Comparison

Fishbowl vs Joinstar

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Fishbowl

Connect with verified professionals in industry-specific groups for genuine conversations and career advice. Discover new jobs, get referrals, and stay updated on what colleagues are discussing in a remote-first environment.

Highlights
  • Industry, Community, and Company Bowls (Groups)
  • Real-time industry and profession feed
  • Direct messaging and networking
  • Job discovery and referral opportunities
  • Verified professional connections
  • Career advice and insights
Features
Read full description

Fishbowl is where professionals go to connect and talk in a new era of remote work. Choose from thousands of Industry, Community or Company Bowls ("Groups") and have genuine conversations with other verified professionals that are working in roles and industries similar to your own. You can join different bowls or professional groups with others from the same background as yourself to get real advice, share work stories, and network. Don't miss out on what your coworkers and colleagues are saying. FEATURES ----------- LIVE FEED See what similar professionals are saying right now with a real-time feed for your specific industry and profession. NETWORKING Network and direct message with professionals across your industry or meet others within your company by turning on networking mode. Discover new jobs and get a referral to companies. BOWLS (GROUPS) Start or join bowls with people in your industry about anything! You can create or join bowls to: • Have conversations about a specific interest or area of expertise. • Network with former work colleagues and classmates. • Connect with professionals that have similar backgrounds to yourself. • Exchange insights and advice with others working at your Co. or Org • Meet up and get to know other professionals similar to you • Create bowls (professional groups) for interests or networking! • Discover new jobs and opportunities through networking and get referrals. Join hundreds of thousands of professionals from various industries including management consulting, advertising, tech, accounting, finance, law, healthcare, and education. Have conversations with professionals from companies and organizations like McKinsey, Deloitte, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Accenture, EY, PwC, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Skadden, Ogilvy, Saatchi, Publicis, Wieden+Kennedy, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Skadden, UCSF, Mount Sinai, Teach for America, the National Education Association and many more. Get the help you need to climb the career ladder. www.fishbowlapp.com **LinkedIn Account or Work Email required** Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information: https://requests.hrtechprivacy.com/share/login?version=US&entities=INDEED&hl=en_US&from=lg-usprivset

About

Joinstar

Discover and connect with people in your network who are traveling to the same destinations or live in places you're visiting. Never miss an opportunity to meet up with friends again.

Highlights
  • Connect with people traveling to same places
  • Find friends visiting your hometown
  • Discover people living where you travel
  • Never miss meetups with friends
Features
Read full description

Joinstar connects you with people in your network that are traveling to the same places as you, living in the places you are traveling to, or visiting your hometown.​ With Joinstar, you will never miss out on chances to meet up with your friends again.

Screenshots

Fishbowl4 screens
Joinstar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Joinstar at 100% against Fishbowl's 19%. Joinstar also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases). Fishbowl's advantage is ratings volume (23K vs 3) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Joinstar holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Fishbowl has 23K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 19% of Fishbowl's written reviews are positive against 100% of Joinstar's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fishbowl ships an update every 2 months, Joinstar every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Fishbowl versus Joinstar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFishbowlJoinstar
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (23K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews19.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings23K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size90 MB70 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperFishbowl Media LLCJoinstar LLC

Customer experience

Fishbowl

All ratings23,330 ratings
Positive90.2%
Neutral2.3%
Negative7.5%
Written reviews388 reviews
Positive19.3%
Neutral6.2%
Negative74.5%

Joinstar

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Fishbowl

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to change job title or industry
  • Verification process takes too long
  • Keyboard overlaps text input fields
  • Notifications disappear after viewing one

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improve search and browsing functionality
  • Add option to post anonymously
  • Implement better content moderation system
  • Allow users to delete their own posts and comments
  • Provide more industry-specific communities

Joinstar

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Fishbowl

No in-app purchases

None

Joinstar

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Fishbowl free?
Fishbowl is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Joinstar free?
Joinstar is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Fishbowl or Joinstar?
Joinstar is rated higher. Fishbowl averages 4.6 out of 5 from 23K ratings, while Joinstar averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Fishbowl or Joinstar have ads?
Neither Fishbowl nor Joinstar shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fishbowl or Joinstar?
Fishbowl ships an update every 2 months, and Joinstar every 6 weeks. Most recently, Fishbowl was updated on October 26, 2026 and Joinstar on October 3, 2026.

Other comparisons