Comparison

frequency social vs Pipilo

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

Head to head
About

frequency social

Share life's moments privately with close friends and family. This app offers a chronological feed without ads or data tracking, focusing on high-resolution photo sharing and text updates. It's built on the federated ActivityPub protocol, allowing interaction with other social networks.

Highlights
  • Private photo sharing
  • Chronological feed
  • No ads or tracking
  • Federated social networking (ActivityPub)
  • High-resolution photo optimization
  • Text-based updates
Features
Read full description

Share the important moments in your life with your closest friends and family, without trading your personal data. The frequency iOS app is a custom client app for the frequency.app server. Join the future of social that's bringing it back to basics: » No ads, no tracking or training AI with your personal data » Private photo-sharing, just for your approved followers » Built on top of the federated social networking standard (ActivityPub protocol) » Follow and share with your friends on other federated social networks, like Pixelfed or Mastodon » Calm design, respectful of your time and attention » Feeds are always chronological, no algorithmic sorting, no promoted posts » Optimized for beautiful, high-resolution photos, while still showing you text-based updates from your friends -- Subscription Details -- • Monthly individual and family sharing subscriptions are available, as well as a discounted annual subscription for individuals • 30-day free trials are offered on all subscriptions • Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at the end of the trial, unless the subscription is canceled • Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is disabled at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period • Automatic renewals will be charged at the same price you were originally charged for the subscription • Subscriptions can be managed or cancelled by going to Account Settings on the App Store after purchase Terms: http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/appstore/dev/stdeula Privacy Policy: https://frequency.app/privacy-policy

About

Pipilo

This app offers a unique social media experience by displaying posts in a horizontally scrolling timeline, showing conversations and replies from followed users. It provides a clean interface for following threads and supports various Fediverse platforms.

Highlights
  • Horizontally scrolling conversational timeline
  • Collapsible threads from followed users
  • Notifications grouped by day
  • Rich link and video previews
  • Home, local, and federated timelines
  • Keyword filters for content moderation
  • Advanced media and video player
Features
Read full description

Pipilo is a unique Fediverse app that lets you browse posts on a horizontally scrolling timeline. Each post is displayed within the context of its conversation with replies from people you follow. This results in an elegant, distraction-free interface, making it easy to follow various conversation threads. Pipilo works with Mastodon, Pixelfed, Pleroma, Akkoma, Friendica, Firefish, Catodon, Iceshrimp, and GoToSocial. Features: - Horizontally scrolling timeline with each post appearing in the context of its conversation - Clean, collapsible threads showing only posts from people you follow, with an option to view replies from everyone - Notifications grouped by day - Quote posts - Rich previews for mentioned links and videos - Home, local, and federated timelines - Followed hashtags and custom lists - Quick search of posts, hashtags, and users - Full iPad support, with multiple windows allowing you to display different timelines side by side - Smooth media viewer with intuitive gestures, alt-text descriptions, share functionality, live text selection, and subject lifting - Advanced video player with native system interface for play/pause, time scrubbing, volume control, and full-screen or PIP mode viewing - Keyword filters to hide posts behind a warning or remove them from your timelines completely Premium Features: - Submit posts with images, videos, media descriptions, and content warnings - Sync reading position across multiple devices - Follow new hashtags and users - Create and edit custom lists - Add multiple accounts from all supported servers - Enable push notifications - Create and edit filters - Bookmark posts - Pin timelines - Create hashtag groups and follow remote instances Unlock all premium features with: - One-time purchase - Monthly subscription - Yearly subscription Privacy Policy: https://pipilo.thanel.me/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

frequency social4 screens
Pipilo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Pipilo at every 3 weeks against frequency social's every 2 months. On price, rating, ratings volume 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. frequency social sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Pipilo sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for frequency social against 4.6 for Pipilo. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 5 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

frequency social ships an update every 2 months, Pipilo every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
frequency social versus Pipilo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterfrequency socialPipilo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (5 ratings) — better4.6 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews—75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings55
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB78 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperJesse KarmaniLukasz Rutkowski

Customer experience

frequency social

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%

Pipilo

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

frequency social

Subscriptions4
  • Individual Monthly1 Month trial$2.991 Month
  • Supporter1 Month trial$4.991 Month
  • Individual Yearly1 Month trial$5.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Family Sharing Plan1 Month trial$12.991 Month
3 purchases

Pipilo

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Pipilo Premium7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Yearly Pipilo Premium7 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pipilo Premium$29.99

Questions

Is frequency social free?
frequency social is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pipilo free?
Pipilo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, frequency social or Pipilo?
frequency social is rated higher. frequency social averages 4.6 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Pipilo averages 4.6 from 5 ratings.
Do frequency social or Pipilo have ads?
Neither frequency social nor Pipilo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, frequency social or Pipilo?
frequency social ships an update every 2 months, and Pipilo every 3 weeks. Most recently, frequency social was updated on October 3, 2026 and Pipilo on October 15, 2026.

Other comparisons