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VERDICT

Should I use Buycott?

Scan products to see their corporate ownership and vote with your wallet - buycott.com

Worth it. Buy if you're an individual shopper who wants free barcode-based boycott/buycott checks — the cost of trying is zero. Skip it if you need verified, current corporate-ownership data or business-grade barcode lookup with support.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~16 public sources; most coverage dates to 2013–2016, so current app quality is unclear.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support evidence in sources
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Free

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Values-driven shoppers
  • Boycott and buycott participants
  • Vegan and ethical-lifestyle scanners
  • Curiosity about brand ownership

Not for

  • Businesses needing licensed, accurate barcode APIs
  • Anyone requiring verified, up-to-date ownership data
  • Procurement or ESG teams — this is a consumer app
  • Guess: offline-first shoppers needing scans without a connection

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Crowdsourced campaign data can be outdated or wrong — verify before big purchases

medium

Users report broken scans and missing products; expect coverage gaps

medium

Reddit threads call it an old app and ask for replacements; update cadence unclear

low

Guess: free consumer app, so expect no support SLA if scanning fails

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free barcode scanner backed by a 600M+ product database
  • Traces scanned items to parent companies and campaigns
  • Users can create campaigns for causes they support
  • Reached 100,000+ users within months of launch

Cons

  • App Store users report scans that don't work
  • Ownership data goes stale; users hunt alternatives
  • Early reviewers flagged missing features

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/30/2026 - 9 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x1review x3security x1news x4

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 9

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Completely free; no paid tier found
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Scan-and-go concept; users report failures
  • Feature depth: 3/5. Huge UPC database plus campaigns; little else
  • Support quality. No support evidence in sources
  • Security posture: 3/5. Publishes security page; no public incidents
  • Free Price No paid tier found in sources
  • 600M+ products UPC database Free UPC lookup, per homepage
  • 2013 Launched Forbes covered it May 2013
  • 100,000+ Early users By July 2013

Pricing

Free

$0

  • Barcode and QR scanning
  • 600M+ UPC lookup
  • Campaign participation

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

Full analysis

Based on ~16 public sources; most coverage dates to 2013–2016, so current app quality is unclear.

Free scanner tracing products to parent companies. Great for values-driven shoppers; stale data and spotty functionality frustrate some.

Methodology

Based on ~16 public sources; most coverage dates to 2013–2016, so current app quality is unclear.

Sources

  1. Buycott | Free UPC Lookup Databasebuycott.com
    official
  2. New App Lets You Boycott Koch Brothers, Monsanto And Moreforbes.com
    news
  3. Buycott (for iPhone) Reviewpcmag.com
    review
  4. Buycott - Barcode Scanner - App Storeapps.apple.com
    review
  5. Buycott Empowers 100000+ Consumersfoodtechconnect.com
    news
  6. Buycott - Crunchbase Company Profilecrunchbase.com
    news
  7. Buycott.com - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
    news
  8. Buycott product security pagebuycott.com
    security
  9. Buycott app alternative? (Reddit)reddit.com
    review

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