Respira
Respira vs IQAir AirVisual
Both are free iPhone apps for tracking pollen. They are built around different ideas, and which one suits you depends on what you actually want out of it. Everything below is taken from each app's own App Store listing, checked on 2026-09-03.
What each one is
IQAir AirVisual (IQAir AG) — An air-quality app first, from a company whose core business is air-quality monitoring hardware and data. It covers over 500,000 locations across more than 100 countries, with historical data, 7-day forecasts and 3D pollution maps. 4.8 from about 44,700 ratings (US App Store, 2026-09-03).
Respira — a pollen and air-quality app for twelve countries, with per-species allergen tracking, a symptom diary you can export, and Home and Lock Screen widgets. 4.9 from 14 ratings (Spanish App Store); not yet rated in the US.
Side by side
| Feature | Respira | AirVisual |
|---|---|---|
| Countries covered | Yes Twelve: the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom |
Yes Over 100 countries and 500,000+ locations for air quality |
| US pollen species named | Yes Eleven species, from the Google Pollen API |
Not stated Pollen is not the focus of its listing; no species count given |
| Air quality | Yes AQI plus PM2.5, PM10 and ozone, on the EPA scale in the US and the European index elsewhere |
Yes Its core product: real-time, historical and 7-day forecast, 2D and 3D maps |
| Symptom diary | Yes Symptoms, severity, medication and notes, with a monthly calendar |
Not stated Not mentioned in its listing |
| Personal symptom prediction | No Respira reports measured and forecast pollen. It does not predict how you personally will feel |
Not stated Not mentioned in its listing |
| Home and Lock Screen widgets | Yes Home Screen and Lock Screen |
Not stated Not mentioned in its listing |
| Exportable report for a clinician | Yes PDF export of the diary (Pro) |
Not stated Not mentioned in its listing |
| Destination / travel forecast | Yes Destination forecast and pre-trip alerts (Pro) |
Not stated Global coverage would support it; its listing does not describe a trip feature |
| Multiple saved locations | Yes Saved locations, synced across devices |
Yes Favourite locations with historical views |
| Established US user base | No Launched in the US in August 2026. No US ratings yet |
Yes About 44,700 US ratings |
“Not stated” means the app's own listing does not mention it. It is not a claim that the feature is missing — only that we found no source saying it is there, and we would rather say so than guess.
Which one should you use
For air quality specifically, AirVisual is deeper than Respira by a wide margin and it is not close. Its coverage, history and mapping are its whole product. Respira is a pollen app that also shows air quality; if pollen species, an allergy diary and allergen-specific alerts are what you are after, they are not what AirVisual is built for.
The honest summary: AirVisual has a far larger US user base than Respira, which launched in the United States in August 2026 and has no US ratings yet. If a long track record is what reassures you, that is a real point in its favour, and no feature table changes it.
Try Respira
Free on the App Store. Eleven pollen species in the United States, air quality on the EPA scale, and a symptom diary you can export as a PDF for your allergist.
Other comparisons
Respira is an informational tool. It does not replace diagnosis or advice from a medical professional. Competitor details are taken from their public App Store listings on 2026-09-03 and may have changed since.