Comparison

DoorBird vs Buddy List Messenger

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

Head to head
About

DoorBird

See, hear, and speak to visitors at your door from anywhere in the world. Receive instant notifications for doorbell presses and motion detection, ensuring you never miss a visitor or delivery. Securely unlock doors, garages, or gates remotely.

Highlights
  • Live HDTV video with night vision
  • 2-way audio communication
  • Worldwide mobile access
  • Push notifications for visitors and motion
  • Remote door, garage, or gate unlocking
  • Visitor history
  • Geofencing
Features
Read full description

The DoorBird App provides mobile access to DoorBird IP Video Door Stations. Using the app, you can see and hear your visitors in real time, speak with them or unlock the door. When visitors press your doorbell, you receive a push notification on your iPhone or iPad and can immediately answer your door – from anywhere in the world. The DoorBird can also send instant alerts when a visitor triggers the built-in motion sensor. No matter if you are at home or not, you will never miss a visitor or a delivery. DoorBird's innovative IP technology was developed in Germany and is continuously improved through regular app and hardware updates. The system works in your local network (LAN) as well as outside of your home network environment without range limitation and securely encrypted over the Internet. DoorBird App Features for IP Video Door Stations: • Live HDTV video (ultra wide-angle camera lens, night vision) • 2-way audio communication • Worldwide mobile access to DoorBird IP Video Door Stations • Push notifications on your iPhone or iPad when the doorbell is pushed or the motion sensor is triggered • Configurable motion sensor • Free visitor history • Secure door, garage or gate opener via the app • Different ringtones for push notifications • Geofencing • App is optimized for portrait and landscape format • WiFi and Ethernet (PoE) • Smart Home and NVR compatible

About

Buddy List Messenger

Easily send mass messages to your contacts. Friends can choose to receive your updates via text or push notifications. Share your ideas directly with the founders.

Highlights
  • Send mass messages
  • Push notification subscriptions
  • Text message subscriptions
  • Direct founder feedback channel
Read full description

A green dot next to a name. That's the whole idea. Buddy List brings back the one thing instant messaging got right and every app since has thrown away: you could look at a list and see who was actually there. Not who posted three hours ago. Who's around, right now. WHO'S AROUND Open the app and you have your answer before the screen finishes settling. Green means they're here. Amber means they stepped away. Every state carries a shape as well as a colour, so it reads the same if you can't tell green from amber. AWAY MESSAGES, IN YOUR OWN HANDWRITING "brb, mom needs the phone." Set a status and it goes out to your buddies as a notification. Pick the font. Pick the colour. Six real typefaces, eight colours, and whatever you want to say in them. This is the part where the personality lives. FRIENDS AND FAMILY Group your people and collapse the ones you're not looking at. Each group shows how many are around out of how many there are. YOU CONTROL THE LIGHT Go invisible and you appear offline to everyone. Hide your presence and you stop seeing theirs — it works both ways, always, and no screen in the app can get around it. Auto-away marks you away after 24 hours. We're also deliberately imprecise. "A few minutes ago," never a timestamp. Nobody needs to know you looked. WHAT'S NOT IN HERE No feed. No algorithm. No recommended accounts, no follower counts, no strangers, no ads. There is nothing to scroll and nothing to catch up on. You add the people you actually talk to, and that's the whole app. Buddy List needs a phone number to find your friends, and a notification permission to tell you when they're around. That's it.

Screenshots

DoorBird4 screens
Buddy List Messenger4 screens

Verdict

The call

DoorBird and Buddy List Messenger both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 92% of Buddy List Messenger's written reviews are positive against 37% of DoorBird's. Buddy List Messenger also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). DoorBird's advantage is price (Free vs $5.99) and ratings volume (29K vs 35). On rating, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

DoorBird is free to download; Buddy List Messenger costs $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Buddy List Messenger holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DoorBird has 29K ratings behind it against 35, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 37% of DoorBird's written reviews are positive against 92% of Buddy List Messenger's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DoorBird ships an update every 3 weeks, Buddy List Messenger weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
DoorBird versus Buddy List Messenger: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDoorBirdBuddy List Messenger
PriceFree — better$5.99
Rating4.5 (29K ratings)4.7 (35 ratings) — better
Positive reviews37.0% of reviews92.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings29K — better35
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size88 MB20 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperBird Home Automation GmbHSpark Limited Liability Company

Customer experience

DoorBird

All ratings29,063 ratings
Positive85.8%
Neutral4.0%
Negative10.2%
Written reviews489 reviews
Positive37.0%
Neutral14.3%
Negative48.7%

Buddy List Messenger

All ratings35 ratings
Positive91.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.6%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive92.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.7%

Bugs and requests

DoorBird

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Frequent app crashes and freezes
  • Inconsistent connectivity and sync issues
  • Unreliable device pairing and setup process

Requested features

4 requests
  • Siri/Google Assistant integration for voice control
  • Improved push notification system with audible alerts
  • Local storage option for video recordings
  • Simplified app interface and settings

Buddy List Messenger

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

DoorBird

No in-app purchases

None

Buddy List Messenger

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is DoorBird free?
DoorBird is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Buddy List Messenger free?
Buddy List Messenger costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, DoorBird or Buddy List Messenger?
Buddy List Messenger is rated higher. DoorBird averages 4.5 out of 5 from 29K ratings, while Buddy List Messenger averages 4.7 from 35 ratings.
Do DoorBird or Buddy List Messenger have ads?
Neither DoorBird nor Buddy List Messenger shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DoorBird or Buddy List Messenger?
DoorBird ships an update every 3 weeks, and Buddy List Messenger weekly. Most recently, DoorBird was updated on November 7, 2026 and Buddy List Messenger on November 3, 2026.

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