Comparison

Byline vs CollaboWrite

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

Head to head
About

Byline

Collaborate with others to create unique stories, one line at a time. Each participant only sees the previous line, fostering surprising and creative narratives. Share your finished tales with friends or the wider community.

Highlights
  • Collaborative story creation
  • Line-by-line writing
  • Public story posting
  • Private group invitations
  • Story titling and sharing
Features
Read full description

Byline is a modern take on exquisite corpse. Serendipitous stories come together one line at a time, with each writer only seeing one line before theirs. Create the weirdest, funniest, spookiest, strangest story you can. POST DIRECTLY TO BYLINE Write the first line to your story and post on the site for strangers to finish. INVITE YOUR FRIENDS Write the first line to your story and then send it to a specific group of people you know. Once finished, you decide who can view. Once everyone has written their line, it's your turn to title and share the result in all its glory!

About

CollaboWrite

Collaborate with friends or strangers to write stories remotely. Players take turns adding to a narrative, starting with a prompt and passing it on until the story is complete. Save and share your creations.

Highlights
  • Remote story collaboration
  • Turn-based writing
  • Story prompts and genre selection
  • Add media to stories
  • Save stories as PDF
  • Share stories online
Features
Read full description

Write stories together remotely using your phone or mobile device. Similar to the classic game “pass the story”, up to six collaborators take turns writing parts of a story. The player that starts is given a story prompt such as “Once Upon a Time…” they write their portion of the story which can be as long or as short as they like. When their story entry is complete, they then pass the story to the next player who continues the story and the cycle repeats until all the writers feel the story is finished. CollaborWrite can be used for both serious writers looking to create a masterpiece or even a group of friends looking for a fun party game! Features: - Choose the genre of your story using prompt bundles - Write stories with friends or ask to join other users online - Send pictures or short videos to add to the story during your turn - Save your finished story as a PDF - Share your story to the online catalog so other users can read your work

Screenshots

Byline4 screens
CollaboWrite3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Byline at none against CollaboWrite's 5. Byline also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.9 vs 4.5). CollaboWrite's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 86%) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 26.0). On price 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. CollaboWrite sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Byline asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Byline holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Byline has 14 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 86% of Byline's written reviews are positive against 100% of CollaboWrite's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Byline versus CollaboWrite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBylineCollaboWrite
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (14 ratings) — better4.5 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings14 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB22 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperSam BeckerCollaboWrite Inc

Customer experience

Byline

All ratings14 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral14.3%
Negative0.0%

CollaboWrite

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Byline

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

CollaboWrite

One-time5
  • Fantasy Prompts Bundle$0.99
  • Drama Prompts Bundle$0.99
  • Fairy Tale Prompts Bundle$0.99
Show 2 more
  • Horror Prompts Bundle$0.99
  • Remove Ads$1.99

Questions

Is Byline free?
Byline is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CollaboWrite free?
CollaboWrite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Byline or CollaboWrite?
Byline is rated higher. Byline averages 4.9 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while CollaboWrite averages 4.5 from 2 ratings.
Do Byline or CollaboWrite have ads?
CollaboWrite shows ads; Byline does not.

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