Comparison

Gem vs HelloTigerSwap

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

Head to head
About

Gem

Discover secondhand and vintage clothing efficiently across numerous online stores and marketplaces. Find specific items or browse by decade and brand, with options to save favorites and receive notifications. Purchase directly from the seller's website without additional fees.

Highlights
  • Unified search for resale sites
  • Image search functionality
  • Filter by price, size, location, decade
  • Browse by decade, brand, gender
  • Save favorite items
  • Push/email notifications
  • Direct purchase from seller
Features
Read full description

The most efficient app for finding secondhand clothing. • One fast search for all resale sites and stores • No additional fees • Keep track of your searches with push/email notifications • Search with image • Filter by price, size, location, decade, gender • Browse by decade, brand, gender • Save favorites • Buy the item on the store website — FEATURED IN “Fashion writers, vintage collectors and costume designers all use this app” – The New York Times “You can find vintage or secondhand alternatives to items you’d normally buy new” – Vogue US “Anything I consider getting, I first search it on Gem” – New York Magazine “What We Love: Gem searches for items from independent stores and resale platforms—drawing from over 150 million listings across the internet.” – App Store US — Gem brings together thousands of online vintage & secondhand stores and marketplaces into one simple search. Once you find the item you’re looking for, you can buy it directly from the seller website, without extra cost. Gem is open to all online vintage & secondhand clothing stores. Contact us if you would like your store to be included. — Screenshots product image credits: Twofold_b, Community Thrift and Vintage, SSLOPPYSSECONDS, BrassCactusVintageCo, CannedHamVintage, Halcyon West, ButterworthsVintage, James Veloria, Wayward Collection, Recess LA, CALIVINTAGEUSA, BrooklynThread, cottonmouth, Fair Season, Na Nin, SouthwestVintage, MiscELENAeous, Libbysmomsvintage

About

HelloTigerSwap

A student-exclusive marketplace for buying and selling items within a university community. Easily list items, communicate with buyers, and receive alerts for desired products, all verified through .edu email.

Highlights
  • Student-only marketplace
  • Secure .edu email verification
  • In-app messaging
  • Customizable listing alerts
  • Quick item listing
  • Category filtering
Features
Read full description

Welcome to TigerSwap, the student-run, student-only marketplace for Princeton University. SHOP WITH 1200+ OTHER TIGERS. Buy and sell securely and directly within the Princeton community, thanks to .edu email verification. NO MORE SLIDESHOWS, NO MORE EMAIL CLUTTER. Find what you like, fast. Filter by your favorite categories, and get alerts for listings you actually want. SWAP ITEMS, NOT YOUR NUMBER. Ask questions and coordinate pickups right in the app—no need to share your phone number with the whole school. LIST YOUR ITEM(S) IN SECONDS. Upload a photo, write a short description, set your price, and we’ll notify interested buyers for you! No need to send an email to the entire school. Have feedback or suggestions? Write a review and let us know. Thank you for using TigerSwap!

Screenshots

Gem4 screens
HelloTigerSwap4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Gem at 983 against HelloTigerSwap's 10. Gem also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.6) and device support (3 vs 1). HelloTigerSwap's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On price, review sentiment, 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

Gem holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Gem has 983 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 97% of Gem's written reviews are positive against 100% of HelloTigerSwap's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Gem ships an update every 2 months, HelloTigerSwap fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Gem versus HelloTigerSwap: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGemHelloTigerSwap
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (983 ratings) — better4.6 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews96.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings983 — better10
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB19 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperGem Search, LLCTigerSwap LLC

Customer experience

Gem

All ratings981 ratings
Positive97.6%
Neutral0.9%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews407 reviews
Positive96.8%
Neutral1.2%
Negative2.0%

HelloTigerSwap

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Gem

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Inconsistent display of sold items in search results
  • Occasional app crashes or freezes

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add image search functionality
  • Expand search filters (e.g. condition, category)
  • Improve saved search/item organization
  • Include more platforms (e.g. Mercari, The RealReal)

HelloTigerSwap

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Gem

No in-app purchases

None

HelloTigerSwap

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Gem free?
Gem is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is HelloTigerSwap free?
HelloTigerSwap is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Gem or HelloTigerSwap?
Gem is rated higher. Gem averages 4.9 out of 5 from 983 ratings, while HelloTigerSwap averages 4.6 from 10 ratings.
Do Gem or HelloTigerSwap have ads?
Neither Gem nor HelloTigerSwap shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Gem or HelloTigerSwap?
Gem ships an update every 2 months, and HelloTigerSwap fortnightly. Most recently, Gem was updated on November 3, 2026 and HelloTigerSwap on November 8, 2026.

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