BuyNothing vs Vains
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
Vains
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VAINS is a retro image board that resets every day. Share an image with a caption, reply to what others post, and hang out in a live global chat. At midnight UTC the day locks — every post archives, the chat clears, and tomorrow starts fresh. A community built around the moment, not a permanent feed. A DIFFERENT KIND OF FEED - Post an image and caption for the day - Reply to any thread before it locks at midnight - Watch the "Boiled Over" thread rise as a post gets popular - Join a live global chat that resets nightly - Browse the archive of past days and search everything SIMPLE AND EPHEMERAL No signup, no profiles, no endless scroll or follower counts. Everything lives for 24 hours, then joins the archive. A clean slate every day. A MODERATED COMMUNITY VAINS is actively moderated with automated image screening, text filtering, and human review. Reporting is available on every post, and content that violates our guidelines is removed.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Vains at none against BuyNothing's 8. BuyNothing's advantage is chart position (#193 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.2). On price, ads and device support 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. Vains asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | BuyNothing | Vains |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (2.1K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 26.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2.1K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Best chart rank | #193 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 76 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Buy Nothing Project, Inc. | Nicholas Gold |
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
Vains
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
Vains
No in-app purchases
