BuyNothing vs NXSTEP
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BuyNothing
Connect with your local community to give, receive, share, lend, and borrow items. This app fosters a gift economy, building connections through sharing, inspired by the BuyNothing® Project.
- Give and receive items locally
- Lend and borrow goods
- Hyper-local community sharing
- Gift economy model
- Build community connections
- Express gratitude
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We offer people a way to give, receive, share, lend, borrow and express gratitude through a hyper-local gift economy model in which people can share wherever they are and true wealth is measured by the web of connections formed between people through sharing. From the founders of the BuyNothing® Project. Terms of Use: https://buynothingproject.org/terms
NXSTEP
This platform helps college applicants and students explore universities and freelance opportunities. Discover and learn about your next steps in higher education or career paths.
- University exploration
- Freelance opportunity discovery
- Learning resources
- Web app access
- College applicant support
- Student career guidance
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Helping college applicants and college students take their NXSTEP. Explore, discover, and learn more about universities or freelance opportunities with a platform made just for you. Access our web app at www.nxstep.cassy.dev
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: NXSTEP at 100% against BuyNothing's 27%. NXSTEP also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 8). BuyNothing's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (2.1K vs 7). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. BuyNothing sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. NXSTEP asks for nothing beyond the download.
NXSTEP holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BuyNothing has 2.1K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of BuyNothing's written reviews are positive against 100% of NXSTEP's.
BuyNothing ships an update every 2 weeks, NXSTEP every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BuyNothing | NXSTEP |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (2.1K ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 26.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.1K — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Best chart rank | #193 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 76 MB | 62 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Buy Nothing Project, Inc. | Cassy Technology Company |
Customer experience
BuyNothing
NXSTEP
Bugs and requests
BuyNothing
Reported bugs
5 issues- Frequent app crashes and freezes
- Login issues and inability to reset passwords
- Inconsistent location settings and radius
- Unreliable notifications and messaging
- Inability to edit or update posts
Requested features
5 requests- Search function to find specific posts
- Ability to edit and update posts
- Improved organization and sorting of posts
- Syncing across multiple devices
- More robust moderation and community tools
NXSTEP
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
BuyNothing
- Buy Nothing Subscription$3.991 Month
- Buy Nothing Pro$3.991 Month
- Sustaining Member$5.491 Month
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- Sustaining Member$6.991 Month
- Buy Nothing Pro$38.491 Year
- Buy Nothing Subscription$38.491 Year
- Sustaining Member$54.991 Year
- Sustaining Member$69.991 Year
NXSTEP
No in-app purchases
