Every beekeeper eventually hits the same wall. You open a hive, notice the queen is missing or the brood pattern looks spotty, and then you try to remember what it looked like two weeks ago. Was there capped queen cell activity? Did you treat for mites in August or September? Paper notebooks get propolis on them, left in the truck, or rained on. Memory fades by the third yard. A good beekeeping app fixes this, but only if you can log an inspection in under a minute with gloves half off and bees flying around you.

We tested the main beekeeping apps available in 2026 with both hobbyist and commercial beekeeping in mind. A backyard keeper with three hives needs something fast and simple. A sideliner running 80 colonies across six yards needs records that still make sense at scale. Some apps handle one of those well, and a few handle both. Here's how they compare.

1. HiveBook — Best Free Option

HiveBook is our app, so we'll say that up front and explain why we rank it first instead of just asking you to trust us. We built it around one thing: logging an inspection in the bee yard without fighting the software. You don't create an account or sign in, and it doesn't need cell signal. Open the app, pick the hive, record what you saw, and close it.

What it does well:

  • Fully offline. Many apiaries sit at the edge of a field or down a farm lane with one bar of signal or none. HiveBook stores everything on your device, so it works the same in a dead zone as it does at home.
  • Fast inspection logging. Queen seen, eggs present, brood pattern, temperament, honey stores, mite counts, and free-form notes. These are the fields you'll actually fill in, not a 40-field form you'll skip.
  • Multiple apiaries and hives. Organize colonies by yard so you can see at a glance which hives need attention.
  • Treatment and feeding records. Track what went into each hive and when. That matters for mite treatment withdrawal periods and for working out what helped a colony recover.
  • Harvest tracking. Log supers pulled and honey yield per hive so you know which colonies earn their keep.
  • Privacy. Your apiary locations and records stay on your phone. They aren't uploaded to a server.

Where it falls short:

  • It's iOS only for now, so Android users will need another app on this list.
  • It doesn't integrate with hive scales or sensors. If you run BroodMinder or similar hardware, you'll view that data in the manufacturer's app.
  • Because there's no cloud account, multiple team members can't edit the same records in real time. Commercial operations with crews may find that limiting.

Pricing: Free to download, with no account required.

Why it ranks #1: Most beekeepers are hobbyists or small sideliners with somewhere between 2 and 30 hives. For them the best app is the one they'll actually open at every inspection. HiveBook trades advanced team features for speed, offline reliability, and zero setup. For the majority of beekeepers, that's the right trade.

HiveBook is free to download. Download HiveBook Free — no account needed, works offline.

2. HiveTracks — Best for Data-Driven & Research-Minded Beekeepers

HiveTracks has been around for more than a decade and grew out of university research connections. That shows in its focus on structured data, colony health trends, and regional insights. It works on the web and on mobile.

Strengths:

  • Detailed inspection records with structured health data
  • Web dashboard for reviewing records on a bigger screen
  • Strong community and educational ties, with good resources for newer beekeepers
  • Cloud sync across devices

Weaknesses:

  • Requires an account, and some features depend on a connection
  • The interface is denser than simpler apps, so logging takes longer in the field
  • The more advanced features sit behind paid tiers

Pricing: Free tier available, with paid premium plans for advanced features. Check the App Store or the HiveTracks website for current rates.

Best for: Beekeepers who like analyzing trends over seasons and don't mind a steeper learning curve or needing an account.

3. Apiary Book — Best for Feature Depth & Android Users

Apiary Book is one of the most feature-rich beekeeping apps available, and it runs on both Android and iOS. It covers inspections, queens, treatments, feedings, harvests, inventory, and even voice-controlled inspection entry. Voice entry is genuinely useful when your hands are full of frames.

Strengths:

  • Very comprehensive feature set, including queen lineage, inventory, and finances
  • Voice commands for hands-free logging
  • Available on Android and iOS
  • Works offline, with optional cloud sync

Weaknesses:

  • With so many features, the interface can feel cluttered, and new beekeepers may find it overwhelming
  • Many of the best features, such as sync, reports, and higher hive limits, require a paid subscription

Pricing: Free version with limits, plus paid subscription tiers that unlock more hives and features. Pricing varies by plan and region.

Best for: Experienced beekeepers who want one app that tracks nearly everything, and Android users looking for a polished option.

4. BeeKeepPal — Best for Community & Guided Learning

BeeKeepPal combines hive record-keeping with a friendlier, more guided experience. It suits beekeepers in their first few seasons who want prompts and structure as well as a blank log.

Strengths:

  • Approachable design aimed at newer beekeepers
  • Inspection logging with photos
  • Reminders and task tracking
  • Cross-platform availability

Weaknesses:

  • Account-based, so your data lives on its servers
  • Fewer advanced tools for large or commercial operations
  • Premium features require a subscription

Pricing: Free basic tier, with a premium subscription for expanded features.

Best for: First- and second-year beekeepers who want a guided experience and don't mind creating an account.

5. Nectar — Best for Commercial Operations

Nectar takes a different approach from the rest of this list. It targets commercial and professional beekeepers who manage hundreds or thousands of colonies, and it offers hive tagging, yard-level management, and team workflows. If you run pollination contracts and have crews working multiple yards, it's built for your problems.

Strengths:

  • Designed for scale, with yard-level views and bulk actions
  • Multi-user team access with shared records
  • Hive tagging for fast identification in the field
  • Reporting suited to pollination contracts and operational planning

Weaknesses:

  • Overkill for hobbyists, and the pricing reflects a professional audience
  • Needs connectivity for team sync

Pricing: Subscription-based, typically priced for commercial operations. Contact Nectar or check their website for current plans.

Best for: Commercial beekeepers and migratory operations with crews and large colony counts.

6. BroodMinder — Best for Hive Sensor Monitoring

BroodMinder isn't a record-keeping app in the same sense as the others. It's the companion app for BroodMinder hive scales and temperature/humidity sensors. We include it because many beekeepers looking for a "beekeeping app" are really trying to monitor colonies remotely, especially over winter.

Strengths:

  • Continuous weight, temperature, and humidity data from inside the hive
  • Useful for spotting nectar flows, swarms, and winter starvation risk without opening the hive
  • Data contributes to citizen science research

Weaknesses:

  • Requires buying hardware sensors for each hive you want to monitor
  • Not a full inspection or treatment log, so you'll still want a separate record-keeping app

Pricing: The app is free with BroodMinder hardware. Sensors and scales are sold separately, and optional cloud data plans are available.

Best for: Beekeepers who want remote monitoring and are willing to invest in hardware. It pairs well with any app above for inspection notes.

How We Picked These Apps

We evaluated each app against what matters in the bee yard rather than what looks good on a feature list:

  1. Speed of logging an inspection. Can you record a full inspection in under a minute while wearing a veil?
  2. Offline reliability. Does the app work in an apiary with no signal, and does it lose data if connectivity drops?
  3. Core record coverage. Inspections, queen status, mite counts, treatments, feeding, and harvests are the non-negotiables.
  4. Scalability. How well does the app handle going from 3 hives to 30 or 300?
  5. Pricing transparency. Is there a usable free version, and what does a paid plan actually unlock?
  6. Privacy. Does the app require an account, and where does your apiary location data live?

We gave the most weight to the first two criteria. Over years of keeping bees, we've found that an app you skip at three inspections out of five is worse than a simpler one you use every time. Good records come from consistency, not from the number of fields.

The best hive records are the ones you actually take. A simple note logged at every inspection beats a detailed form you fill out twice a season.

Many beekeepers also run bees alongside other farm work, such as orchards, market gardens, or livestock. If that's you, it helps to keep your tools similarly lightweight across the operation. We build CropsBook for vegetable gardens and market farming, which pairs naturally with bees for pollination planning. We also build Barnsbook for livestock and barn records. Like HiveBook, both are offline-first and don't require an account.

Which App Is Right for You?

Here's a quick decision guide based on how you keep bees:

  • Hobbyist with 1–15 hives on iPhone: Start with HiveBook. It's free and offline, and you'll be logging inspections in the first five minutes.
  • Sideliner with 15–80 hives working solo: HiveBook still handles this well, especially if your yards have spotty signal. If you want deep financial and inventory tracking, consider Apiary Book's paid tier.
  • Android user: Apiary Book is the strongest choice, with BeeKeepPal as a simpler alternative.
  • New beekeeper who wants guidance: BeeKeepPal or HiveTracks offer more educational structure. HiveBook is a good fit if you just want a clean log.
  • Data and research enthusiast: HiveTracks has the deepest focus on long-term colony health data.
  • Commercial operation with crews: Nectar is built for multi-user teams and hundreds of colonies.
  • Remote monitoring: Add BroodMinder hardware alongside whichever record-keeping app you choose.

Whichever app you choose, the habit matters more than the tool. Log every inspection, even when the note is just "queenright, calm, two frames of capped honey." Six months from now, when a colony struggles and you need to work out why, those small notes will tell you what happened.

Pricing and features were accurate at the time of writing. App developers update their plans often, so check each app's listing for the latest details.