What is the main difference between Ethos and Brand411?

Brand411 is a mobile app: point your camera at a logo or type a brand name and it returns the parent company, HQ, sibling brands, and a community rating, from what its own site describes as image recognition plus "a comprehensive database" (no per-entry sources cited). Ethos publishes ownership records where each link in the chain, brand to operating entity to ultimate parent, carries a dated source link (a trademark record, SEC filing, or company disclosure).

Brand411 is free to download, per its own FAQ, with a paid Premium tier that removes a daily lookup limit and ads and unlocks logo image search. Ethos's who-owns ownership records are free on the web with no lookup limit; the iOS app is in early access with pricing announced at launch.

Does either app cite its sources?

Brand411's own site does not publish a methodology or per-entry source page for its ownership data as of August 2026. Every fact in an Ethos ownership record links to the primary source it was drawn from, and any dated ownership record includes when it was last verified.

Ethos / Compare / Brand411

Ethos vs Brand411: cited registry records, or a photo-search app?

Comparison based on publicly available information, as of August 2026

Brand411 is a mobile app built for speed: point your camera at a logo, or type a brand name, and it returns the parent company, headquarters, other brands under the same owner, and a community rating. It's a convenient front door to a question most people have never thought to ask. What its own site does not publish is where any individual answer comes from, its FAQ describes "advanced image recognition and a comprehensive database" but no methodology page, source list, or per-entry citation.

Ethos takes the opposite approach on evidence: no photo search yet, but every ownership record shows the chain, brand to operating entity to ultimate parent, with each link tied to a dated source (a trademark filing, an SEC record, or a company's own disclosure). If you want a fast answer, Brand411's format is built for that. If you want to see, and check, where the answer came from, that's the specific gap Ethos fills.

Choose Brand411 when

You want to identify a brand from a photo of its logo, without typing anything.
You want one app that also surfaces community ratings and suggested alternative products.
You're fine with a daily lookup limit on the free tier, or paying for Premium to remove it.

Choose Ethos when

You want to see the actual source behind an ownership claim, not just the claim.
You care about more than ownership, Ethos also records political donations, labor record, cause campaigning, and 12 other value axes, each fact cited.
You want a free, unlimited lookup with no app download, the who-owns records are on the open web.

Feature comparison

Dimension	Ethos	Brand411
Lookup method	Barcode scan or brand search (app); free web search for who-owns records	Logo photo recognition or name search
Sourcing	Every fact in an ownership record links to a dated primary source (trademark filing, SEC record, company disclosure)	No published methodology or per-entry source, per its own site as of August 2026
Scope	Ownership chain plus 15 cited value axes (political donations, labor, environment, and more), scored to your private weights	Parent company, HQ, sibling brands under the same owner, community rating
Platforms	iOS (early access); free who-owns records on the web, any device	iOS and Android, US only per its own site
Pricing	Who-owns records free, unlimited; app pricing announced at launch	Free with a daily lookup limit and ads; Premium subscription removes both and unlocks photo search
Status	Waitlist open, iOS first, who-owns records live now	Available today on both app stores

Brand411 facts are drawn from brand411.com (its homepage and FAQ) as of August 2026. Verify current details on their site. Corrections: [email protected]

Brand411: verified facts

Identifies a brand's parent company by photographing its logo or typing its name.
Shows the parent company, its HQ, and other brands owned by the same parent, plus a community rating and suggested alternatives.
Free to download on iOS and Android; a Premium subscription removes the daily lookup limit and ads and adds logo image search.
States it is currently available only in the United States.
Its own site does not publish a source list or methodology page describing how ownership data is compiled or verified.

Ethos vs Brand411 FAQ

What is the main difference between Ethos and Brand411?: Brand411 answers fast, from a photo or name, with no published source per entry. Ethos answers slower, brand-by-brand, with a dated source link on every fact in the ownership chain.
Is Brand411 free?: Free to download with a daily lookup limit and ads; Premium removes both. Ethos's who-owns records are free and unlimited on the web; the iOS app's pricing is announced at launch.
Does either app cite its sources?: Brand411 does not publish a methodology or source page as of August 2026. Every Ethos ownership record links to the primary source behind each fact in the chain.

Keep comparing

Ethos is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Brand411. Word marks are used only to identify the products compared. This page records publicly available information and does not characterize either product beyond it.

Ethos: 392 brands, 440 dossiers as of August 2026. Join the iOS waitlist →