes to home screen
  • Stuck on loading screen
  • Game freezes during races
  • Cannot get into the game

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add more breeds and coats
  • Expand stall capacity
  • Add dressage and show jumping
  • Add a stud farm
  • Improve breeding potential system
Show 1 more
  • Clarify racing warnings and instructions

In-app purchases

22 purchases

Howrse

One-time22
  • Some Passes$0.99
  • Riding helmet full of Passes$4.99
  • Starter Pack$5.99
Show 19 more
  • Competitor Pack$5.99
  • Select Offer XS$5.99
  • Satellite Pack$5.99
  • Essential Fragments Pack$6.99
  • Water trough of Passes$14.99
  • Season Key$17.99
  • Breeder Pack$17.99
  • Select Offer S$19.99
  • Teeny Pack$20.99
  • Deluxe custom pack$20.99
  • Heroes Pack$21.99
  • Asteroid Pack$21.99
  • Bags filled with Passes$34.99
  • Excellence Fractal Pack$38.99
  • Select Offer M$42.99
  • Triple Pack$54.99
  • Deluxe Breeder Pack$59.99
  • Wheelbarrow of Passes$79.99
  • Olympus Pack$119.99
15 purchases

Derby Life

One-time15
  • Grow Package$0.99
  • Diamonds01$3.99
  • Special Package$3.99
Show 12 more
  • Grow Package$3.99
  • Special Horse -2$5.99
  • Season Pass$6.99
  • Diamonds02$7.99
  • Season Pass$9.99
  • Season Pass B$9.99
  • Special Horse -3$10.99
  • Diamonds03$14.99
  • Black Friday$14.99
  • Special Horse -4$20.99
  • Diamonds04$22.99
  • Diamonds05$36.99

Questions

Is Howrse free?
Howrse is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Derby Life free?
Derby Life is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Howrse or Derby Life?
Howrse is rated higher. Howrse averages 4.1 out of 5 from 3.6K ratings, while Derby Life averages 2.9 from 98 ratings.
Do Howrse or Derby Life have ads?
Derby Life shows ads; Howrse does not.
Which is updated more often, Howrse or Derby Life?
Howrse ships an update every 4 months, and Derby Life every 5 weeks. Most recently, Howrse was updated on November 1, 2026 and Derby Life on October 22, 2026.

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