I Like Movies vs Matinee

This page is written by the developer of I Like Movies. A comparison written by one side is not neutral, so it names where the other app is the better choice and does not score anything.

I Like Movies as a Matinee alternative

Matinee is a movie and TV tracker for iPhone and Android, with a film diary, half-star ratings, a social feed of what your friends are watching, and streaming availability across more than 30 services. Its headline is discovery: a natural-language search, an assistant you can ask for picks, and a daily suggestion, with an optional Pro tier that unlocks the smart search and removes the ads. It does that well.

I Like Movies is a phone app for films and TV together, kept privately, and shared with the people you live with. It is free with no ads, and it leans on the moment before you press play as much as the record after. The two overlap on tracking and part ways on ads, on who sees your ratings, and on who the library belongs to. This page lays the split out.

Where Matinee is better

Across the Apple ecosystem

Matinee is on iPhone and iPad, and it also runs on Mac and Apple Vision. I Like Movies is a phone app for iPhone and Android, so if you want a tracker on your Mac or iPad, Matinee reaches devices we do not.

Discovery you ask in plain words

Matinee leads with discovery. You search in plain language, ask its assistant for a pick, and it surfaces a suggestion each day, with a smart optimiser that turns your watchlist into one thing to watch tonight. The AI smart search is a Pro feature, and the whole finder is clean and polished.

Filter by the services you pay for

Matinee shows streaming availability across Netflix, Max, Disney+, Prime Video and more than 30 other services, and it lets you filter your watchlist and recommendations down to the ones you subscribe to. We show where a title streams in your country on the title itself, but we do not filter your lists by subscription the way Matinee does.

A public, social feed

Matinee is built to be social, closer to a Letterboxd for TV. You follow friends, watch a real-time feed of what they are seeing, and share public reviews and half-star ratings. If a shared, public film life is the point for you, Matinee is made for it and this app is not.

What is different in I Like Movies

A household shares one library

The people you live with can see each other’s watchlists, share one collection of what you own, and decide in a household chat. A Matinee account is personal, and each person keeps their own diary.

Recommendations from your own taste

Every month I Like Movies rebuilds Discover collections from your ratings, your most-watched genre and a director or actor you keep returning to, and you can ask an assistant in plain words, filtered against what you have already seen. Matinee’s picks are strong too, but they blend in other users and your friends’ activity, where ours stay on your taste alone.

Free, with no ads and nothing to upgrade

I Like Movies is free, with no ads and no paid tier. Matinee is free to download with ads, and it keeps its smart search and watchlist optimiser behind a Pro subscription. Nothing here is gated or interrupted.

Films and TV in one library

Films and series live in the same library, tracked to the episode, and the app tells a show that has ended apart from one that is only between seasons. Matinee tracks episodes too, so the small difference here is how an ended and a mid-season series read at a glance.

Feature by feature

Feature	I Like Movies	Matinee
Platforms	iPhone, Android	iOS and Android, also iPad, Mac, Apple Vision
Films and TV	One library, tracked per episode	Both, tracked per episode
Household shared library	Yes	No, a personal diary
Privacy	Friends only, no public reviews	Social feed, public reviews
Recommendations	Monthly Discover from your ratings, plus an assistant you ask	AI recommendations, blends your taste with friends
Streaming availability	Per country, on every title	30+ services, filter by your subscriptions
Ratings	Ratings and notes for friends, not the public	Half-star public ratings
Imports	Letterboxd, IMDb, Trakt and TV Time exports	None listed
Price	Free, no ads	Free with ads, optional Pro subscription

Moving your library

Matinee keeps your diary inside its own account, and I Like Movies imports only Letterboxd, IMDb, Trakt and TV Time exports, so there is no direct Matinee import. Your Matinee history would start fresh here.

If you also log films on Letterboxd or Trakt, keep a list on IMDb, or have a TV Time export from before it closed, bring that file in, and your ratings and watched marks land in one place. Otherwise you rebuild by adding titles as you go, which is quick when your household can see each other’s watchlists.

What I Like Movies does not do

There is no automatic tracking. Nothing scrobbles from a media server, a browser or a streaming app; you mark things watched yourself.
There are no public reviews. Notes go to your friends or stay just for you, and there is no feed of strangers to read.
There is no web app. The library lives on the server, but you reach it from the phone app.
There is no offline mode. The app needs an internet connection.
Imports read four kinds of export: a Letterboxd .zip, an IMDb .csv, a Trakt .zip and a TV Time export saved before that service closed. There is no importer for Simkl exports, and an import is a one-time copy, not a sync.

The honest verdict

If your priority is a social feed and an assistant that finds things to watch, or a tracker across the Apple ecosystem, Matinee is the better fit and this page will not pretend otherwise. It is live, actively updated, and it has put real work into discovery and streaming availability.

If you want the people you live with to see each other’s watchlists, want your ratings seen by friends rather than the public, and want recommendations built from your own taste with no ads and nothing to upgrade, I Like Movies is built for that. Both track films and TV to the episode, so the real choice is who the library belongs to, and whether your film life is public or private.

Questions people ask

What is Matinee?

Matinee is a movie and TV tracker for iPhone and Android, also on iPad, Mac and Apple Vision. It keeps a film diary, half-star ratings and a social feed of what your friends are watching, with streaming availability across more than 30 services. Its headline is discovery: a natural-language search, an assistant you can ask for picks, and a daily suggestion.

Is Matinee free?

Yes, it is a free download with ads. An optional Matinee Pro subscription unlocks the smart search and the watchlist optimiser and removes the ads. The core logging, watchlist, social and streaming information are free.

Does Matinee track TV episodes?

Yes. You can mark individual episodes as watched, pick up where you left off, and rate seasons. I Like Movies also tracks TV to the episode, in the same library as your films, and it tells a series that has ended apart from one that is only between seasons.

Can I import my Matinee history into I Like Movies?

Not directly. I Like Movies imports Letterboxd, IMDb, Trakt and TV Time exports only, so a Matinee library starts fresh here. If you also keep a log on Letterboxd, IMDb or Trakt, export that file and bring it in.

Which should I choose?

Pick Matinee if you want a public social feed and a strong finder, or a tracker across the Apple ecosystem. Pick I Like Movies if you want a household that sees each other’s watchlists, want your ratings seen by friends rather than the public, and want no ads. Both track films and TV to the episode.

More comparisons: Letterboxd, Trakt, Simkl, IMDb, Serializd, Maimovie, Moviebase, JustWatch, Cronica, Flick. Or browse every guide and watch order.

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