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

Experience a unique social media feed with a horizontally scrolling timeline that displays posts within their conversation context. Easily follow discussions, manage notifications, and enjoy rich media previews. Offers premium features for enhanced posting and account management.

Highlights
  • Horizontally scrolling conversation timelines
  • Collapsible threads with follow-only option
  • Grouped daily notifications
  • Rich link and video previews
  • Home, local, and federated timelines
  • Keyword filters for content moderation
  • Advanced media viewer with gestures
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 3 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 November 3, 2026 and November 11, 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)4.6 (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

3 purchases

frequency social

Subscriptions3
  • Individual Monthly1 Month trial$2.991 Month
  • Individual Yearly1 Month trial$5.991 Year
  • 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 and Pipilo are both rated 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 5 and 5 ratings respectively.
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 November 3, 2026 and Pipilo on November 11, 2026.

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