Niche vs Common App
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Niche
Discover colleges that fit your profile and interests with personalized recommendations. Explore detailed profiles, read student reviews, and find scholarships. High school seniors can even get accepted directly through the app.
- Personalized college recommendations
- Niche Profile for matching
- Direct Admissions for seniors
- In-depth college profiles
- Scholarship search and matching
- Student and alumni reviews
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The Niche app is the key to your college search. Using your Niche Profile, interests and priorities, we recommend colleges that could be a great fit so you can research your options and find where you belong. High school seniors can even get accepted to college based on their profile with Niche Direct Admissions. The Niche app brings student and alumni reviews, personalized college recommendations, scholarships and more to your fingertips. To search for K-12 schools, graduate schools, places to live or places to work, please visit Niche.com on your mobile web browser. FEATURES • Your Niche Profile: Build your profile so we can find the best schools for you, keep you on track throughout the admissions process and match you to scholarships. • Personalized recommendations: We create customized lists of colleges that might be a good fit for you based on your specific priorities and interests. • Direct Admissions: High school seniors can receive acceptance and scholarships from participating colleges in real time based on the information in their Niche Profile — no application needed. • In-depth college profiles: Explore nearly 7,000 college profiles that include data on cost and financial aid, admissions requirements, student life and more. You can also read reviews from current students and alumni. • Dashboard: Keep your college list organized, update your status with each college and follow your checklist. The dashboard is also where seniors will find Niche Direct Admissions acceptances, matches and scholarship details. • My List: As you explore your options, save the colleges you like to your list. The more schools you add, the better we can personalize our recommendations for you. • Scholarship search: Browse and apply for college scholarships by category or get matched directly with scholarships you are eligible for. WHAT SETS NICHE APART? Quality data • Niche takes the most comprehensive data available on colleges in the U.S. and puts it all in one place. We’re constantly updating and connecting millions of data points to produce new rankings and insights. Honest reviews • Since day one, Niche has been committed to showing our users what it’s really like at a college or school. You’ll be able to read about real experiences people have had to get a sense of what life at a certain college might be like.
Common App
Manage your college applications on the go. This app offers a secure and streamlined way to apply to over 1000 colleges, research financial aid options, and access guidance from counselors, all from your mobile device.
- Apply to 1000+ colleges
- Research financial aid
- Get counselor advice
- Secure application process
- Mobile convenience
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Simplify your college application experience with Common App for mobile. Common App for mobile provides you with the same secure, streamlined application experience you’ve come to expect from Common App online, all from the convenience of your mobile device. The app seamlessly integrates with the first-year desktop experience — allowing you to apply to more than 1000 colleges, research financial aid, and get advice from counselors. Common App for mobile is free and easy to use. Download the app to navigate your entire college application journey.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Niche at 66% against Common App's 23%. Niche also leads on rating (4.1 vs 3.1) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 10 months). Common App's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Niche holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.4K and 656 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Niche's written reviews are positive against 23% of Common App's.
Niche ships an update every 3 weeks, Common App every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Niche | Common App |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (1.4K ratings) — better | 3.1 (656 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 65.6% of reviews — better | 23.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.4K — better | 656 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 10 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #121 | #33 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Niche.com, Inc. | The Common Application |
Customer experience
Niche
Common App
User reviews
Niche
From 1.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Helpful for college search
- 💡 Great for finding scholarships
- 🚀 Provides a lot of useful information
- 👍 User-friendly interface
- 👍 Comprehensive college data
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and bugs
- 🐛 Logs out frequently
- 🚫 Limited to just college search, lost previous features
- 🚫 Requires too much personal information
- 🚫 Inaccurate or incomplete data for some colleges
Common App
From 656 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Convenient mobile app
- 👍 Same functionality as website
- 🎉 Finally available as an app
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🔑 Requires re-login every time
- 🚫 Doesn't work for transfer students
Bugs and requests
Niche
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes and freezes
- Logging out issues
- Incomplete or inaccurate college data
Requested features
4 requests- Add back K-12 school and neighborhood search features
- Improve navigation and prevent automatic logout
- Allow more flexible college searches without required personal info
- Enhance data accuracy, especially for tuition and majors
Common App
Reported bugs
3 issues- White screen on login
- App doesn't load past logo
- Redirects transfer students to website
Requested features
3 requests- Keep user logged in for longer
- Increase text box size
- Add back button navigation
In-app purchases
Niche
No in-app purchases
Common App
No in-app purchases








