Comparison

Skiply vs Dubai First

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

Head to head
About

Skiply

This app simplifies school payments for parents in the UAE. It allows secure mobile payments for tuition, uniforms, books, and school events using any bank card. Features include digital permission slips, email receipts, and multiple card support.

Highlights
  • Secure school payments
  • Tuition, uniform, book payments
  • Digital permission slips
  • Email receipts
  • Multiple card support
  • Transaction history access
Features
Read full description

Skip the hassle with easier school payments. Skiply is a mobile payment service powered by RAKBANK that allows parents to make secured payments to schools in UAE with any bank Card. Skiply features include; tuition fee, uniforms, transportation, books payments using a mobile app, signed permission slips for events, email receipts, multiple card support, and much more. Making school payments have never been this easy, say Goodbye to waiting in queues to pay for your Childs’s school fee. Good enough? What if we say, School books for your child is just a login away, ready to get started? Download the app and skip quickly through the long waiting queues. The interface is well-designed and straightforward with impressive offers and push notifications, reminding you of when payments are due. Here are some of Skiply’s features: Seamless user registration, student registration, product catalogue for your school, notifications, order management, Online payment and offers, Email receipts, Multiple card support and much more to explore! With Skiply you can: • Discover all the schools near your location. • Pay online: users can pay off the school products ahead of time, then collect the products or have it delivered to your home. • Parents can pay online for student events arranged by school and sign school permission slip digitally • Create a free MasterPass account: Skiply uses MasterPass, MasterCard’s secure digital wallet solution that accepts MasterCard and Visa. • The Apple Pay/Samsung pay/Google pay checkout option is coming later this year. • Access your eReceipts: now you can easily review your Skiply transaction history in the app. Once you select the school, the app checks for the students registered for that school, Once you click add student you will see your child’s details. Confirm and you are now ready to start exploring the school’s catalogue and make payments for your child’s school needs. You can pay using one of your uploaded payment cards whenever you like. That means you can skip quickly to completion without having to visit the school and spend your precious time waiting in queues. The great thing about Skiply is that family members and guardians who have the app can also use it to pay. All family members will have access to the transaction history. Thanks to Skiply, the payment outstanding is cleared the minute the payment is successfully completed. Is my payment secure? Can someone see my card details? Is it safe to save my card in the Skiply wallet? Well worry no more, the technology provides a single digital storage place for all your payment and shipping information, and encrypts it to keep it out of harm’s way. When you make an online purchase, you simply use the digitally secure checkout option and your payment is processed using the information you have stored.

About

Dubai First

Manage your credit card with ease through a seamless digital experience. Track spending, view rewards, access statements, and perform card services like payments and balance transfers. Enjoy in-app security features like biometric login and card freezing.

Highlights
  • Seamless digital onboarding
  • Transaction tracking and spending review
  • Rewards cashback and redemption
  • Card bill payment and balance transfer
  • Supplementary card application
  • In-app card activation and PIN management
  • Card freeze/unfreeze functionality
Features
Read full description

SEAMLESS DIGITAL ONBOARDING JOURNEY Dubai First offers a mobile-first experience, now with a seamless digital onboarding journey. No in-person meetings. No paperwork. Just your mobile and Emirates ID. Download the app and apply in less than two minutes. Apply today through the app and get exciting welcome offers. For the latest offers, visit dubaifirst.com. MOBILE BANKING FOR SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE Track spending, view rewards, access monthly statements, and enjoy many other features available only in the App. Digital Onboarding Journey Dubai First offers a mobile-first experience, now with a seamless digital onboarding journey. No in-person meetings. No paperwork. Just your mobile and Emirates ID. Download the app and apply in less than two minutes. Card Management • Instant updates on your transactions. • View your digital card • Review of purchases by category. • Easy check of available spending limit. • Monthly statements in the App. Rewards At A Glance • Real-time update of Cashback earnings • Up-to-date information on your rewards. • Instant redemption of Cashback. Card Services • Card bill payment directly from the App. • Application for supplementary card • Instant conversion of transactions into installments. • Instant booking of Balance Transfer and Quick Cash. • Payment plans progress overview In-App Control & Security • In-app card activation • instant PIN setup/ change • Freeze and unfreeze card function • Login with biometrics for extra security. To enjoy Dubai First Mobile App, you must be an existing Dubai First customer. Apply for your Dubai First Card today WARNING If you make only the minimum repayment/payment each period, you will pay more in interest/profit/fees and it will take you longer to pay off your outstanding balance.

Screenshots

Skiply4 screens
Dubai First4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Skiply at none against Dubai First's shown. Skiply also leads on review sentiment (47% vs 21%) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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

Skiply holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 467 and 412 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 47% of Skiply's written reviews are positive against 21% of Dubai First's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Skiply ships an update fortnightly, Dubai First every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Skiply versus Dubai First: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSkiplyDubai First
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (467 ratings) — better4.6 (412 ratings)
Positive reviews47.1% of reviews — better21.1% of reviews
Number of ratings467 — better412
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size40 MB344 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNational Bank of Ras Al KhaimahFirst Abu Dhabi Bank

Customer experience

Skiply

All ratings454 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral0.7%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive47.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative52.9%

Dubai First

All ratings411 ratings
Positive91.2%
Neutral2.4%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews38 reviews
Positive21.1%
Neutral10.5%
Negative68.4%

User reviews

Skiply

From 467 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Good for paying school fees
  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 👍 Nice app for school payments
  • 👍 Cool and easy to manage school fees

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Update has broken payments features
  • 🐛 No OTP received
  • 🐛 Repetitive and long sign-up process
  • 🐛 Payment info entry is confusing and potentially insecure
  • 🐛 Outstanding fees not showing

Dubai First

From 412 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Convenient and easy to use
  • 🚀 Immediate balance updates
  • 💡 Good cashback facility
  • ✨ App has new features and is nice to use
  • 👍 Simple to use and shows needed information

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App is always freezing or very slow
  • ❌ Push notifications stopped working
  • 🐛 App freezes when trying to open
  • ⚠️ Deceptive practices regarding fees
  • 🔄 App constantly asks to scan EID and card

Bugs and requests

Skiply

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • Apple Pay and payment flow not working
  • Not receiving OTP for student addition
  • Repetitive student details entry
  • Confusing payment info entry with hidden CVC field
  • Outstanding fees not displayed
Show 6 more
  • App lagging
  • Cannot process payments for multiple children simultaneously
  • Login error: 'couldn't login due to hystrix callback invoked'
  • App freezes during payment selection
  • Back button malfunction
  • Registration failure

Requested features

2 requests
  • Allow multiple kids to be paid for at once
  • Improve payment security

Dubai First

Reported bugs

31 issues
  • Push notifications not working
  • App freezing or very slow
  • App freezing when trying to open
  • App asks to scan EID and card every time
  • App asks for credentials repeatedly
Show 26 more
  • App unrecognisable as new device requiring verification
  • App needs updating every time it's used
  • Buggy update causing new device detection
  • Constant login bugs and failures
  • App timeout too short
  • App has many bugs
  • Cannot pay credit card bill through debit card from another bank
  • Rewards not available most of the time
  • App is basic compared to other banks
  • Terms changed from free for life to annual paid
  • Incorrect balance shown
  • Hidden amounts not visible until statement
  • Cannot pay with foreign debit cards
  • App not working after update
  • Horrible, amateur, and lousy app
  • Login is a pain, messages have errors
  • Cannot access statements
  • Impossible to use service properly
  • App not signing in
  • Cannot see statement on web
  • Zero access to credit card statement
  • Very poorly designed and tested
  • Online website no longer exists
  • Many options log the user out
  • Password creation and login character mismatch
  • No option to view older statements

Requested features

7 requests
  • Spread update releases
  • Test app properly before releasing updates
  • Fix constant login bugs and failures
  • Increase app timeout duration
  • Allow payment of utility bills
Show 2 more
  • Allow payment with foreign debit cards
  • Bring back the online website

In-app purchases

None

Skiply

No in-app purchases

None

Dubai First

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Skiply free?
Skiply is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dubai First free?
Dubai First is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Skiply or Dubai First?
Skiply is rated higher. Skiply averages 4.8 out of 5 from 467 ratings, while Dubai First averages 4.6 from 412 ratings.
Do Skiply or Dubai First have ads?
Dubai First shows ads; Skiply does not.
Which is updated more often, Skiply or Dubai First?
Skiply ships an update fortnightly, and Dubai First every 3 weeks. Most recently, Skiply was updated on October 29, 2026 and Dubai First on October 30, 2026.

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