BuyNothing vs Communiful
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
Communiful
This app facilitates real-world connections by bridging digital communities with in-person events. Users can discover local groups, attend events to meet members, and leverage social features to build professional relationships and achieve goals.
- Discover local communities
- Attend in-person events
- Connect with members
- Build professional relationships
- Social networking features
- Goal achievement introductions
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People do business with those they know and trust. Communiful brings the digital into the real world by pairing our app with our in-person experiences. HOW IT WORKS 1. Browse our communities in your area 2. Get tickets to the communities you are interested in 3. Connect with members at events 4. Build stronger relationships by using our social features 5. Get introductions to others that can help you achieve your goals We make building professional relationships easy, so you can focus on results.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Communiful at 5.0 against BuyNothing's 4.3. Communiful also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 6). BuyNothing's advantage is ratings volume (2.1K vs 3) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 6 weeks). 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
Both are free to download. BuyNothing sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Communiful asks for nothing beyond the download.
Communiful 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 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
BuyNothing ships an update every 8 days, Communiful every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BuyNothing | Communiful |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (2.1K ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 26.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2.1K — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #210 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 77 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Buy Nothing Project, Inc. | Sunrise RSVP, Inc. |
Customer experience
BuyNothing
Communiful
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
Communiful
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
BuyNothing
- Sustaining Member$3.991 Month
- Buy Nothing Pro$3.991 Month
- Sustaining Member$5.491 Month
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- Buy Nothing Pro$29.991 Year
- Sustaining Member$38.491 Year
- Sustaining Member$54.991 Year
Communiful
No in-app purchases
