July 20, 2026 · 7 min read · The Lobbies Team
Lobbies vs. Backloggd: Which Game Tracker Fits You in 2026?
If you're the kind of player who wants a record of everything you've played — the all-timers, the shelved disappointments, the backlog you swear you'll get to — you've probably run into Backloggd. It earned its reputation honestly: a clean, Letterboxd-style logging site for games with a passionate community.
We build Lobbies, so read this with that in mind — but we're going to be genuinely fair here, because the two products want different things. Backloggd is an excellent library. Lobbies is trying to be the place your gaming life actually happens — tracking included, but with the conversation, friends, and anticipation built in. Depending on what you want, either could be the right call.
The short version
- Choose Backloggd if you want a mature, web-based cataloging tool with years of community ratings and a Letterboxd-style culture of curation.
- Choose Lobbies if you want a native iOS app, automatic Steam sync, release countdowns on your home screen, and a social feed where logging a game starts a conversation instead of ending it.
- Honestly? Plenty of people run both — one as the archive, one as the daily driver.
Feature-by-feature
| Feature | Lobbies | Backloggd |
|---|---|---|
| Log & rate games | Yes — statuses, ratings out of 10, reviews | Yes — statuses, half-star ratings, reviews |
| Native iOS app | Yes, with home-screen widgets | Web app (no official native app at time of writing) |
| Steam integration | Library import, playtime, and live friend presence | Manual logging at time of writing |
| Lists | Ranked lists with notes, drafts, upvotes & comments | Lists with strong community curation |
| Social feed | Posts, reviews & lists from people you follow | Activity feed of logs and reviews |
| Per-game discussion | Every game has a lobby — threads, not just reviews | Reviews and comments |
| Release tracking | Countdown widgets + push the day a wishlisted game drops | Release dates on game pages |
| Catalog | IGDB — every game, indies included | IGDB — same excellent coverage |
| Price | Free | Free, with a supporter tier |
Backloggd ships updates too — if something above has changed, trust their site over our table.
Tracking: archive vs. autopilot
Backloggd's logging is meticulous and manual — which many people genuinely enjoy. Sitting down to journal a finished game is a ritual, and the site is built around doing that well.
Lobbies leans automatic where it can. Link Steam once and your library, playtime, and even what you're playing right now flow in — your friends can see you're twenty hours into a roguelike bender without you posting a thing. Manual logging is still there (statuses, ratings out of 10, full reviews), but the app fills in the boring parts for you.
Social: following vs. hanging out
Both apps have follows, likes, and comments. The difference is what happens after. On Backloggd, the unit of conversation is the review. On Lobbies, every game also has a lobby — a threaded space where the conversation about a game lives before release, at launch, and during the patch cycle. Reviews are one kind of post, not the only kind.
Lobbies also shows live Steam presence for your friends: who's online, who's in game, and what they're playing. It makes the app feel less like a filing cabinet and more like a group chat where everyone happens to keep beautiful records.
Anticipation: the part most trackers skip
A backlog tracks your past. Lobbies puts real weight on the future: pin upcoming games to a home-screen countdown widget, and when a game on your wishlist launches, you get a push notification that morning. If most of your gaming excitement lives in the "not out yet" column, this is the feature set that earns the home-screen spot.
Community and maturity
Credit where due: Backloggd has years of accumulated ratings, reviews, and list culture, and that history is worth something. A five-year-old cult game will have dozens of thoughtful reviews there. Lobbies is younger — our community is growing and the vibe is closer to early Discord server than established forum. Some people love being early; some want the archive. Know yourself.
FAQ
Is Lobbies free?
Yes — free on iOS and the web, no supporter tier required for any feature.
Can I use Lobbies and Backloggd together?
Absolutely. Both pull from the IGDB catalog, so games match 1:1. Many players keep Backloggd as their long-term archive and use Lobbies day-to-day for the feed, presence, and release tracking.
Does Lobbies have an Android app?
Not yet — iOS and the web today. The website works well on Android browsers in the meantime.
Can I import my Steam library?
Yes. Link Steam during onboarding (or later in Settings) and Lobbies imports your library with playtime and keeps it in sync.
Bottom line
Backloggd is a great cataloging site, and if a quiet, meticulous archive is what you're after, you'll be happy there. If you want your tracker to feel alive — native on your phone, synced to Steam, counting down releases, and full of people to talk to — give Lobbies a try. It takes about a minute to make an account, and the Explore page works before you even do that.