HorseBook vs. My Cheval: Which Is Right for You? (2026)
An honest, side-by-side look at HorseBook and My Cheval — who each one is built for, what they cost, and the differences that decide it for most people.
By Brian Bickell, who raises paint and quarter horses at Bickell Ranches in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
I'll be straight with you up front: I built HorseBook, so I'm not a neutral party. But I'd rather give you an honest comparison and lose the ones who aren't a fit than talk everybody into the wrong tool. My Cheval is a nicely made app with a real advantage HorseBook can't match on price — it's free. For some of you, that's the right call. Here's how to tell.
Based on public information as of July 2026. Pricing and features for both products change. Confirm the current details on horsebook.app and mycheval.com before you decide.
The One-Line Answer
- Choose My Cheval if you want a free, mobile-first app that keeps basic records and tracks your rides with GPS, and you don't need breeding tools or a web dashboard.
- Choose HorseBook if you're an owner or breeder who wants a web dashboard, a full breeding suite, and to photograph a vet bill instead of typing it in.
These two overlap more than most on this list — both are owner-friendly record apps — so the decision comes down to a few specific features.
Side by Side
| HorseBook | My Cheval | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Owners and breeders | Owners and riders |
| AI photo-to-record scanning | Yes — the core feature | Not shipped (AI assistant on roadmap) |
| Health & vet records | Yes | Yes |
| Breeding records | Yes — cycles, pregnancy, foaling, progeny | Not advertised |
| Expense tracking | Yes | Yes |
| GPS ride tracking | No | Yes — a headline feature |
| Profile sharing (co-owners, vets) | Not yet (on roadmap) | Yes — granular sharing roles |
| Platforms | iPhone + web (sync) | iPhone + Android (no web yet) |
| Pricing | $4.99–$9.99/mo, 14-day free trial, no card | Free, with optional paid upgrades |
What My Cheval Does Well
Credit where it's due. My Cheval gets a few things right that matter to a lot of owners:
- It's free to start. The core app is free on iPhone and Android, with optional paid upgrades. At $0 to try, that's a real advantage, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.
- GPS ride tracking is built in — route, distance, speed, and walk/trot/canter breakdown. If logging your rides matters to you, that's a whole feature HorseBook doesn't have.
- Flexible profile sharing — you can share a horse's profile with co-owners, coaches, vets, or a buyer, with different permission levels. Shared access is something owners ask me for, and My Cheval already offers it.
- It's on Android, which HorseBook isn't yet.
If you want a free app that doubles as a ride tracker, and sharing a horse with your coach or vet is important, My Cheval is a fair pick, and HorseBook doesn't track rides or do multi-user yet.
Where HorseBook Is Different
HorseBook is narrower on purpose — it's a records-and-breeding tool first — and three things set it apart.
You photograph the paperwork instead of typing it. Point your phone at a paper vet bill or a registration certificate and HorseBook reads it — dates, treatments, cost, which horse — and fills in the record. My Cheval lets you attach a document to a horse; it doesn't read it and turn it into a record. My Cheval lists an "AI Equestrian Assistant" as coming-soon and has AI jump-height analysis for video, but neither is document extraction. As of this writing, photo-to-record scanning is the thing HorseBook does that My Cheval doesn't.
The other two differences:
- A full breeding suite. Heat cycles, pregnancy checks, foaling records, and progeny. My Cheval, as of July 2026, doesn't advertise breeding or reproduction features. If you breed, that's a real gap.
- A full web dashboard. HorseBook is iPhone and web, synced. My Cheval is mobile-only today, with desktop on its roadmap. If you like doing your record-keeping at a computer, HorseBook has that and My Cheval doesn't yet.
Pricing-wise, HorseBook is a paid app — $4.99/mo for Hobby, $9.99/mo (or $99.99/yr) for Pro, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card to start. For that, you get the scanning, the breeding suite, and the web dashboard.
For more on what that record-keeping covers, see our equine veterinary records guide and breeding documentation guide.
What HorseBook Doesn't Do (Yet)
Being honest cuts both ways:
- No GPS ride tracking. If tracking your rides is a must, My Cheval does it and HorseBook doesn't.
- No profile sharing yet. My Cheval shares horses with co-owners and vets today; ours is on the roadmap.
- No Android app, and it's not free. My Cheval wins on both of those.
If a free, ride-tracking, Android-friendly app is what you're after, that's a genuine reason to choose My Cheval, and I'd rather you know now.
How to Choose
It comes down to what you actually need:
- Do you want a free app that also tracks your rides, and maybe shares horses with your coach? If yes, My Cheval is a good fit.
- Do you want a web dashboard, a real breeding suite, and to stop typing records by hand? If yes — and you're an owner or breeder — HorseBook's scanning, breeding tools, and web app are the reasons to try it.
Both are honest owner-first apps. The split is scanning-and-breeding-and-web (HorseBook) versus free-and-ride-tracking (My Cheval).
Common Questions
What is the main difference between HorseBook and My Cheval? My Cheval is a free, mobile-first digital-stable app that blends records with GPS ride tracking. HorseBook is a records-and-breeding app on iPhone and web with AI photo-to-record scanning. Want free plus ride tracking? My Cheval. Want a web dashboard, breeding suite, and scanning? HorseBook.
Is My Cheval free? Yes — free to download and use, with optional paid upgrades as of July 2026. HorseBook is $4.99–$9.99/mo with a 14-day free trial and no card.
Does My Cheval have AI document scanning? Not that it advertises as shipping today — an "AI Equestrian Assistant" is roadmap, and its AI jump-height analysis is for video, not documents. HorseBook's defining feature is AI that reads a paper document and fills in the record.
Does My Cheval have a web version? Not as of July 2026 — it's mobile-only, with desktop on its roadmap. HorseBook has a native iPhone app and a full web dashboard that sync.
Which is better for breeders? HorseBook — it has a full breeding suite (mare cycles, pregnancy, foaling, progeny). My Cheval doesn't advertise breeding features. For mare and foaling records, HorseBook is built for it.
Try It Yourself
The best way to know is to spend ten minutes with your own horses. HorseBook has a 14-day free trial with no credit card — snap a photo of one vet bill and see whether reading-it-for-you is the thing you didn't know you wanted. My Cheval is free to try, so there's no harm in loading both and seeing which fits how you work. Either way, get your horses' records out of the glovebox.
Brian Bickell is the founder of HorseBook and raises paint and quarter horses at Bickell Ranches in Stillwater, Oklahoma. This comparison reflects each product's publicly available information as of July 2026.