PINtPOINT vs Real Ale Finder
Real Ale Finder is built for cask.
PINtPOINT is built for every pint.
Both apps help you find beer, but they solve different sides of the same problem. Real Ale Finder focuses tightly on UK cask real ale. PINtPOINT covers cask alongside keg, craft, and international beer — with live tap lists and a global radar.
Who should use Real Ale Finder
Use Real Ale Finder if cask is the only thing you drink and the UK is the only place you drink it. It's a tightly scoped tool: a curated index of pubs serving traditional British real ale, organised the way a CAMRA-minded drinker thinks about a pub. If you walk past anything that isn't on hand-pull, this is your app.
Who should use PINtPOINT
Use PINtPOINT if your drinking is broader than cask alone or if you sometimes drink outside the UK. It covers cask alongside keg, craft, lager, sour, and stout, with live tap lists across 1,091+ venues in 40+ countries, a radar that ranks pubs by what's actually pouring, filters by style, and Create-a-Crawl for planned sessions. Same utility at home and abroad.
Where Real Ale Finder is better
- Deeper coverage of UK cask-only pubs, especially community/CAMRA-favourite ones
- Cask-first curation — no keg/craft noise to filter out
- Long-running real ale community context: branch ties, beer festival listings
Where PINtPOINT is better
- Live tap lists, not just "this pub usually has cask"
- Cask + keg + craft + lager in one search — useful when one of your group doesn't drink bitter
- Global coverage: same tool in Brooklyn, Barcelona, or Brixton
- Radar interface that ranks by what's pouring right now
- Style filtering, taste-led PINtDEXTER recommendations, freshness indicators
- Pub-crawl planning, Ghost Hunter, Troubled Pub Mode
Using both together
The two tools are complementary for the cask-first drinker who occasionally travels or drinks with non-cask company. Use Real Ale Finder as your trusted UK cask index; use PINtPOINT when the question is "which of these pubs has the better tap list tonight" or "what's on in a city I don't know yet".
Key differences: PINtPOINT vs Real Ale Finder
| Feature | Real Ale Finder | PINtPOINT |
|---|---|---|
| UK Cask Real Ale Focus | Yes — core remit | Covered alongside other styles |
| Keg & Craft Beer | Limited | Yes — full tap list |
| International Coverage | UK only | 40+ countries, 1,091+ venues |
| Live Tap List Data | Cask pump data where published | All tap lines, live where available |
| Beer Style Filters | Cask-focused | Hazy IPA, Lager, Stout, Sour, Cask & more |
| Venue Discovery Radar | No | Yes — live compass + radar |
| Pub Crawl Planner | No | Yes — Create-a-Crawl |
| AI Taste Recommendations | No | Yes — PINtDEXTER |
| Freshness Indicators | Implicit via cask turnover | Explicit per beer on the tap list |
If your only beer is cask
If you genuinely only drink UK cask real ale and don't want anything else in the way, Real Ale Finder is a focused, purpose-built tool. CAMRA's Good Beer Guide app is the other strong option for the same audience.
PINtPOINT doesn't try to out-cask a cask-only app. What it does do is show cask alongside the rest of the tap list, so you can see the full picture at any venue — useful when you're out with friends who don't all drink the same way.
If you drink widely — cask, keg, craft, lager
This is where PINtPOINT's beer-first model pays off. The radar ranks venues by their full live tap list, and style filters mean you can search for a hazy IPA and a cask bitter in the same session. You're not locked into one category.
If you travel
Real Ale Finder is explicitly UK-focused. The moment you leave the country, you're back to Google. PINtPOINT works identically in 40+ countries — same radar, same live tap data, same style filters. If you're a beer drinker who travels, that's the single biggest gap it fills.
Real Ale Finder tells you where the cask is.
PINtPOINT tells you what's actually on — here, there, or abroad.
Using both together
Plenty of UK real-ale drinkers use both apps without friction. Real Ale Finder (or the CAMRA Good Beer Guide) for curated cask-first pubs; PINtPOINT for live data, broader style coverage, and anywhere you travel. They answer complementary questions — one says "this pub is known for its cask," the other says "here's what's on the bar right now."
Is PINtPOINT better than Real Ale Finder?
It depends what you need.
If you exclusively drink UK cask real ale and stay in the UK, Real Ale Finder is a tighter, cask-first experience.
If you drink across styles, care about what's on keg as well as cask, or ever leave the UK, PINtPOINT is the broader tool.
Frequently asked questions
Is PINtPOINT a real ale app?
Partly. PINtPOINT shows cask real ale alongside keg and craft, so if a pub is pouring a cask bitter, it will surface. If you exclusively care about real ale, a cask-only tool like Real Ale Finder or CAMRA's Good Beer Guide is more focused. PINtPOINT is better when you want to see the whole tap list.
Is Real Ale Finder better than PINtPOINT?
For UK cask-only drinking, Real Ale Finder is a tight, purpose-built tool. For anyone who also drinks craft keg, lager, sours, or international beer — or who travels abroad — PINtPOINT is more useful because it covers the full tap list and works globally.
Does PINtPOINT work outside the UK?
Yes. PINtPOINT currently tracks 1,091+ venues across 40+ countries, with the same live radar and tap list view in Tokyo, Oslo, Barcelona or Brooklyn as in London. Real Ale Finder is UK-only by design.
Can I find cask beer on PINtPOINT?
Yes. Where a venue publishes its cask handpulls, they appear in the tap list alongside keg and packaged beer. The app doesn't filter out cask — it treats it as one style category among many.
Should I use both PINtPOINT and Real Ale Finder?
Many UK real-ale drinkers do exactly this. Real Ale Finder / CAMRA Good Beer Guide for curated cask-first pubs; PINtPOINT for live tap data, broader style coverage, trip planning, and travel. They answer different questions.
If cask real ale in the UK is your entire beer world, Real Ale Finder is a strong pick.
If you want a single tool that covers every pint — cask, keg, craft, lager, international — try PINtPOINT.
Download on the App Store