Free tiers
The best free wine apps
Every app here is free to download. This is what you actually get before the paywall.
Published 24 August 2026
The short answer
Vivino is the best genuinely free wine app: unlimited label scanning against the largest database in the category, community ratings, and a cellar, at no cost. If "free" is the requirement and nothing else is, that is the answer.
The catch worth naming is that free in this category usually means free-to-scan. Inventory at scale, valuation, unlimited scanning and any advanced feature sit behind a subscription in almost every app here, and the free tiers differ enormously in what they hold back.
SomeWine’s free tier is unusual in one way: the entire 32-lesson course, all quizzes, ratings, tasting notes, food pairings and the social feed are free, with scanning limited to 5 a month. Most apps limit the content and give away the scanning; this does the opposite.
How this was judged
Judged on what the free tier includes rather than what the app can do when paid for. Where a free tier is really a trial, that is said outright.
The ranking
Vivino
135,222 ratings · 4.8★ · last shipped August 2026Most generous free tier
Unlimited scanning, community ratings and cellar tracking with no subscription. Vivino Premium adds analysis, but the core loop costs nothing.
SomeWine
No ratings yet · last shipped August 2026Best free learning
The whole 32-lesson course, quizzes, ratings, notes, pairings and the social feed are free. 5 label scans a month; Pro lifts that and adds the cellar, menu scanner and receipt scanning.
Delectable
25,910 ratings · 4.7★ · last shipped September 2021Most generous free scanning
Unlimited free scans and a journal, no subscription prompt. It has not shipped since September 2021, which is the price of that generosity.
CellarTracker
12,603 ratings · 4.9★ · last shipped August 2026Best free database access
Free access to two decades of community tasting notes and a working cellar. Paid tiers exist for heavier collections.
Oeni
774 ratings · 4.7★ · last shipped July 2026Best free cellar manager
Straightforward inventory and scanning on the free tier, no learning layer or feed attached.
Sommo
48 ratings · 4.9★ · last shipped August 2026Best free cellar visual
The 3D wine wall, scanning and tasting journal are available free. Newest app here, at 48 ratings.
| Feature | SomeWineNo ratings yet | Vivino135,222 ratings · 4.8★ | Delectable25,910 ratings · 4.7★ | CellarTracker12,603 ratings · 4.9★ | Oeni774 ratings · 4.7★ | Sommo48 ratings · 4.9★ | InVintory4,505 ratings · 4.8★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scan a restaurant wine list | Yes — every bottle ranked for your taste and your dish | Yes — ranked by community average, not your palate | No | No | No | Scans a tasting flight card, not a restaurant list | No |
| Ranked to your own palate | Yes — Taste DNA built from what you rate | Recommendations from a crowd score | Notes from sommeliers you follow | Community ratings and critic scores | No | AI picks from what you already own | An AI sommelier over what you own |
| Structured course and quizzes | Yes — 32 lessons with quizzes, free | No | No | No | No | Yes — a wine school section | No |
| Cellar with drink windows | Yes — Hold, Drink Soon, Ready, Past Peak | Cellar tracking, no drink-window states | A journal, not a cellar | Yes — drinking windows and valuation | Yes — the whole point of the app | Yes — a 3D wine wall with drinking windows | Yes — rack, bin and location mapping |
| Label scanning | Yes — 5 free a month, unlimited on Pro | Yes — the largest label database there is | Yes — unlimited and free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes, with Vivino Premium | Yes | Yes, with paid tiers | Yes | Yes | Free tier, built to be paid for |
| Sells wine to you | No — nothing here is influenced by a merchant | Yes — a wine marketplace | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Last shipped an update | Aug 2026 | Aug 2026 | Sept 2021 | Aug 2026 | Jul 2026 | Aug 2026 | Aug 2026 |
Questions people ask
What is the best free wine app?
Vivino, for unlimited free scanning against the biggest database. SomeWine if you want to learn: its free tier includes the entire 32-lesson course and quizzes, with 5 scans a month.
Are wine apps free to use?
All eight compared here are free to download and all have a free tier. Subscriptions cover inventory at scale, unlimited scanning, and advanced features — expect roughly the same shape everywhere.
Is SomeWine free?
Yes. Free covers 5 label scans a month, the full 32-lesson course, quizzes, ratings, tasting notes, food pairings and the social feed. Pro adds unlimited scans, cellar tracking with drink windows, the restaurant wine-list scanner, receipt scanning and guided per-bottle tastings.
Which free wine app has no ads?
None of these apps run display advertising. The commercial model is either a subscription (SomeWine, CellarTracker, InVintory, Oeni, Sommo) or wine sales (Vivino, Delectable, Wine-Searcher) — the second is worth knowing about, because it shapes what you get shown.
Try it on the next bottle you open.
Free to start. No account needed to browse the course.
SomeWine publishes this guide and SomeWine appears in it — said plainly rather than buried. Every other app named is a trademark of its owner and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by SomeWine. Ratings and release dates are read from the iTunes Lookup API; feature descriptions come from each app’s own App Store listing as of 24 August 2026.