RateBud
Download on the App Store

iPhone & iPad · Free with Pro upgrade

Rate everything you love.
Watch your taste evolve.

A private review journal for iPhone & iPad.

For coffee, wine and whiskey tasters — and anyone who wants to remember what they thought. Point your camera at a book, a bottle, a bar of chocolate: RateBud reads the label and barcode to pull up what you're rating, then tracks how your verdict changes over time. Scan. Rate. Revisit.

Download on the App Store See what's inside

iPhone & iPad · Requires iOS 26 for on-device AI · iCloud sync included

  • On-device
  • No accounts
  • No ads
  • No tracking

How it works

  1. 1

    Scan

    Point your camera at any item. On-device vision reads the label, barcode, and shape — no typing, no typos.

  2. 2

    Rate

    Drag across the stars for a smooth, half-star-precise rating with haptic feedback. Add a note, and you're done.

  3. 3

    Revisit

    Next time you see it, RateBud reminds you what you thought. Rate it again and watch your verdict evolve.

What it does

Built for the things you actually buy twice.

Recognizes items, not just words.

OCR, barcode scanning, and on-device matching. RateBud reads the label, matches what you've rated before, and — on iOS 26 — even suggests a clean product name from the detected text. All on device; nothing leaves your phone.

Your taste, plotted.

Rate the same thing more than once and RateBud draws the trendline — acidity shifts, preferences drift, favorites hold up. On-device AI reads your own notes to surface overall sentiment and key themes. Pro adds advanced insights like rating-distribution breakdowns.

Group what belongs together.

Favorites comes free. With Pro, build your own lists — "To Try", "Cellar", "Re-read" — each with its own icon and color. Smart collections update themselves by rule: Top Rated, Needs Re-review, most reviewed, and more.

Rate on your own dimensions.

One star doesn't capture everything. Add your own dimensions — numeric scales for body or sweetness, tag chips for flavour notes, yes/no toggles like "Would buy again", and 2D taste maps you drag a point across. Start from 11 presets: coffee, wine, whiskey, books and more.

Rate with your voice.

"Hey Siri, rate Kenya AA four stars in RateBud." Siri Shortcuts, Spotlight, and the Action Button on iPhone 15 Pro+ all work — your ratings are a tap or a sentence away.

Pricing

Free for the essentials. Pro when you want more.

The core rating and scanning tools are free forever. Pro adds the tools serious reviewers reach for — advanced insights, custom collections, custom rating dimensions, 2D taste maps, and filtered export.

Free the essentials Pro the full journal
Unlimited items & reviews ✓ ✓
1–5 star ratings with half-star precision & notes ✓ ✓
Camera scanning — barcode & text recognition ✓ ✓
iCloud sync across your devices ✓ ✓
Favorites collection ✓ ✓
Rating trends & averages ✓ ✓
On-device smart titles & review summaries ✓ ✓
Siri Shortcuts & Spotlight ✓ ✓
CSV export ✓ ✓
Advanced insights — rating distribution & breakdowns — ✓
Custom rating dimensions & 2D taste maps — ✓
Custom collections — ✓
Smart auto-updating collections — ✓
Filtered export — by date, category & rating — ✓

Choose a Pro plan

Monthly

€1.49/ month

Cancel anytime

Best value

Yearly

€9.99/ year

≈ €0.83/month · save over 40%

Lifetime

€29.99one-time

Pay once — about 3 years of Yearly

Download on the App Store

Start free — upgrade in the app anytime. Already Pro? Restore Purchases in the app.

Upgrades happen inside the app via the App Store. No account, no credit card on this website. Prices vary by region and are shown in the App Store before you buy.

FAQ

Things people ask.

Is my data private?
Yes. All scanning, AI, and analysis runs on your device — no photos or ratings are sent to a server. Your library syncs between your own Apple devices over iCloud. RateBud has no accounts, no third-party analytics on your reviews, and no ads.
What can I rate?
Anything. The app was built around products with labels (coffee, wine, books, skincare, chocolate, gear) because those scan cleanly, and 11 built-in presets — coffee, wine, beer, whiskey, restaurant, food, book, movie, electronics, skincare, and a universal one — get you started. But you can add anything manually — restaurants, trips, a friend's cooking. One star to five, plus a note.
Which devices does RateBud support?
iPhone and iPad running iOS 26 or later. Your library syncs across your devices through your private iCloud, and the camera scanning experience is built for both.
Do I need Pro?
No. Free gives you unlimited scanning, unlimited items and reviews, half-star ratings, iCloud sync, Favorites, Siri Shortcuts, on-device smart titles and review summaries, trend charts, and CSV export. Pro is for people who want custom rating dimensions and taste maps, advanced insights, custom and smart collections, and filtered export.
How does the scanner work?
RateBud uses Apple's Vision framework to read text and barcodes, then matches what it sees against items you've already rated. If it finds a likely match, it offers "Review again". If not, it helps you create a new entry with the photo and details pre-filled.
Does RateBud use AI?
Yes, and it runs entirely on your device. On iOS 26, Apple's on-device Foundation Models suggest a clean product name from a scanned label and summarise your own notes into overall sentiment and key themes. Nothing is sent to a server.
Can I export my data?
Yes. CSV export is free — export any item, collection, or your whole library and share it anywhere via the share sheet. Pro adds filtered export, so you can narrow by date range, category, and minimum rating before sharing.
Is it really free?
Yes. Downloading and using RateBud is free, with no time limit and no feature nags on the essentials — unlimited items and reviews, scanning, iCloud sync, Favorites, and CSV export. Pro is an optional upgrade for power features; you never have to buy it to keep using the app.
Can I import my existing notes or a spreadsheet?
Not yet — there's no import in the current version, so you start fresh in RateBud. You can always export your library to CSV at any time, so your data is never locked in.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Scanning, rating, and on-device AI all run locally, so RateBud works with no internet connection. When you're back online, your library syncs across your devices through iCloud.
How do Pro subscriptions and cancelling work?
Monthly and Yearly are auto-renewing subscriptions billed through your Apple Account; Lifetime is a one-time purchase. You can manage or cancel a subscription any time in your Apple Account settings, and restore a previous purchase from inside the app. Cancelling stops future renewals — you keep Pro until the end of the paid period.

Start rating. Today.

Free to download, free to use. Pro when and if you want it.

Download on the App Store