Comparison

Howbout vs Joli

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

Head to head
About

Howbout

This app simplifies social planning by allowing friends to share calendars, coordinate events, and see each other's availability. It helps move plans out of group chats and into a centralized, customizable space with integrated communication features.

Highlights
  • Shared calendars for friends
  • Color-coded events
  • Plan details with notes and pictures
  • Share and view friend availability
  • Integrated group chat and DMs
  • Sync external calendars
  • Home screen widgets
Read full description

The shared calendar for friends, couples, and family This is the app you’ve seen all over TikTok. 10M downloads, 200M+ plans made, and 1B+ views across social media. Howbout is how millions of people actually see each other more. Planning shouldn't take a hundred messages and a "when works for you?" thread that goes nowhere. Howbout fixes that. Find the gap, lock in the plan, actually see the people who matter to you. … WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH HOWBOUT SEE WHEN EVERYONE'S FREE No guessing, it's right there on the calendar. MAKE PLANS Add events, add details, and keep everything together, so plans don't fall apart. SHARE YOUR CALENDAR OR AVAILABILITY Choose what people see. Stay private or share with friends. KEEP ALL THE DETAILS IN ONE PLACE Plans, chats, locations, notes, photos… no switching apps or losing the details. REAL TIME NOTIFICATIONS Get updates when plans change or when your friends are up to something fun. MAKE YOUR CALENDAR YOURS Color-code and customize your calendar how you like. SYNC YOUR CALENDARS & TIMELINES Work, school, personal, social… it's all in one place, so nothing clashes. UP NEXT WIDGETS Stay on top of your upcoming plans and see what your friends are up to from your home screen. … BUILT FOR REAL LIFE For friend groups: check availability, lock in plans, actually see each other more. For couples: stay in sync, plan dates faster, stop double-booking each other. For families: track school runs, appointments, and weekends, all in one place. … HOWBOUT+ Unlock more customization like colors and app themes, smarter planning tools, and get an all around better experience. Your subscription will automatically renew unless turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage your subscription in your App Store settings. … Contact us: support@howbout.app · Follow @howbout_app Privacy: howbout.app/privacy · Terms: howbout.app/terms

About

Joli

This app allows you to create virtual listening rooms and invite friends to enjoy music together in real-time. You can collaboratively build playlists by voting on favorite tracks, ensuring popular songs play next.

Highlights
  • Create shared listening rooms
  • Invite friends to join
  • Synchronized music playback
  • Collaborative playlist building
  • Vote on favorite tracks
  • Play music based on popularity
Features
Read full description

Joli is the revolution in group listening you've been waiting for! INVITE FRIENDS TO LISTEN TOGETHER - Create Playrooms and invite friends to listen to songs in sync - Vote up your favourite tracks and have it play based on popularity

Screenshots

Howbout4 screens
Joli4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Joli at 100% against Howbout's 42%. Joli also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 6) and device support (3 vs 1). Howbout's advantage is chart position (#83 vs unranked). On price, update cadence and ads 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. Howbout sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Joli asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Howbout versus Joli: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHowboutJoli
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (51K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews42.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings51K — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#83 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size155 MB16 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperHowbout Ltd.Anthony Chinwo

Customer experience

Howbout

All ratings50,385 ratings
Positive96.5%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews1,238 reviews
Positive42.1%
Neutral7.0%
Negative50.9%

Joli

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Howbout

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Calendar sync issues causing duplicate events
  • Notifications not working as expected
  • App crashing or freezing
  • Inability to edit events without resending invites

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add widget support
  • Allow customization of event colors
  • Improve recurring event handling
  • Add option to only share with specific people

Joli

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Howbout

Subscriptions6
  • Howbout+ Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Howbout+ Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Howbout+ Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Howbout+ Monthly7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Howbout+ Annual7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Howbout+ Annual$39.991 Year
None

Joli

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Howbout free?
Howbout is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Joli free?
Joli is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Howbout or Joli have ads?
Neither Howbout nor Joli shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Howbout or Joli?
Howbout ships an update weekly, and Joli weekly. Most recently, Howbout was updated on October 24, 2026 and Joli on October 8, 2026.

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