"Best ballistic app" is the wrong question — the category splits into solvers, zeroing tools, mapping apps, and group-measurement apps, and the best pick depends on which job you're hiring for. Here's the honest field guide, including the free corporate apps that are genuinely excellent at what they do.
Free · iOS & Android. A serious drag-model solver from a major ammunition maker, free with nothing held back behind an unlock — and with tens of thousands of store ratings averaging around 4.8 as of this writing. If all you want is a trustworthy trajectory table and your bullet is in its library, install it and pay nobody. The trade-offs: it exists to sell Hornady ammunition, and zeroing itself — measuring where your group landed and turning that into turret clicks — isn't its focus. Full comparison.
Free tier + Elite subscription · iOS & Android. Applied Ballistics is the reference name in long-range solving, and Quantum (launched December 2024) is its current app: excellent free tier, custom drag models and advanced features in a paid Elite tier, unlocked free when paired with AB-equipped devices like Kestrel meters. For competitive long-range shooters already in that hardware world, this is the answer. The trade-off is the model: the advanced tier is a subscription, and the app's center of gravity is solving, not sight-in day. Full comparison.
$9.99 one-time · iOS & Android. Our app, so apply the disclosure above. The pitch in one line: photograph your shot target once and the app finds the target and every bullet hole on its own, measures the group in real inches, and gives you the exact click correction for your optic — then trues your velocity from the same photos, with 301 reticles drawn to published subtensions, 852 firearm and 512 load presets, offline, no account, no subscription. It's the only app in this list built around the zeroing loop itself rather than the trajectory table.
$7.99 one-time + optional yearly-subscription add-on · iOS & Android. The app that made photo group measurement mainstream: photograph the target, tap each hole, get group size and offset. Fast and focused. As of this writing its App Store rating sits at 3.7 with recent reviews citing v4 bugs — worth a look at current reviews before buying. If you only score groups and dope your own way, it does that one job at a fair price. Full comparison.
Free + $14.99 one-time Pro · iOS & Android. Vortex-owned since 2023, and its differentiator is real: range cards built from GPS and mapping — mark your firing point and targets on a map and get ranges and solutions tied to actual terrain. If your shooting is steel in open country at mapped distances, it earns its slot. Full comparison.
$19.99 one-time · listed since 2010. One of the original paid mobile solvers, still on the stores with a small but very satisfied rating base. It shows its age in interface and pace of updates, but the solver mathematics haven't expired. A defensible pick for someone who wants a classic paid solver and nothing modern.
| App | Price model | Solver | Photo zeroing | Reticle library | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hornady 4DOF | Free | Excellent (drag-model) | Group analysis added; not click-correction zeroing | No | Free trajectory tables |
| AB Quantum | Free + Elite subscription | Reference-grade | No | Limited | Long-range competitors in the AB ecosystem |
| Zero Considerations | $9.99 one-time | Full (drop, wind, energy) | Yes — auto hole detection to turret clicks, plus truing | 301 to published subtensions | Sight-in day, zero-and-true, holdovers |
| Ballistic-X | $7.99 + optional yearly sub | No (measurement only) | Group measurement, tap each hole | No | Pure group scoring |
| BallisticsARC | Free + $14.99 Pro | Good | No | Limited | Mapped-terrain range cards |
| Shooter | $19.99 one-time | Good (classic) | No | No | Legacy one-time solver |
Competitor entries reflect public store listings as of September 2026 — prices, tiers, and features change; check the listings before buying anything, including ours. What happened to Strelok Pro, and the full replacement guide, is its own page.
If you want a free trajectory table: Hornady 4DOF. If you live in the Applied Ballistics hardware world: Quantum. If what actually costs you ammo and patience is sight-in day — measuring where the group went and knowing exactly what to dial — that's the job Zero Considerations was built for, and it's the one job the free apps don't do.
Zero Considerations — photograph the target, get the measured group and the exact clicks to dial, then keep the DOPE. One-time $9.99 on both stores — no subscription, no account, works with no signal.
App Store — $9.99 once Google Play — $9.99 once What it does Free printable targets
On Android, Google Play gives you 48 hours to ask for a refund — try it on your next range trip and keep it only if it earns its spot in your range bag. Not ready today? Wishlist it on Google Play and Google will notify you if the price drops before opening day.