Comparison

The Happiness Project vs Kinnu

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

Head to head
About

The Happiness Project

Engage in short, enjoyable mini-games designed by scientists to contribute to real psychological and neuroscience research. Your gameplay and anonymous survey responses help study well-being, anxiety, and depression.

Highlights
  • Play mini-games for science
  • Contribute to psychology research
  • Study neuroscience of well-being
  • Anonymous surveys
  • Understand mental health
  • Citizen science project
Features
Read full description

Play fun mini-games to help brain scientists study the psychology and neuroscience of well-being! Created by scientists at UCL and Yale, this app is a citizen science project taking psychology and neuroscience experiments from the lab to your smartphone. Every 3-minute game that you finish contributes data to real scientific research about how the brain works. The anonymous surveys help us see what causes well-being and understand mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. Be part of a unique citizen science experiment and help us write the equation for happiness! Dr Robb Rutledge (Yale Psychology) says: "We all want to know what determines happiness. It’s hard to figure it out! In our games, we ask people about their happiness as they make decisions in different situations. We hope people enjoy our app and help us answer some really important scientific questions!" This citizen science project was supported by the UK Medical Research Council.

About

Kinnu

This app offers bite-sized learning content across a wide range of subjects, from psychology and science to history and technology. It utilizes cognitive science and a unique "Memory Shield" technology to help users retain information effectively, making learning engaging and fun.

Highlights
  • Bite-sized, expert-edited content
  • Memory Shield technology for retention
  • Gamified learning sessions
  • Community-driven content development
  • Knowledge Bank progress tracking
  • Interactive, adaptive questions
  • Audio versions of content
Features
Read full description

We built Kinnu to give everyone the power to learn anything they want to, whatever their goals. With Kinnu you can: Follow your curiosity Become the most interesting person in the room Never forget what you’ve learned with our Memory Shield technology Find a cure to doomscrolling on social media Our microlearning app harnesses cognitive science to help you build lasting knowledge across many domains. It’s the product of several years of research from experts in the science of learning. Popular courses: Psychology: Mental Health, Positive Psychology, Superpower Learning, Cognitive Biases Lifeskills: Personal Finance, Persuasion, Communications Health: Science of Sleep, Science of Exercise, Healthy Habits Science: Laws of Physics, Fungi, Astronomy, Quantum Physics, Chemistry, Zoology History: World History, Ancient Civilizations, Near Modern Civilizations, Rome Technology: Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Cybersecurity, Data Science Literature: Poetry, Folklore, 10 Great Novels, Shakespeare Absolutely Random: Dinosaurs, Greek Mythology, Secret Societies and Cults, Video Games Product features: Bite-sized, expert edited content Memory Shield technology – a new method to never forget what you’ve learned Highly addictive gamified learning sessions Community votes on where to take the app next Track your progress and watch your mind grow with the Knowledge Bank Super clean design that makes daily learning a joy Map based design to explore content and conquer new areas Interactive, adaptive questions and games to refresh and retain your knowledge. Audio version of all content to learn on the go What our users say about us: “Literally feel myself getting smarter using this app… the questions wire stuff to my brain when I do the smart session every day.” “Learning has never been this fun. Engaging, interesting, diverse. Kinnu has it all.” “Fun, easy to use. Super fun to have short little bites of education on tons of interesting topics.” “It’s amazing, and it’s enhancing my life.” Do you have an idea about how we could make our app and its content even better? Email us at support@kinnu.xyz - we listen, and we hear you. SUBSCRIPTION This app contains an optional in-app subscription. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage subscriptions in your App Store account settings. By using this app, you agree to the Kinnu Terms of Use: https://kinnu.xyz/terms Privacy Notice: https://kinnu.xyz/privacy Email: support@kinnu.xyz

Screenshots

The Happiness Project4 screens
Kinnu4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Kinnu at 87% against The Happiness Project's 33%. Kinnu also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.9) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 5 months). The Happiness Project's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads 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

Both are free to download. Kinnu sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. The Happiness Project asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Kinnu holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Kinnu has 518 ratings behind it against 42, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of The Happiness Project's written reviews are positive against 87% of Kinnu's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Happiness Project ships an update every 5 months, Kinnu every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
The Happiness Project versus Kinnu: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Happiness ProjectKinnu
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (42 ratings)4.8 (518 ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews87.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings42518 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size99 MB101 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperUCLKinnu Limited

Customer experience

The Happiness Project

All ratings42 ratings
Positive69.0%
Neutral11.9%
Negative19.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative50.0%

Kinnu

All ratings512 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral2.0%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews297 reviews
Positive87.2%
Neutral4.7%
Negative8.1%

Bugs and requests

The Happiness Project

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Kinnu

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent app crashes
  • Progress and data loss issues
  • Syncing problems
  • Compatibility issues with older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to highlight or take notes
  • More in-depth content and sources
  • Customization options (e.g., dark mode)
  • Ability to connect with others
  • Improved notification and reminder system

In-app purchases

None

The Happiness Project

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Kinnu

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly$1.991 Month
One-time3
  • Kinnu Certificate$7.99
  • Kinnu Certificate$14.99
  • Kinnu Certificate$19.99

Questions

Is The Happiness Project free?
The Happiness Project is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Kinnu free?
Kinnu is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, The Happiness Project or Kinnu?
Kinnu is rated higher. The Happiness Project averages 3.9 out of 5 from 42 ratings, while Kinnu averages 4.8 from 518 ratings.
Do The Happiness Project or Kinnu have ads?
Neither The Happiness Project nor Kinnu shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Happiness Project or Kinnu?
The Happiness Project ships an update every 5 months, and Kinnu every 6 days. Most recently, The Happiness Project was updated on November 2, 2026 and Kinnu on November 7, 2026.

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