Comparison

ServicePlanner vs Return Visits

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

Head to head
About

ServicePlanner

This app helps Jehovah's Witnesses manage their ministry and field service activities. It features contact management, activity planning, and a timer for recording time spent. Users can sync data across devices and access a library of publications and videos.

Highlights
  • Dropbox Sync
  • Territory Helper Integration
  • Today Screen with Timer
  • Contact Management & History
  • Contact Filtering & Map View
  • Publication & Video Library
  • Monthly & Annual Activity Tracking
Read full description

ServicePlanner is a Field Ministry and Contact Management app designed for Jehovah's Witnesses. • Dropbox Sync - automatically backup your data and sync across multiple devices. • Integration with Territory Helper. • Today Screen - quick access to the Timer, Videos, Publications, Website Browser, Activity Planner and your scheduled calls for the day. • Timer - record your time spent in the ministry or on "other" work (LDC etc). Tap the timer bar on the Today screen or force touch the app icon. • Contact Management - centrally manage your Calls with a searchable Contact list. Colours are carefully used to indicate the Contact Type and render a heat map showing if your visits are overdue or on schedule. Swipe or long-press on a Contact to quickly reschedule or update a contact. • Contact Visit History & Library - quickly access your call history with a list of previous visits. Colour again is used to visually indicate the Visit Type. Define your Next Visit Date and Plans. A central Library for each contact shows all of the publications you have ever placed with them. • Contact Filtering - powerful filtering allows you to define how you Group and Sort your calls. Search for Contacts using Tags, Language, Locality, Next Visit Date and more criteria. • Map View - get an overview of your Calls, search for addresses, place custom markers for the location of your Car, Territory, Kingdom Hall, your Home and more. You can tap+hold to create a new Contact straight from a map location. • Library - centrally manage Publications and Videos. Optionally add Cover Art to make it easier to visualise items. Video locations can be downloaded for offline use, or streamed to free up storage space. Add items to your Today screen. Note that the Library is empty by default, users will need to populate it themselves. • Websites - use the inbuilt browser to show web content. Bookmark your favourite websites. Supports Reader View with Themes. Reader View supports Chinese Pinyin, Zhuyin, Yale, Sidney Lau above Chinese characters when reading content from the official websites. • Monthly Activity - plan your daily activity with Planned Hours vs Actual Hours. Projected Hours indicate if you are on track with your time. • Service Year - see at a glance your hours per month and a summary of your activity for the Service Year. Projected Hours indicate if you are on target to reach your annual goal. OR ... * "Shared in Ministry" Mode - You can optionally switch both the Month and Annual calendars to just show a green tick when you shared in the ministry, instead of focussing on hours. • Scheduling - define your Annual, Monthly and Daily Hour Goals. These will then be used to track your progress for the Month and Year. Apply your Daily Schedule to your Month and view the Projected Hours - so easy to see if you will get your time in or if you need to alter your schedule. • Witnessing Partners - arrange your partners each day. Contact your witnessing partner by SMS, Phone, or messaging apps. Mark the arrangement as confirmed or not. Icons on the calendar indicate days with arranged partners. Optional integration with iOS calendars. • Reporting - support for multiple Hour Credits and Carry-Over Minutes. Your Monthly Report can be submitted using Email, TXT, Telegram, WhatsApp, LINE, Hourglass or NW Publisher. • "Other Hours" - log your non-ministry hours such as LDC or Branch Consultation work. Up to 5 "Other Hour" categories can be scheduled and planned alongside your Ministry Hours. Configure the category name (eg "LDC") and Reporting options in Settings. --- And this is just the beginning! Please check the website for details and support: www.serviceplanner.app Requirements: iOS 14+ Some mapping features require a connected device. All support and documentation is provided in English. Some cannot locate the app because they search for "Service Planner". The app is called "ServicePlanner".

About

Return Visits

This app helps you manage your ministry contacts and return visits. It allows you to log conversations, track important details, and schedule follow-ups. All your data is encrypted and stored locally for privacy.

Highlights
  • Contact management with details
  • Visit logging with notes
  • Dashboard for next visits
  • Map integration for directions
  • Offline functionality
  • Encrypted local data storage
  • Accessibility support
Features
Read full description

Field Service Companion helps you remember the people you meet in your ministry — and pick up every conversation right where it left off. It's a private place for your return visits: who you spoke with, where they live, what you talked about, and when to come back. We help you remember the next conversation, ready when you are. REMEMBER EVERY CONVERSATION • Keep contacts with addresses, phone numbers, and the details that matter. • Log each visit with notes, what you left behind, and the date. • A dashboard surfaces who to see next, focused on the conversations worth continuing. FIND YOUR WAY • See your contacts on a map and hand off directions to Apple Maps or Google Maps. • Add people by hand or import them from your phone's contacts. • Set reminders so a promised return visit doesn't slip. YOUR DATA STAYS YOURS • Everything is encrypted on your device. The app works fully offline after sign-in. • There is no server that can read your contacts or your notes — you hold the only key. • Make a local, encrypted backup secured by a recovery phrase you keep. MADE WITH CARE • Clear and quick — most things are three taps away. • Full VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, and accessibility support. • No ads. • No tracking of the people you visit. ABOUT Field Service Companion is a personal ministry tool for individual publishers. It is an independent product — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an official product of Jehovah's Witnesses, jw.org, or the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. Learn more at returnvisits.org

Screenshots

ServicePlanner4 screens
Return Visits4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Return Visits at Free against ServicePlanner's $2.99. Return Visits also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). ServicePlanner's advantage is ratings volume (188 vs 8). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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

Return Visits is free to download; ServicePlanner costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Return Visits holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ServicePlanner has 188 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of ServicePlanner's written reviews are positive against 100% of Return Visits's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ServicePlanner ships an update every 2 months, Return Visits weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
ServicePlanner versus Return Visits: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterServicePlannerReturn Visits
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (188 ratings)5.0 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews91.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings188 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB47 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperiMatt SolutionsVineyard Software LLC

Customer experience

ServicePlanner

All ratings186 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.7%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews162 reviews
Positive91.4%
Neutral3.7%
Negative4.9%

Return Visits

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

ServicePlanner

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashing or not opening
  • Syncing issues between devices
  • Incorrect translation or localization

Requested features

8 requests
  • Ability to record 'Not at Home' visits
  • Integration with Apple Watch
  • Support for multiple types of hours (ministry, LDC, etc.)
  • Customizable color coding for different visit types
  • Ability to add photos to records
Show 3 more
  • Compatibility with macOS
  • Automatic territory management features
  • Integration with NW Publisher for reporting

Return Visits

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

ServicePlanner

No in-app purchases

None

Return Visits

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ServicePlanner free?
ServicePlanner costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Return Visits free?
Return Visits is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ServicePlanner or Return Visits?
Return Visits is rated higher. ServicePlanner averages 4.7 out of 5 from 188 ratings, while Return Visits averages 5.0 from 8 ratings.
Do ServicePlanner or Return Visits have ads?
Neither ServicePlanner nor Return Visits shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ServicePlanner or Return Visits?
ServicePlanner ships an update every 2 months, and Return Visits weekly. Most recently, ServicePlanner was updated on October 24, 2026 and Return Visits on October 22, 2026.

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