Thinkblot vs eBird
Pick eBird if you record bird sightings. It keeps location-aware checklists, has a full offline mode, and syncs to your eBird account, where sightings are shared with the eBird database. It's free, and at recording sightings it goes far deeper than Thinkblot.
Pick Thinkblot to keep the field notebook beside your checklists. Its Scrapbook gives you a dotted page for each day, with photos taped in and kept with where and when they were taken, sounds recorded beside your notes, and places and weather stamped on the day.
Last checked: 27 October 2026 · Compared with Thinkblot's Scrapbook notebook
Thinkblot and eBird, row by row.
| Thinkblot | eBird | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iPhone (including iPhone Duo), iPad with Apple Pencil, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro (the iPad app). iOS and iPadOS 27.1 or later. | iPhone, iPad, Mac with Apple silicon, and Apple Vision Pro. |
| Handwriting recognition | Read on your device. Fixing a misread word changes the text, never your ink. | — |
| What happens to a line you write | It stays ink. When Thinkblot can help, a small blot appears at the end of the line. Tap it, and the line becomes a reminder, a drafted message, a payment or time on your calendar. | — |
| Tasks and reminders | A box in front of a line makes it a task. Tick the box on paper and it's done in Reminders too. Unticked tasks carry forward. | — |
| Maths | Write a sum and an equals sign, and the answer is written for you. Write “total” under a column and it adds itself. | — |
| Privacy, account and where data lives | No account and no Thinkblot server. Notebooks live on your devices and in your own iCloud. Private Cloud Compute is optional and asks first. | Precise location is linked. Sightings are shared with the eBird database. |
| Sync | Your own iCloud, through Apple's private CloudKit database, on the same Apple Account. | Syncs to your eBird web account. Full offline mode. |
| Export | PDF or Markdown. | — |
| Pricing model | Not out yet. Join the waitlist. | Free. |
| Recording a sighting | Write it on the day's dotted page, with a photo taped in and the place and weather stamped on the day. | Location-aware checklists that sync to your eBird account. |
| Sound | Record a sound beside your note and drawing. | Attach audio shared from other apps. |
| Offline | Writing, voice notes and reading your handwriting work with no connection. | Full offline mode. |
On a phone, scroll the table sideways.
Where each one is better.
- Location-aware bird checklists.
- Sightings shared with the eBird database.
- A full offline mode.
- Free.
- A dotted page for each day, with places and weather stamped on it.
- Sketches, notes, photos and sounds together on one page.
- Voice notes written down on the device, each thought on its own line.
- No account. Notebooks stay on your devices and your own iCloud.
Thinkblot vs eBird, asked.
- Is Thinkblot an eBird alternative?
- No. eBird records your sightings in checklists and shares them with the eBird database. Thinkblot's Scrapbook is a field notebook for the rest of the day: sketches, notes, photos and sounds.
- Can I keep a field notebook in Thinkblot?
- Yes. A Scrapbook gives you a dotted page for each day. Photos keep where and when they were taken, and places and weather are stamped on the day.
- Does eBird work offline?
- Yes. eBird lists a full offline mode.
- Where does Thinkblot keep my notebooks?
- On your devices and in your own iCloud, through Apple's private CloudKit database. There's no Thinkblot account or server.
How do
you think?
Thinkblot is coming soon to iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro. One email the day it's out. That's all.
Join the waitlistClaims about eBird come only from its own pages, as they read on 27 October 2026. Prices are in US dollars and may change.
Thinkblot facts come from the Thinkblot support page. Last checked: 27 October 2026.