Cold Stone vs King's Chef Buffet
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cold Stone
Order custom ice cream creations, shakes, or cakes for pickup or delivery. Save your favorite orders, earn rewards, and enjoy exclusive birthday treats through a loyalty program.
- Order ice cream creations, shakes, and cakes
- Pickup at store or delivery to door
- Save favorite orders and re-order easily
- Unlimited customizations
- Earn points and redeem rewards
- Birthday Buy One, Get One FREE offer
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The Cold Stone Creamery® app lets you order our made-fresh Ice Cream in a Creation™, Shake or Cake and have it ready for pickup at your favorite store or delivered right to your door! Sign in to your My Cold Stone Rewards account and you can save favorite orders, earn points and redeem rewards! ABOUT MY COLD STONE CLUB REWARDS + Earn 1 point for every $1 + Receive a $5 Reward with every 50 points + Enjoy a Buy One, Get One FREE on your birthday FEATURES + Order ahead and pick up at the store + Or, get your order delivered right to your door + Easily re-order with favorites and recent orders + Enjoy The Ultimate Ice Cream Experience® in app with unlimited customizations
King's Chef Buffet
Easily order your favorite meals with a few taps. Browse the menu, customize dishes, and securely pay for your order. Receive notifications when your food is ready for pickup.
- Browse and customize menu items
- Secure payment system
- Save delivery addresses and payment methods
- Schedule orders up to 7 days in advance
- Restaurant location and contact info
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Your ideal meal is just a few taps away. Download the King's Chef Buffet app free for iPhone today. With the King's Chef Buffet mobile app, ordering food has never been easier. Whether you're looking for a quick snack or a full meal, we've got you covered. Just browse our easy-to-use menu, customize it how you'd like, place your order using our secure payment system, and sit back! A push notification will alert you when your order will be ready. With the King's Chef Buffet app, you can: - Browse our menu for your favorite dishes and customize them how you'd like - Save your delivery addresses and payment methods securely to check out in just a few taps - Place future food orders up to seven days in advance - Get restaurant location, hours, and contact information
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Cold Stone at none against King's Chef Buffet's shown. Cold Stone also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 12 months) and ratings volume (23K vs 20). King's Chef Buffet's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
King's Chef Buffet holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cold Stone has 23K ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Cold Stone ships an update every 3 weeks, King's Chef Buffet every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cold Stone | King's Chef Buffet |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (23K ratings) | 5.0 (20 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 19.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 23K — better | 20 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 12 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Best chart rank | #138 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 88 MB | 53 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kahala Management, L.L.C. | ChowNow |
Customer experience
Cold Stone
King's Chef Buffet
Bugs and requests
Cold Stone
Reported bugs
4 issues- Payment processing errors
- Inability to change pickup location
- Rewards not updating properly
- App crashes when trying to add gift cards
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to reorder previous orders
- Option to select custom ice cream flavors
- Integration with mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay)
- Easier way to apply rewards and discounts
- Clearer communication on store closures and order availability
King's Chef Buffet
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Cold Stone
No in-app purchases
King's Chef Buffet
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Cold Stone free?
Is King's Chef Buffet free?
Which has better reviews, Cold Stone or King's Chef Buffet?
Do Cold Stone or King's Chef Buffet have ads?
Which is updated more often, Cold Stone or King's Chef Buffet?
Other comparisons
