Winelingo
The short version
| If you want to | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Learn wine from scratch | Winelingo or Wine Master | Step-by-step lessons. Winelingo adds a scanner that explains the bottle; Wine Master is free |
| Get a rating for a bottle | Vivino | Vivino states over 70 million users and 16 million wines |
| Find a bottle and compare prices | Wine-Searcher | Wine-Searcher states 8 million offers from 55,000 merchants |
| Manage a cellar | CellarTracker | Inventory, values and drinking windows |
| Keep a photo journal | Delectable or Vivino | Both save what you drink; Delectable's iPhone app has not been updated since 2021 |
| Study for WSET or CMS exams | Cork Dork, Wine Master, Winelingo's free tests | Flashcards, mock exams and practice questions |
| Study wine maps | Wine Folly Plus | Zoomable maps and infographics |
Apps that teach you wine
These apps are built to teach. They differ in how: Winelingo and Wine Master are step-by-step courses, Decanter Know Your Wine drills facts with repeated questions, True Wine uses short game-style lessons, and SomeWine combines a short course with scanning and a cellar.
| Winelingo | Wine Master: Learn Wine | SomeWine | Decanter Know Your Wine | True Wine | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Learning wine from scratch, a few minutes a day, and understanding the bottle in front of you | A free, structured wine course and WSET exam practice | Scanning, a cellar and beginner lessons in one new app | Memorising wine facts in short, repeated question sessions | Short game-style lessons and an interactive region map |
| Works on | iPhone, Web (the course and the tests, in any browser) | iPhone, Android, Web | iPhone | iPhone | iPhone |
| Free | Every lesson in the iPhone app (with 5 hearts that refill), 5 label scans a month, the first two course units on the web, and all the practice tests | Everything: the listing says no ads and no in-app purchases | The wine course, 10 label scans in total and a 3-bottle cellar | Over 10 free modules | Free, with ads |
| Paid | Premium $3.99 a month, or $29.99 a year in the iPhone app (unlimited hearts and scans, the whole course on the web); or the course for life for $39.99 once on winelingo.app | Nothing to buy | Pro $4.99 a month; a $34.99 purchase is also listed | $19.99 a year, or $0.99 a module | $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year |
| Lessons or a course | ✓ 178 lessons in 27 units | ✓ 460+ lessons | ✓ 32 lessons | ✓ Modules of questions | ✓ |
| Quizzes and games | ✓ Plus practice tests for WSET and sommelier exams | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scans wine labels | ✓ 5 a month free | — Not on iPhone, its listing says; the Android listing describes reading a label's text | ✓ 10 free in total | — | — |
| Scans restaurant wine lists | ✓ Premium | — | ✓ Pro | — | — |
| Tasting journal | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Food pairing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Crowd ratings and reviews | — An average once 3 people have rated a wine; no public reviews | — | — | — | — |
| Cellar tracking | — | ✓ | ✓ 3 bottles free | — | — |
| Sells wine in the app | — | — | — | — | — |
| iPhone app last updated | November 2026 | November 2026 | November 2026 | September 2024 | March 2025 |
Facts checked 10 November 2026. Sources: Winelingo: [1] [2] [3] · Wine Master: Learn Wine: [1] [2] [3] [4] · SomeWine: [1] [2] [3] [4] · Decanter Know Your Wine: [1] [2] [3] [4] · True Wine: [1] [2] [3]. Prices are US prices as listed on that date. A dash for another app means its listing does not describe that feature; it does not prove the feature is missing.
Winelingo
Short lessons, games and practice tests, plus a scanner that explains a label or a wine list in plain words. It is our app. It is new and small: no Android app, very few ratings from other users, and a much smaller wine database than Vivino.
Wine Master: Learn Wine
The listing describes 28 "islands" and more than 460 short lessons in 14 languages, with WSET Level 1 to 3 practice, and says it is free with no ads or in-app purchases. The iPhone listing says its camera does not identify wines or scan labels; the Android listing describes a scan that reads the words on a label without looking the wine up in a database. First released in September 2026.
SomeWine
A new app (July 2026) that puts a 32-lesson course, label scanning, a cellar and food pairing in one place. The free plan has 10 label scans in total and a 3-bottle cellar; wine-list scanning needs Pro.
Decanter Know Your Wine
From the wine magazine Decanter. It teaches with modules of questions and spaced repetition, so it suits memorising facts. The iPhone app was last updated in September 2024.
True Wine
Game-style lessons and a map of wine regions. The app was last updated in March 2025.
Four more learning apps turned up in our research and are not compared here: Vinoh (a wine journal with guided lessons), Winemind (micro-courses and quizzes), Duo Vino (lessons, flashcards and WSET Level 2 mock exams) and Wine Trainer (flashcard questions for WSET and sommelier study). WSET's own app, WSET Tasting Notes, is a tasting-note tool, not a course.
Apps for the bottle in front of you
These are the apps most people mean by "wine app": point the camera at a label and get an answer. They answer different questions, though. Vivino answers "is it good?", Wine-Searcher answers "what should it cost?", CellarTracker answers "what do I own?".
| Vivino | Wine-Searcher | CellarTracker | Delectable | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | A crowd rating for the bottle in front of you, and buying wine in the same app | Finding where to buy a bottle you already know, and what a fair price is | Collectors managing a cellar, with values and drinking windows | A photo journal of bottles, and following what wine professionals drink |
| Works on | iPhone, Android, Web | iPhone, Android, Web | iPhone, Android, Web | iPhone, Android, Web |
| Free | Label scans, ratings and reviews, a journal and a cellar | Label scan, search, prices and critic scores | Cellar inventory, community notes and ratings | Unlimited label scans, with ads |
| Paid | Vivino Premium, sold in the app from $4.99 (the US App Store lists several price points) | Wine-Searcher PRO, listed at $10.99 and $98.99 in the US App Store | A subscription priced by cellar size, $40 to $500 a year | Premium $5.99 a month; ad-free $1.99 a month |
| Lessons or a course | — | — A wine encyclopedia, not lessons | — | — |
| Quizzes and games | — | — | — | — |
| Scans wine labels | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scans restaurant wine lists | ✓ Premium | — | ✓ Listed under Beta | — |
| Tasting journal | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Food pairing | ✓ Shown per wine | — | ✓ An AI feature | — |
| Crowd ratings and reviews | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ Critic reviews need Premium |
| Cellar tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Sells wine in the app | ✓ Through partner merchants | — Sends you to the merchant | — Shows merchant prices | ✓ Described in a listing from 2021 |
| iPhone app last updated | November 2026 | October 2026 | September 2026 | September 2021 |
Facts checked 10 November 2026. Sources: Vivino: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] · Wine-Searcher: [1] [2] [3] [4] · CellarTracker: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] · Delectable: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]. Prices are US prices as listed on that date. A dash for another app means its listing does not describe that feature; it does not prove the feature is missing.
Vivino
The biggest, by its own figures. Scan a label for a crowd rating, reviews, tasting notes and food pairings, and buy from partner merchants in the app. Its listing describes no lessons or quizzes. Vivino lists the restaurant wine-list scanner as a Premium benefit.
Wine-Searcher
A price-comparison engine. It finds which merchants stock a wine and at what price, then sends you to the merchant to buy.
CellarTracker
The collector's tool: inventory, community tasting notes, values and drinking windows. Prices, valuation and the AI features need a subscription. Its help pages list wine-list scanning under Beta.
Delectable
A photo journal with a feed of what wine professionals drink; it is owned by the wine publication Vinous. Check before you rely on it: the iPhone app was last updated in September 2021.
Apps for exam study
Cork Dork Wine Study
Flashcards, map quizzes and practice questions aimed at WSET Level 2 and 3 and the Court of Master Sommeliers Introductory and Certified exams. Source: its App Store listing.
Wine Folly Plus
Zoomable maps and infographics from Wine Folly. Reference material more than a course: Wine Folly's courses are sold separately. Source: its App Store listing and winefolly.com/plus.
Winelingo's practice tests
Unofficial practice for WSET Level 1 to 3 and the Introductory Sommelier exam, including a timed 50-question Level 2 mock exam. No app needed.
Cork Dork and Winelingo both state that they are not affiliated with WSET or the Court of Master Sommeliers. No app replaces the course itself.
One older app to know about
Hello Vino still appears on many lists. It suggests wine for a dish or an occasion and is free, but its iPhone app was last updated in September 2017, according to its App Store listing.
How to choose
You do not have to pick one. A common pairing is a ratings app for the shop shelf and a learning app for the rest of the week: the first tells you what other people thought, the second teaches you why you like what you like, so you need the first one less over time.