Is Beli Free? Beli App Review: Costs, Privacy, Pros & Cons
Yes, Beli is free. You can download it, rank restaurants, keep a want-to-try list and follow friends without paying anything. It also offers optional in-app purchases: a streak restore, an invite-only Beli Supper Club and creator subscriptions for paid guides. Nothing in the core restaurant tracking requires a subscription.
Below: exactly what costs money as of October 2026, how Beli pays its bills, what other people can see on your profile, and a review of who the app suits and who it doesn't.
What does Beli cost?
The app is a free download on iOS and Android. As of October 2026, Beli's US App Store listing shows these optional in-app purchases (prices vary by country):
| Purchase | US price | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Core app | Free | Ranking, lists, map, friends, recommendations |
| Weekly Streak Restore | $0.99 | Rescues a broken weekly logging streak |
| Beli Supper Club (annual) | $74.99 | Invite-only membership with partner dinners (New York City, per 2025 press) |
| Creator Subscription | From $5.79/month or $42.90/year | Access to a creator's paid restaurant guides |
Prices checked October 2, 2026, on the US App Store.
The Supper Club is, per the San Francisco Chronicle (August 2025), an invite-only subscription for top-ranked users, limited to New York City, with partnership dinners at hard-to-book restaurants. Creator subscriptions are sold by the creators themselves: Beli's Paid Guides terms (effective December 23, 2025) say the subscription is between you and the creator, with Beli processing payment as the creators limited payments agent.
In practice, the logging, ranking and friends features most people use cost nothing.
How does Beli make money?
Beli makes money from optional in-app purchases, namely the $74.99-a-year Beli Supper Club and $0.99 weekly streak restores, and it also sells creators guide subscriptions in the app, processing payment on their behalf; it is backed by venture capital. CEO Judy Thelen told the Chronicle in August 2025 that the company had raised $12 million since its founding in 2021, and the paper reported that the Supper Club "brings in cash for the company".
That funding is a big part of why it can stay free while it grows. The Chronicle also reported a partnership with OpenTable that lets you book restaurants from the app. We could not find anything from Beli stating whether or how it earns from that, or from restaurants generally, so we won't guess.
Yelp, by contrast, earns most of its revenue from advertising sold to businesses; our Beli vs Yelp comparison covers what that difference means for the reviews you read.
Is Beli private?
Not by default: Beli's privacy policy (effective March 5, 2024) says parts of your profile and content, except messages, are visible to other users and the public, though you can make some account information private in settings. The exact wording: "Parts of your profile and other user-generated content data (except for messages) will be visible to other users of the Service and the public."
A few other things worth knowing:
- Leaderboards. Beli runs city-wide and app-wide leaderboards of who has ranked the most places. That is part of the fun for many users; others would rather not appear.
- Data linked to you. The App Store privacy label lists categories such as user content, identifiers, usage data and contact info as collected and linked to your identity.
- Advertising partners. The privacy policy says third-party advertising partners may use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about your interaction with the service.
None of this is unusual for a social app. It just means Beli is not a private diary by default. If you want one, check your profile setting after signing up, or see our private restaurant list app guide.
Beli app review: what is it like to use?
Beli is a restaurant diary built around a personal ranking, with friends rankings and recommendations layered on top. Beli at a glance (October 2026): free on iOS and Android, rated 4.8 out of 5 from more than 17,000 ratings on the US App Store and 4.2 from about 1,800 reviews on Google Play (100K+ downloads), launched in 2021, $12 million raised as of August 2025, no web app.
How does Beli's ranking work?
After a meal you search for the restaurant, say whether you liked it, thought it was fine or didn't like it, then answer a few "which was better?" comparisons against places on your list. Beli turns those answers into a score out of 10 and slots the place into your ranking. You can add notes, photos, favourite dishes and the people you ate with.
The rest of the app builds on that list: a map of where you have been and want to go, friends rankings, a match score suggesting how similar your taste is to each friend's, and recommendation scores for places you have not tried. Streaks and leaderboards keep you coming back. In July 2026 Thelen told Founder Brew that users had logged over 120 million restaurant ratings, and YPulse, citing The New York Times, reported that about 80% of its users are under 35.
What Beli does well
- Ranking is quick and fun. Comparing two places is easier than inventing a number, and the resulting top list is satisfying to scroll.
- Friends opinions, not strangers. Seeing that a friend with your taste ranked a place highly is a strong signal.
- A big network. With that many ratings logged, your friends may already be on it.
- Polish. It is a well-designed, actively updated app, and its App Store rating reflects that.
- Free core. Everything you need to track restaurants costs nothing.
Where Beli falls short
- Comparisons get tedious, and sometimes compare apples to oranges. Every new place means another round of "which was better?", and the pairs can be absurd. Taste (June 2025) reported that many users dislike how it forces comparisons between restaurants with entirely different vibes or cuisines, quoting one: "How do I compare the tacos stand on the side of the road that I love with a three-Michelin-star restaurant?"
- Restaurant-level, not dish-level. It ranks places; it is less suited to remembering which dish to order next time.
- Relative scores can drift. A place's score depends on what else is on your list, so it can move as you add more.
- Gamification is not for everyone. Streaks and leaderboards motivate some people and pressure others.
- Social by default. If you want a private record, you need to check your settings.
- Phone only. As of October 2026 it is an iOS and Android app, with no web version.
Who should use Beli?
Use Beli if your friends are already on it, you enjoy ranking, and leaderboards and streaks would keep you logging. For a sociable eater in a big city, it is hard to beat, and it costs nothing.
Look elsewhere if you want dish-level ratings, a strictly private circle, or access from a laptop. Our full Beli alternatives roundup compares six options; if your list lives in saved pins today, Beli vs Google Maps covers that switch.
Is there a free alternative to Beli?
Yes, several. The one we make, Crumble, is free and takes a different approach to the same job:
- No comparisons: each dish gets its own 0–5 score to a tenth of a star (★ 4.2), with notes and photos, so a taco stand never has to fight a tasting menu.
- Shared with friends you accept by default: no public feed, and leaderboards only among friends; you can still share a collection or trip by link.
- A friends map showing spots your friends rated that you have not tried yet, and a wishlist with folders that clears a place once you review it.
- Phone or laptop: it runs in any browser and installs to the home screen on iPhone and Android.
- Extras: trip collections you can share, a passport of every country and city you have eaten in, and journals for coffee, tea, beer, wine and whisky.
Other free options, from Google Maps lists to ranking-style apps, are compared in our restaurant ranking apps guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Beli completely free?
The core app is free: ranking restaurants, lists, the map, friends and recommendations. Optional in-app purchases exist, including a $0.99 weekly streak restore, the invite-only Beli Supper Club at $74.99 a year, and creator subscriptions from $5.79 a month, according to Beli's US App Store listing as of October 2026.
What is Beli Supper Club?
An invite-only paid membership for top-ranked Beli users, with partnership dinners at hard-to-book restaurants. It is listed at $74.99 a year on the US App Store, and the San Francisco Chronicle reported in August 2025 that it was limited to New York City.
Does Beli have ads?
Beli's privacy policy says third-party advertising partners may use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about your interaction with the service. The revenue Beli itself documents comes from in-app purchases such as the Supper Club, streak restores and creator subscriptions.
Is Beli safe?
Beli is a mainstream app from Beli Technologies, Inc., listed on the App Store (4.8 from more than 17,000 US ratings) and Google Play (4.2, 100K+ downloads) as of October 2026. The main thing to know is privacy: its policy says parts of your profile and content, except messages, are visible to other users and the public, so check your profile settings after signing up.
Is Beli on Android or the web?
Beli is on iOS and Android. As of October 2026 there is no web version for logging; beliapp.com is an information site that links to the app stores. If you want to log restaurants from a laptop as well as a phone, Crumble runs in any browser.
Is Beli worth it?
For most people, yes, because the core app is free. It is especially good if your friends use it and you enjoy ranking. If the constant comparisons wear you down, or you want per-dish ratings or a strictly private record, a different tracker may suit you better.
Try a tracker with no comparisons
Crumble is free, by default only your friends see your list, and it works in the browser on your phone or laptop. Rate one dish from your last meal and see how it feels.