Rotten Tomatoes is a movie and TV review site that shows critic and audience scores, while IMDb is a movie and TV database with user ratings and title information. In simple terms, Rotten Tomatoes is more about aggregated reviews, and IMDb is more about ratings plus detailed film/TV listings.

Quick difference

[3][7] [10][1]
SiteWhat it focuses onHow the score works
Rotten TomatoesCritic and audience reviewsPercent of positive reviews, shown as Fresh/Rotten
IMDbFilm and TV database with user ratings1–10 user rating average

Easy way to remember it

  • Rotten Tomatoes tells you how many critics liked it, not how much they liked it.
  • IMDb tells you the average user rating and gives broader title details like cast, plot, and trivia.
  • A movie can have a high IMDb score but a mixed Rotten Tomatoes score, because the two sites measure different things.

If you want, I can also explain Rotten Tomatoes vs IMDb vs Metacritic in one simple table.