Comparison

BuyNothing vs Hereabout App

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Give and receive items locally
  • Lend and borrow goods
  • Hyper-local community sharing
  • Gift economy model
  • Build community connections
  • Express gratitude
Features
Read full description

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

About

Hereabout App

Share and discover locations with verified posts, photos, voice, and video. Create and join events with live streaming and chat. Build curated map layers for specific themes or regions.

Highlights
  • Location-verified posts
  • Add photos, voice, or video
  • Live streaming from locations
  • Event creation and management
  • Thematic and regional map layers
  • Community moderation tools
  • Privacy controls
Features
Read full description

HEREABOUT is a location-verified map for sharing and discovery. Drop a pin and add photos, voice, or video. Go live from your location. Explore GPS-verified posts from locals, travelers, and creators right where things happened. EVENTS • Create or join ongoing and upcoming events on the map. • Organizer tools: full moderation of posts, attendees, and event rules. • Event chat for real-time coordination. • Directions to the event location. • Attendees can join an event and go live to share their own perspectives; these streams are saved to the event for future replay. • Share the event to invite others and grow attendance. • All live streams are saved for replay on the map and in their events. LAYERS - Thematic Layers: food, street art, hikes, history, nightlife, and more. - Regional Layers: set a geographic boundary such as a neighborhood, park, city, or region. Only posts created inside the boundary are eligible. A post from Paris cannot be pinned inside an NYC Layer. - Anyone with an account can create Layers, set rules, moderate submissions, and invite co-moderators. WHY PEOPLE TRUST HEREABOUT - GPS verification ties posts to real places and reduces noise. - Regional boundaries enforce in-area posting automatically. - Clear controls: choose visibility (public, followers, or private). Edit or remove your posts at any time. - Safety tools: report content or block accounts. - Privacy: we do not sell your personal data. See the in-app Privacy Policy for details. WHAT YOU CAN DO - Drop a post: pin your spot and add a photo, voice note, or video to leave useful breadcrumbs. - Go live: stream moments as they happen at a specific place on the map. - Discover nearby: browse authentic tips from people who were on the ground. - Build Layers: curate collections around themes, neighborhoods, routes, or events. - Follow places and people: keep up with trusted locals and creators, save spots, and plan visits. GOOD FOR - Building communities around shared interests and real places. - Hosting meetups, pop-ups, walks, cleanups, rides, and festivals with live perspectives and chat. - Creating regional hubs with clear boundaries and community moderation. - Finding coffee, trailheads, street food, photo spots, and pop-ups quickly. - Mapping events as they happen, with live streams at the exact location and replay after. - Capturing memories where they occurred with photos, voice, video, or live. - Turning local knowledge into shared, living guides people can trust. GETTING STARTED 1. Open the map and enable location. 2. Explore nearby posts and Layers. 3. Create a Layer and set your rules. 4. Invite co-moderators, approve posts, and grow your community. OUR MISSION Hereabout unites communities through the power of place and story. By bridging the digital and the physical, we help people share what they find, connect with others, and leave a meaningful mark. OUR APPROACH HEREABOUT is built by a small, independent team. We design for people on the ground, not a conglomerate’s ad stack. You control your posts and who sees them, and you can edit or remove them at any time. Anyone with an account can create a Layer, set rules, moderate submissions, and invite co-moderators. Communities become stewards of their places and themes.

Screenshots

BuyNothing4 screens
Hereabout App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Hereabout App at 5.0 against BuyNothing's 4.3. Hereabout App also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 8) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks). BuyNothing's advantage is ratings volume (2.1K vs 4) and chart position (#209 vs unranked). On price, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. BuyNothing sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Hereabout App asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hereabout App 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 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BuyNothing ships an update every 2 weeks, Hereabout App every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
BuyNothing versus Hereabout App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBuyNothingHereabout App
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (2.1K ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews26.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings2.1K — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#209 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.016.0
Further details — not scored
Size76 MB85 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperBuy Nothing Project, Inc.Stormbyte LLC

Customer experience

BuyNothing

All ratings2,080 ratings
Positive80.3%
Neutral5.2%
Negative14.5%
Written reviews387 reviews
Positive26.9%
Neutral12.9%
Negative60.2%

Hereabout App

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Hereabout App

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

8 purchases

BuyNothing

Subscriptions8
  • Buy Nothing Subscription$3.991 Month
  • Buy Nothing Pro$3.991 Month
  • Sustaining Member$5.491 Month
Show 5 more
  • 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
None

Hereabout App

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BuyNothing free?
BuyNothing is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hereabout App free?
Hereabout App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, BuyNothing or Hereabout App?
Hereabout App is rated higher. BuyNothing averages 4.3 out of 5 from 2.1K ratings, while Hereabout App averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do BuyNothing or Hereabout App have ads?
Neither BuyNothing nor Hereabout App shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BuyNothing or Hereabout App?
BuyNothing ships an update every 2 weeks, and Hereabout App every 2 days. Most recently, BuyNothing was updated on October 22, 2026 and Hereabout App on October 18, 2026.

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