The Fishbuddy alternative
GilledIt is what Fishbuddy
should have been.
UK anglers love Fishbuddy's spot database but hate the bugs, the €5/month paywall, the honour-system leaderboards, and the missing marketplace. GilledIt fixes all four. Free core, escrow-backed marketplace, verified leaderboards, modern Flutter polish.
Switching? Import your Fishbuddy catches in 30 seconds → import guide
Side by side
GilledIt vs Fishbuddy at a glance
| Feature | GilledIt | Fishbuddy |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplace (escrow-backed) | ||
| Verified leaderboards (photo + GPS) | ||
| AI species ID | Coming Q3 2026 | |
| UK sea marks | Partial | |
| Modern Flutter polish | Partial | |
| Social feed depth | Partial | |
| Free core forever | ||
| Catch importer |
Why anglers leave Fishbuddy
The four reasons we hear most
1. The €5/month paywall on features that should be free
Fishbuddy puts core utilities behind a Pro tier. GilledIt's core (catch log, social feed, marketplace, messaging, stats) is free to use. GilledIt Pro is optional (£7.99/month or £49.99/year, with a 7 day free trial) and only unlocks unlimited catch logging and a Pro angler badge.
2. Leaderboards on the honour system
Fishbuddy's leaderboards trust whatever number you type. GilledIt requires a verified photo plus GPS to qualify. Competitive UK match anglers and specimen hunters get a board worth caring about.
3. No marketplace
Selling old tackle on Fishbuddy isn't a feature. You end up on Facebook Marketplace dodging scams. GilledIt's escrow-backed Stripe Connect marketplace fixes this, public listing URLs, buyer protection, small platform fee.
4. Polish gaps
Fishbuddy's reviews consistently flag bugs, slow loading, broken push notifications, UX inconsistencies. GilledIt is Flutter 3 with deep-link notifications, offline-first logging, and smooth maps. Polish is why people open one app daily.
Fishbuddy alternative FAQ
GilledIt is the best Fishbuddy alternative for UK anglers in 2026. It has the escrow-backed marketplace Fishbuddy doesn't have, verified photo + GPS leaderboards, modern Flutter polish, and free core features (no €5/mo paywall).
GilledIt's core features are free to use, catch logging, social feed, marketplace browsing and selling, messaging, basic stats. Fishbuddy paywalls features behind a €5/month Pro tier. GilledIt also offers an optional Pro subscription (£7.99/month or £49.99/year, with a 7 day free trial) that unlocks unlimited catch logging and a Pro angler badge.
GilledIt is adding photo-based AI species identification in a Q3 2026 release. Until then, GilledIt's autocomplete covers 266 UK + US species and is faster than most photo-ID flows.
Yes. Fishbuddy is GDPR-compliant, request your data download from Profile → Settings → Privacy. Delivery is usually 24-48 hours. GilledIt's importer parses the JSON, maps every catch, and re-uploads photos. About 30 seconds once you have the file.
Fishbuddy has stronger UK sea-mark coverage today (1M+ EU spots built up since 2022). GilledIt's UK directory currently covers 3,318 named venues, mostly freshwater. Sea-mark expansion is on the roadmap. If sea fishing is your only use case, Fishbuddy wins on data set; for everything else, GilledIt wins.
Try GilledIt, free to start, no paywall on the essentials
Install free on iOS or Android today. Import your Fishbuddy catches in 30 seconds. Keep using Fishbuddy in parallel if you want, your data is yours.