Facts as of Oct 2026
Encore vs Stubs
Choose Stubs if you want to scan tickets or screenshots, see setlists where available, and pay nothing; its App Store listing shows no in-app purchases. Choose Encore if concert photos that never leave your iPhone matter more than scanning. Both are iPhone concert diaries with festivals, stats, and friends. Facts as of Oct 2026.
Last reviewed: . Prepared by Encore Archives, the maker of Encore.
Competitor facts come from each product’s own public pages, linked at the bottom, read on 2026-10-15. We read them; we did not run the competitor apps. Encore facts come from this site.
Free to download, all features unlocked up to 10 concerts. US App Store, 5 Oct 2026: Premium removes the limit, $1.99 a week, $9.99 a year, or $25.99 once. iPhone, iOS 18 or later.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Encore if you
- want concert photos and videos to stay on your iPhone
- want nothing about your concerts uploaded unless you choose to sign in
- want to share a festival with friends through an invite link, so they can mark the sets they attended
- are fine adding each show by hand and writing any setlist in the notes
Choose Stubs if you
- want to scan a paper stub or a screenshot and have the artist, venue, and date read for you
- want setlists from past shows where available, home-screen widgets, show reminders, or curated events to explore
- want an app with no paid tier listed on its App Store page
- use an iPhone older than iOS 18 (its App Store listing asks for iOS 17.0 or later)
Switching probably isn’t worth it if you
- have already scanned a stack of tickets into Stubs. Encore has no ticket scan and describes no import, so you would retype every show
- use its widgets, reminders, or setlists every week
Who this comparison is for
You want an iPhone app for shows you have already been to, and you are choosing between the two closest kinds of app: an iPhone-only diary that scans tickets, and an iPhone-only diary that keeps photos on the phone. For other jobs, the best concert apps page sorts apps by the job.
What decides it, side by side
Stubs facts come from stubs.live and its App Store listing, including release notes, read 2026-10-15. Where a page does not say, the table says so. Prices are US prices.
| What decides it | Encore | Stubs | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it calls itself | Encore is an iPhone concert diary for shows you've been to: photos that stay on the phone, ratings, and stats. | “Your live diary”: the concert diary that tracks festivals day by day, stamps a world map, and remembers who you went with | Stubs (homepage), Stubs (App Store listing) |
| Where it runs | iPhone only, iOS 18 or later. No Android app and no web app | iPhone only, iOS 17.0 or later | Stubs (App Store listing) |
| Adding a show | No ticket scanning. You add the artist, the venue, and the date yourself | Scan a paper stub or a screenshot and the artist, venue, and date are read for you. You can still fill everything in by hand | Stubs (homepage), Stubs (App Store listing) |
| Setlists | No setlist feature. You can write a setlist by hand in a show’s notes | Release notes: view setlists from past shows, where available | Stubs (App Store listing) |
| Photos, backup, sync | Photos and videos stay on your iPhone. No iCloud sync. If you sign in, concert details (not photos) are backed up to Encore’s servers | Attach photos and videos to a show. Release notes mention media uploads, data synchronization, and an offline mode, and the privacy label lists email, name, and user content as data linked to you. The pages do not say where photos are stored, so check its privacy policy | Stubs (App Store listing) |
| Friends and social | A friends feed for the people you add. Not an open network | My Circle: a friends feed of upcoming, attended, and tagged shows. Tag friends in a show | Stubs (App Store listing) |
| Stats and recap | Stats, a year-end wrapped, a concert passport | Totals for shows, artists, venues, and cities, your most-seen artist and home venue, a world-map Passport, and widgets for your next show and stats | Stubs (homepage), Stubs (App Store listing) |
| Festivals | New: a festival with its lineup by day, linked shows, and an invite link for friends | Log the full lineup day by day, mark favorite sets, and see a festivals page with festival stats | Stubs (App Store listing) |
| Upcoming shows | Not a tour finder: no ticket links and no alerts for upcoming shows | Track upcoming shows, opt in to reminders, and browse curated events in Explore | Stubs (App Store listing) |
| Import and export | This site describes no import from other apps and no export | Export shareable digital concert, venue, or artist tickets. The pages describe no export of your full history | Stubs (homepage), Stubs (App Store listing) |
| Price | Free to download, all features unlocked up to 10 concerts. US Premium removes the limit: $1.99 a week, $9.99 a year, $25.99 once | Free. The App Store listing shows no in-app purchases | Stubs (App Store listing) |
The same job in each app: log last night’s show
We did not run Stubs, so there are no screenshots here. This is what each product’s own pages say about the job.
Encore
You add the show yourself after the night: artist, venue, date, a rating, and notes, then attach photos and videos that stay on your iPhone. There is no ticket scan and no setlist lookup.
Stubs
Point the camera at a paper stub or a screenshot. Stubs reads the artist, venue, and date, you confirm, and the show is in. You can still fill everything in by hand, then attach photos and clips.
Same scenarios, both apps
Plain multiples of the US prices, before any taxes. Stubs’ App Store listing shows no in-app purchases, so every Stubs cell is $0.00 as of 2026-10-15; if that changes, this table changes. Encore’s free plan is limited to 10 concerts; Premium removes the limit. Encore prices: 5 Oct 2026. Prices can differ by country.
| Scenario | Encore | Stubs |
|---|---|---|
| If you log 10 concerts or fewer, Encore is free | $0 to download. All features unlocked, limited to 10 concerts | $0. No paid tier is listed |
| Paid, cheapest plan, 1 year | $9.99 (Premium yearly) | $0. No paid tier is listed |
| Paid, cheapest plan, 3 years | $25.99 (Premium lifetime, bought once). Yearly three times would be $29.97 | $0. No paid tier is listed |
| Paid, cheapest plan, 5 years | $25.99 (Premium lifetime, bought once) | $0. No paid tier is listed |
| Where Encore costs more | Every row above except the first. Premium weekly kept for 52 weeks: $103.48 | $0 in every row |
What switching costs
- From Stubs to Encore: there is no import and no ticket scan. You add each show by hand (artist, venue, date, rating, notes) and attach photos from your phone.
- From Encore to Stubs: Stubs can scan tickets and screenshots to fill in a show, which helps if you still have them. This site describes no export from Encore, and the backup Encore makes when you sign in cannot be restored, so keep your own list of shows first.
- What to test first: add three recent shows in each app before moving anything. We have not timed a full move, so we give no estimate.
Sources
Every competitor claim on this page comes from one of these pages, read on 2026-10-15.
Questions
Encore vs Stubs: which should I use?
Use Stubs if you want to scan tickets or screenshots, see setlists where available, and pay nothing. Use Encore if you want concert photos that never leave your iPhone and nothing about your concerts uploaded unless you sign in. Both are iPhone-only concert diaries with festivals, stats, and friends. Checked October 2026.
Is Stubs free?
Stubs is free to download, and its App Store listing shows no in-app purchases as of October 2026 (US). Its own site, stubs.live, shows no pricing. Encore is also free to download, with all features unlocked up to 10 concerts. Premium removes the limit and costs $1.99 a week, $9.99 a year, or $25.99 once on the US App Store.
Does Encore scan tickets like Stubs?
No. Encore does not scan tickets or screenshots. You add the artist, the venue, and the date yourself. Stubs says you can point the camera at a paper stub or a screenshot and it reads the artist, venue, and date for you. If scanning is how you want to log shows, Stubs fits better.
Does Encore have setlists like Stubs?
No. Encore has no setlist feature, though you can write a setlist by hand in a show’s notes. Stubs’ release notes say you can view setlists from past shows, where available. If seeing setlists is part of why you log shows, Stubs fits that job better.
Where are my concert photos stored?
In Encore, concert photos and videos never leave the iPhone. The only images it uploads are a profile photo and, if you share it, a festival poster. Stubs says you attach photos and clips to a show. Its release notes mention media uploads, and its pages do not say where photos are stored, so read its privacy policy.
Which is better for festivals, Encore or Stubs?
Both log festivals. Encore lets you log a festival with its lineup by day, link the shows you saw, and share it with friends through an invite link so they can mark their sets. Stubs logs the full lineup day by day, marks favorite sets, and has a festivals page with stats. Checked October 2026.
Does Encore sync or back up my diary?
If you sign in, Encore backs up your concert details (artist, venue, date, rating, and notes) to its servers. Photos and videos stay on your iPhone. There is no sync between devices. This version cannot restore that backup after reinstalling or changing phones. Signing in is optional. Without it, nothing about your concerts is uploaded. The app does not sync through iCloud.
Try the diary
Free to download, all features unlocked up to 10 concerts. US App Store, 5 Oct 2026: Premium removes the limit, $1.99 a week, $9.99 a year, or $25.99 once. iPhone, iOS 18 or later.