Futbology vs Footbeen: which stadium tracker is right for you?

Two apps, two philosophies

If you track the football matches you attend, you have almost certainly come across Futbology. It has been around for years, built a large community, and become the default recommendation in groundhopping circles. More recently, Footbeen has entered the picture with a different approach — fewer leagues but a cleaner experience, and everything free from day one.

Both apps solve the same basic problem: you go to a match, you log it, and over time you build a record of everywhere you have been. But they solve it differently, and those differences matter depending on what kind of fan you are. This is an honest comparison — what each app does well, where it falls short, and which one is the better fit for different types of groundhoppers.

Database and coverage

Futbology has the largest football database of any groundhopping app. Over 1,500 leagues and around 90,000 stadiums worldwide. If you attend fifth-tier Moldovan football or a semi-professional friendly in the Faroe Islands, Futbology probably has it. For fans who collect the most obscure grounds, this breadth is the killer feature.

Footbeen covers 176 leagues and over 9,100 stadiums, with 472,000+ pre-loaded fixtures from 2010 onwards. The coverage focuses on professional football: every top-tier league globally, plus second tiers in major football nations like England, Spain, Germany, and Italy. The Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Eredivisie, and MLS are all fully covered with every fixture, every club, and every stadium.

The verdict: If you regularly attend matches outside the top two tiers of professional football, Futbology's database is hard to beat. If your groundhopping life happens within professional leagues — which describes most fans — Footbeen has everything you need, and the fixtures are pre-loaded so you rarely have to search manually.

Logging a match

This is where the day-to-day experience diverges.

Futbology offers multiple ways to add a match: search by team, by competition, by date, or by scanning a ticket. The interface has a lot of options, which is powerful but can feel overwhelming when you just want to quickly tap "I was there" before the second half starts. The number of fields and choices reflects the app's maturity — it has accumulated features over many years.

Footbeen keeps logging to a single flow. Search the fixture, confirm you were there, done. One tap on the match, one tap to confirm. The app suggests upcoming fixtures for your favourite club first, so if you are a regular at Anfield or the Emirates, your next match is usually right at the top. You can also add photos, a personal rating, and a caption to turn the match into a memory, but none of that is required.

The verdict: Footbeen is faster for the core action. Futbology offers more input options, which some power users prefer. If speed matters to you — and at a ground, it usually does — Footbeen has the edge.

The map

A personal stadium map is one of the most satisfying parts of tracking. Both apps offer one.

Futbology displays your visited grounds on a map. The map is functional and shows your coverage across countries. It works, but the visual presentation is fairly basic — it serves a purpose rather than being something you open just to admire.

Footbeen puts the map front and centre. The home screen is a full interactive globe that lights up with pins for every stadium you have visited. The visual effect is immediate — you see your football life spread across continents, and it is genuinely satisfying to watch it fill in over time. Zooming into a city and seeing clusters of visited grounds creates the "I need to fill in that gap" motivation that keeps groundhoppers going.

The verdict: Both have maps. Footbeen's is more visually engaging and central to the experience. Futbology's is more utilitarian.

Stats and insights

Futbology provides stats on matches attended, stadiums visited, leagues, and countries. The achievement system adds gamification — you earn badges for milestones like visiting 10 grounds in one country or attending a match on every day of the week. The stats are solid and cover the basics well.

Footbeen goes deep on personal analytics. Beyond the standard counts, you get:

Win rate for every club and league you follow
Goals per match — how many goals you have witnessed in total and on average
Season-by-season breakdown — how your activity has changed over the years
League and country breakdowns — which leagues dominate your history
Stadium visits — a complete record of every ground with visit counts
Achievements — 53 badges across multiple tiers (bronze, silver, gold), from "First Match" to "World Traveller" to completing the 92 Club

The verdict: Footbeen's stats are richer and more personally meaningful. Futbology's achievement system is well-established and has more variety due to the larger database. If you want data about your own habits, Footbeen. If you want badges for collecting obscure grounds, Futbology.

Price

This is straightforward.

Futbology operates on a freemium model. The free tier covers basic match logging and ground tracking. Some features — including certain stat views, export options, and premium achievements — require a subscription. The premium tier costs a few pounds per month or a discounted annual rate.

Footbeen is completely free. Every feature — the map, all stats, all 53 achievements, match logging, photos, ratings — is available to every user without any paywall, subscription, or advertising. The app's position is that the core tracking experience should never cost anything.

The verdict: If you want everything included from day one, Footbeen wins by default. If you are happy paying for additional features, Futbology's premium tier does add value — but whether that value justifies the cost depends on how much you use the paywalled features.

Social features

Futbology has a larger community and has had social features for longer. You can see other users' ground counts, compare your list against friends, and browse leaderboards. The social layer is more developed because the app has been around longer and has more users.

Footbeen is building social features now. The follow system recently launched, and leaderboards are live. The community is growing but is earlier-stage. What Footbeen does offer is a clean public profile page and shareable match cards — so you can share your matchday on social media with a well-designed card rather than a screenshot.

The verdict: Futbology has the bigger community today. Footbeen is catching up, and the sharing mechanics are more polished for social media use.

Design and user experience

This is subjective, but it matters when you use an app regularly.

Futbology has the look of an app that has evolved over many years. It is feature-rich, which means more menus, more screens, and more things to discover — but also a steeper learning curve. The interface can feel busy, especially on first use. It is not ugly, but it prioritises function over form.

Footbeen was designed in 2025-26 with a modern mobile-first approach. The UI is clean, fast, and intuitive. New users understand the core flow within seconds. The design language is consistent — the same care goes into the map, the stats screens, the match diary, and the club pages. It feels considered in a way that newer apps can be when they start from scratch without legacy constraints.

The verdict: If you prefer a clean, fast, modern interface, Footbeen. If you are used to Futbology and value feature density over minimalism, you may prefer sticking with what you know.

Data portability

Futbology allows export of your data in CSV format with a premium subscription. Import from other sources is limited.

Footbeen is working on import tools for fans switching from other trackers, including Futbology. The goal is to make switching painless — bring your full match history with you.

The verdict: Both apps are moving in the right direction. Data portability is becoming a competitive necessity in the groundhopping app space, as we discussed in our full comparison of 7 apps.

Which app is right for you?

There is no single winner. The right choice depends on what you value.

Choose Futbology if:

You attend matches in obscure lower leagues and need the broadest possible database
You want an established community with years of social features
You are already invested — your entire match history is there
You do not mind paying for premium features

Choose Footbeen if:

You attend professional football and want a fast, clean logging experience
You value a beautiful personal map as the centrepiece of your tracking
You want deep personal stats without a paywall
You care about modern design and ease of use
You want everything free — no subscriptions, no ads, no premium tier

Or use both. Some groundhoppers maintain accounts on multiple platforms, and that is perfectly fine. The important thing is that you are recording your football journey somewhere.

The bottom line

Futbology earned its place as the default groundhopping app through years of database-building and community growth. That is real and valuable. Footbeen offers a different bet: that a cleaner experience, deeper personal stats, and a free-for-all model can serve the same audience better. Both apps are actively developing, and the competition between them is making the entire category better for fans.

If you have not tried both, it is worth giving each a week with your upcoming fixtures. The app that feels right when you are standing at the turnstile — the one you actually open and use — is the one you should keep.

Track every match. Start with Footbeen or get it on Google Play — it takes 30 seconds to log your first match.