BrightId vs Towns
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BrightId
This app provides a unique, self-issued personal identifier to prove human uniqueness for rights and benefits. Verification is achieved by connecting with known individuals, ensuring privacy as personal data is not shared centrally. It allows users to prove they are a unique person without revealing sensitive government information.
- Self-issued personal identifier
- Prove human uniqueness
- Verified by connections
- Privacy-focused data handling
- Access rights and benefits
Read full descriptionHide full description
A BrightID is a personal identifier that allows you to receive rights and benefits based on your ability to prove that you're a unique person.* Unlike a government identifier such as a Social Security Number, a BrightID is self-issued and verified by close friends or relatives. Personal data is not shared with a central organization. To become verified and receive a BrightID score, make connections with the people you already know well. *To see which organizations are participating in BrightID benefits, visit the BrightID website at https://www.brightid.org PRIVACY The name and photo you enter in BrightID are only shared with people in your personal connections list. Your name and photo are not stored or used by BrightID outside of your device.
Towns
This app merges group chat functionality with a self-custody cryptocurrency wallet. Users can discuss financial markets, share investment ideas, and securely manage their digital assets directly within the application.
- Group chat for friends
- Self-custodied wallet
- Secure USDC purchase
- Send and receive assets
- Manage assets on your terms
Read full descriptionHide full description
Towns combines group chat with a self-custody wallet — so you can gather your community, talk markets, share ideas, and hold your assets directly. - Group chat built for communities - Self-custodied wallet — you control your keys - Send, receive, and manage assets on your terms - Your wallet. Your keys. Your conversations.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Towns at 80% against BrightId's 20%. Towns also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.6) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 weeks). BrightId's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.4). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Towns holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Towns has 94 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of BrightId's written reviews are positive against 80% of Towns's.
BrightId ships an update every 3 weeks, Towns every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BrightId | Towns |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.6 (17 ratings) | 4.8 (94 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 20.0% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 17 | 94 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 119 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Christopher Stallard | Here Not There, Inc. |
Customer experience
BrightId
Towns
In-app purchases
BrightId
No in-app purchases
Towns
No in-app purchases
