Comparison

Going Merry Scholarships vs Cinch

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

Head to head
About

Going Merry Scholarships

This app helps students find and apply for scholarships, grants, and financial aid to fund their college education. It offers personalized matching, simplified application processes, and tools to compare financial aid offers.

Highlights
  • Personalized scholarship matching
  • Auto-filled scholarship applications
  • Bundled scholarships for multiple applications
  • Grant and financial aid matching
  • Simplified FAFSA® form
  • Financial aid offer comparison tool
Read full description

Going Merry is a free app that helps you get money to pay for college. We match you to scholarships, grants, and financial aid–all for free. Each year, we help students get about $500 million in free money. Going Merry is already used by 2 million students and trusted by over 20,000 registered high school counselors. What makes Going Merry different? 1. Personalized scholarship matching Get applying faster. Less browsing and sifting through scholarships that aren’t applicable to you. 2. Easy, auto-filled scholarship applications Apply directly to many of the listed scholarships, right from the Going Merry website or app. We’ll even pre-fill the application form with the information in your profile. 3. Bundled scholarships We’ve combined scholarships with similar essay prompts, so you can apply to multiple scholarships with one form. 4. Your personas data is secure We fully encrypt your data, and we never sell it to third parties. 5. Grants and financial aid too Get matched to state grants you’re eligible for. And apply for financial aid using our FAFSA® Made Easier, a simplified version of the government form. Finally, compare your college financial aid offers using our analysis tool, to make the right financial choice. But don’t take our word for it. Students from 1 in 2 high schools in America already use Going Merry to help them win scholarship award money. Join them today!

About

Cinch

Automate your academic life by syncing assignments from your learning management system to your Google Calendar. It intelligently schedules dedicated study time around your existing commitments and automatically reschedules missed blocks.

Highlights
  • Syncs assignments from LMS to Google Calendar
  • Creates automatic study blocks
  • Reschedules missed study sessions
  • Works around existing calendar events
  • Allows manual adjustment of study blocks
  • Imports assignments not on LMS
Features
Read full description

Cinch pulls your assignments and syllabi from Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, Brightspace (D2L), or Google Classroom and posts them to your Google Calendar in about five minutes. Then it builds a study schedule: a block of time for each assignment, placed around the classes and events already on your calendar. If you miss a study block, Cinch moves it. A block you skipped on Sunday shows up again on Tuesday. You don't have to replan anything. WHAT CINCH DOES • Imports assignments and due dates from your school's LMS • Posts each assignment as a [DUE] event on Google Calendar • Adds [STUDY] blocks with time set aside for each assignment • Works around the classes, work shifts, and events already on your calendar • Reschedules any study block you miss, automatically, overnight WHAT YOU CONTROL • Review every imported assignment so you can confirm nothing was missed • Add any assignments that aren't on your LMS or syllabi • Move, shorten, or delete any study block. They're normal Google Calendar events. Cinch adjusts the rest of your schedule around your changes. YOUR DATA • Cinch reads your existing Google Calendar events only to show your schedule in the app and to find open time for study blocks • Cinch never changes or deletes calendar events it didn't create • Cinch never sells, rents, or shares your data • Delete your account and all your data is permanently deleted • Full policy: https://www.cinchplanner.com/privacy-policy WORKS WITH Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, Brightspace (D2L), Google Classroom, and Google Calendar. Cinch is for college and university students in the US and Canada. A Google Calendar account is required. Cinch is a subscription with a free trial. Billing is handled by Apple. Cancel any time in the app (Settings → Manage Subscription) or in your App Store subscriptions. Questions? support@cinchplanner.com Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Going Merry Scholarships4 screens
Cinch4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Going Merry Scholarships at none against Cinch's 2. Going Merry Scholarships also leads on ratings volume (10K vs 1). Cinch's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, rating, ads and device support 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. Cinch sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Going Merry Scholarships asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cinch holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Going Merry Scholarships has 10K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Going Merry Scholarships ships an update monthly, Cinch weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Going Merry Scholarships versus Cinch: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoing Merry ScholarshipsCinch
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (10K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings10K — better1
Update frequencyMonthlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB75 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoing Merry Inc.Cinch Planner LLC

Customer experience

Going Merry Scholarships

All ratings9,694 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral2.1%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews128 reviews
Positive81.3%
Neutral7.0%
Negative11.7%

Cinch

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Going Merry Scholarships

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Account login issues
  • Problems with uploading documents
  • Inconsistent behavior when interacting with the app

Requested features

3 requests
  • Improved search and filtering options
  • Better tracking of application status
  • Expanded support for international students

Cinch

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Going Merry Scholarships

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Cinch

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Premium7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Annual Premium Subscription7 Days trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Going Merry Scholarships free?
Going Merry Scholarships is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cinch free?
Cinch is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Going Merry Scholarships or Cinch?
Cinch is rated higher. Going Merry Scholarships averages 4.8 out of 5 from 10K ratings, while Cinch averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Going Merry Scholarships or Cinch have ads?
Neither Going Merry Scholarships nor Cinch shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Going Merry Scholarships or Cinch?
Going Merry Scholarships ships an update monthly, and Cinch weekly. Most recently, Going Merry Scholarships was updated on October 25, 2026 and Cinch on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons