frequency social vs real
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Private photo sharing
- Chronological feed
- No ads or tracking
- Federated social networking (ActivityPub)
- High-resolution photo optimization
- Text-based updates
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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
real
This social network encourages real-life interactions by connecting you with nearby friends for spontaneous or planned activities. It prioritizes genuine human connections over algorithmic feeds, keeping your location private.
- Connect with available friends nearby
- Schedule activities with friends
- Announce community events
- Discover nearby old friends
- Privacy-focused location sharing
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real leverages technology to help us disconnect from screens and have more human-to-human interactions. It's a healthier social network: has real people, with real relationships, doing real-life activities. It effectively eliminates uncertainties associated with such activities: not knowing who is nearby, who is available, and who should initiate interactions. real overcomes these challenges while keeping one's whereabouts hidden from everyone else. Uniquely, it is not driven by any algorithms but is based on our real-life behavior. Main Features: - up for: make yourself available and get connected to your available friends in the area - let's hang: schedule specific activity with your friends and they get invited if nearby - community bulletin: let everyone in your community know of an event (e.g., a yard sale) - missed connections: real will let you know if an old friend happens to be close by
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: real at none against frequency social's 3. real also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. frequency social sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. real asks for nothing beyond the download.
real holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 2 respectively.
frequency social ships an update every 2 months, real monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | frequency social | real |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 45 MB | 69 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Jesse Karmani | Sandalwood Research LLC |
Customer experience
frequency social
real
In-app purchases
frequency social
- Individual Monthly1 Month trial$2.991 Month
- Individual Yearly1 Month trial$5.991 Year
- Family Sharing Plan1 Month trial$12.991 Month
real
No in-app purchases









