Comparison

holr vs BuddyWave

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

Head to head
About

holr

Connect with your local community and the world through location-based audio messages. Discover local recommendations, share your thoughts, and eavesdrop on conversations globally. Become a local 'Voice' and stay updated on your favorite users.

Highlights
  • Location-based audio messaging
  • Local community engagement
  • Global 'Eavesdrop' feature
  • Become a local 'Voice'
  • Favorite users list
  • Cross-border messaging
Features
Read full description

Welcome to holr, where your voice echoes to the world around you! Curious to know where the best burger in town is? Or want to holr out to that fellow fan at the big game? holr is your platform to engage, enquire, and enlighten! Unleash the power of your immediate vicinity and hear the pulse of your local community! With holr, you can tune into the world within your radius. No need for friend lists or follows, simply activate your account and step into a vibrant network of voices. Fancy yourself as the local guide? Become 'the Voice' of your area! As you engage more with holr in specific locations, your influence grows. Watch as your percentage to become the 'Voice' of your surroundings fluctuates while you move. This dynamic feature keeps your connectivity fluid and fun. Longing to listen in on other corners of the globe? holr has got you covered. Peek into any place in the world with our 'Eavesdrop' feature. Tap the magnifying glass, search the map, and immerse yourself in global conversations. Even better, 'drop' messages to different places and let your voice transcend borders! And that's not all, our latest feature lets you keep a tab on your favorite holr users. Add up to 20 users to your Favorites list and never miss their check-ins or dropped messages. With holr, staying connected is just a tap away! So are you ready to holr? Dive into this local-global melting pot and make your voice heard, "right here, right now". Welcome to the world of holr!

About

BuddyWave

Record and share audio diary entries with friends and family. Preserve daily events and emotions as voice memos, create private sharing spaces, and react to friends' recordings. Ideal for those who find writing tedious or want to share moments easily.

Highlights
  • Record audio diary entries
  • Create private sharing spaces (WaveRooms)
  • Post short audio clips (Waves)
  • React to friends' recordings
  • Schedule audio posts
  • Receive notifications for activity
Features
Read full description

【Who Will Love This App?】 ・People who want to preserve their daily events and emotions. ・Those looking to transform their routine daily life into memorable experiences. ・People who tried keeping a diary but gave up because writing was too tedious. ・People who want to share little everyday events through voice with family or friends who live far away. ・Busy couples who want to exchange short, heartfelt messages. ・People who want to share fun and interesting daily happenings with friends. ・Parents who want to share their children's cute behaviors and milestones with grandparents. ・Anyone who wants to express gratitude easily in the midst of a busy life. ・Language learners practicing new words and phrases and wanting to share their pronunciation. ・People who want to share quick thoughts or ideas with friends and colleagues. ・People who want to keep their ideas as voice memos. ・People who want to send a message to their future selves. 【What You Can Do With This App】 ■ Recording Wave Diary You can preserve daily events and emotions as audio data. The audio data is stored only on your device, ensuring privacy protection. Easily see the days you’ve journaled in a calendar format and the reminder feature also helps prevent forgetting to make diary entries. ■ Create a Private Space (WaveRoom) You can create a new WaveRoom or join a friend's WaveRoom to have a private space. Of course, you can also make a room just for yourself. ■ Post Audio Clip (Wave) Use your smartphone's microphone to record audio clips of about 10 seconds. Capture cherished moments and keep them as audible memories! ■ React to Waves Show that you've received a friend's Wave by pressing the heart icon. ■ Scheduled Posts You can schedule the time to post your audio (Wave). It will fulfill your wish to send a birthday message right as the date changes, without having to fight sleep. ■ Notification Feature Receive notifications when someone joins a WaveRoom or makes a post, allowing you to play the voice without missing it.

Screenshots

holr4 screens
BuddyWave4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: BuddyWave at none against holr's 4. BuddyWave also leads on update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). holr's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. holr sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. BuddyWave asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for holr against 5.0 for BuddyWave. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

holr ships an update monthly, BuddyWave weekly. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
holr versus BuddyWave: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterholrBuddyWave
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings12 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB75 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperFishybear LLCtsubasa ichiba

Customer experience

holr

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

BuddyWave

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

holr

One-time4
  • drop$0.99
  • cup$4.99
  • pint$9.99
Show 1 more
  • bucket$19.99
None

BuddyWave

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is holr free?
holr is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BuddyWave free?
BuddyWave is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, holr or BuddyWave?
holr and BuddyWave are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do holr or BuddyWave have ads?
BuddyWave shows ads; holr does not.
Which is updated more often, holr or BuddyWave?
holr ships an update monthly, and BuddyWave weekly. Most recently, holr was updated on November 3, 2026 and BuddyWave on November 3, 2026.

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