Howbout vs Ekko
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Howbout
Effortlessly coordinate plans with friends, family, and partners. This app simplifies scheduling by showing everyone's availability, centralizing event details, and providing real-time updates. It aims to reduce communication overhead and help you connect with the people who matter most.
- See everyone's availability
- Centralize plan details
- Share calendars or availability
- Real-time notifications
- Sync multiple calendars
- Home screen widgets
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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
Ekko
This app provides a shared digital photo frame widget for your home screen. It allows friends and family to send photos that appear directly on your device, creating an ever-changing display of shared memories. You can even send surprise photos that are 'gift-wrapped' for unwrapping.
- Home screen photo widget
- Shared photo streams
- Send photos to friends' home screens
- Gift-wrapped photo surprises
- Easy link-based sharing
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Ekko is a shared digital photo frame widget that sits on your home screen. The Ekko widget is a little portal on your home screen that your friends can control, so you can enjoy an ever-changing stream of your favourite moments. Whether it's endearing pictures with your family, cute pictures with a partner, or nostalgic photos with your friends - Ekko allows you to share these moments directly to the home screen of those you care about for them to discover throughout their day. Want to leave them a little suprise? You can even gift wrap images so they appear as a little parcel on their home screen waiting to be unwrapped. Creating and joining streams is as easy as sharing a link, so try it with someone today! -- You can read our privacy policy at https://www.ekko.pics/privacy and our Terms of Service at https://www.ekko.pics/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
Howbout and Ekko both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 87% of Ekko's written reviews are positive against 42% of Howbout's. Ekko also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.0). Howbout's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (52K vs 122). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Howbout sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Ekko sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Howbout against 4.8 for Ekko. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Howbout has 52K ratings behind it against 122, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 42% of Howbout's written reviews are positive against 87% of Ekko's.
Howbout ships an update weekly, Ekko every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Howbout | Ekko |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (52K ratings) — better | 4.8 (122 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 42.0% of reviews | 86.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 52K — better | 122 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #61 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 159 MB | 35 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Howbout Ltd. | ICEBREAKER STUDIO LIMITED |
Customer experience
Howbout
Ekko
User reviews
Howbout
From 52K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use and intuitive
- 🚀 Helps with planning and organizing
- 💡 Useful features like polls, countdowns, and event chats
- 🤝 Facilitates sharing calendars and coordinating with friends
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional glitches and bugs
- 🔀 Difficulty syncing with other calendars
- 📢 Overwhelming notifications
- 🔒 Forced to add friends to use the app
Ekko
From 122 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great for sharing photos
- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Keeps friends/family connected
- 👍 Fun concept
- 👍 Private and intentional connection
Room to improve
- 🐛 Photos disappear after 24 hours
- 🐛 Widget doesn't always update
- 🐛 Premium subscription issues
- 🐛 App is plain
- 🐛 No help button
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
Ekko
Reported bugs
6 issues- Downloaded premium without subscribing
- Group names changing themselves
- Groups duplicating
- Photos duplicating
- Widget opens multiple photos
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Unable to sign up with Apple
Requested features
7 requests- Add videos and audios (free version)
- Allow changing name
- Save photo history permanently
- Option for photos not to expire
- Fix widget update issue
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Improve comment visibility
- Add a help button
In-app purchases
Howbout
- Howbout+ Monthly$4.991 Month
- Howbout+ Monthly7 Days trial2 variants$4.991 Month
- Howbout+ Monthly7 Days trial$5.991 Month
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- Howbout+ Annual1 Year trial$39.991 Year
- Howbout+ Annual7 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Howbout+ Annual$39.991 Year
Ekko
- Showcase Pro: Level 1 Monthly$4.991 Month
- Showcase Pro: Level 2 Monthly$9.991 Month
- Showcase Pro: Level 1 Yearly$39.991 Year
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Showcase Pro: Level 2 Yearly$79.991 Year
- Premium$1.99









