Outside vs Lounge
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Outside
Plan, share, and remember important moments with loved ones. Ideal for long-distance relationships, trip planning, and creating a visual diary of your year. Features live widgets and offline access.
- Shared countdowns for long-distance couples
- Trip planning with group coordination
- Yearly memory archive and profile
- Live widgets for home and lock screens
- Calendar sync (Apple & Google)
- Offline functionality
- Photo sharing for Lock Screen
Read full descriptionHide full description
Waiting is better together. Turn every date you can't wait for—weddings, trips, birthdays, reunions—into a countdown you share, with widgets you'll both smile at every day. Use Outside for trips, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, reunions, concerts and every date worth looking forward to. CREATE AND SHARE Create a countdown, send an invite and let friends, family or your partner join the same moment. WIDGETS AT A GLANCE Keep your next countdown on your Home Screen, Lock Screen or in StandBy. PLAN TOGETHER Add the date, place and details so everyone knows what is happening. FREE TO START The free plan includes creating, sharing and joining countdowns, plus Home Screen, Lock Screen and StandBy widgets. OUTSIDE PRO Outside Pro is optional and adds custom reminders, calendar sync, recurring events, attachments, camera-roll wallpapers, group chat, custom app icons, photo uploads and search, premium countdown styles, links and checklists. Available plans, prices and introductory trial eligibility are shown before purchase. Terms: https://outside.so/terms Privacy: https://outside.so/privacy Support: https://outside.so/support
Lounge
Organize campus groups and events effortlessly. Create groups, schedule events, manage RSVPs, and communicate with members. Features include shared albums, collaborative playlists, and polls.
- Group and event creation
- Subgroup management
- Member communication
- Shared photo/video albums
- Collaborative Spotify playlists
- Polls
- Payment processing
Read full descriptionHide full description
Your groups and events, no distractions. Lounge allows you to easily create groups and events, add the key details and invite others with a simple link. Communicate with your members, create events, manage RSVPs, create shared albums and more. Our functionality includes: - Groups and events in seconds - 'Sublounges' for different teams or subgroups - Simple communication through posts and comments - Shared photo and video albums - Collaborative Spotify playlists - Polls - Payments - A lot more coming soon
Screenshots
Verdict
Outside and Lounge both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 92% of Lounge's written reviews are positive against 52% of Outside's. Lounge also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 17) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). Outside's advantage is ratings volume (2.8K vs 375). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Outside sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Lounge asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Outside against 4.7 for Lounge. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Outside has 2.8K ratings behind it against 375, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 52% of Outside's written reviews are positive against 92% of Lounge's.
Outside ships an update every 6 days, Lounge weekly. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.
| Parameter | Outside | Lounge |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (2.8K ratings) | 4.7 (375 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 51.8% of reviews | 92.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.8K — better | 375 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 144 MB | 131 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Outside HQ LTD | Lounge Technology |
Customer experience
Outside
Lounge
User reviews
Outside
From 2.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Free home/lock screen countdown widget
- 👍 Simple and chic design
- 👍 Highly customizable
- 👍 Seamless calendar integration
- 👍 Useful AI assistant
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy, crashes, and glitches
- 💰 Subscription-based model, expensive pricing
- 🔒 Limits free features, forces paid subscription
- 🤔 Confusing and changing pricing structure
- 🤔 Lack of transparency around free vs paid features
Lounge
From 375 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use and navigate
- 👍 Great for organizing events
- 👍 Centralized platform for plans
- 👍 Connects with friends easily
- 👍 Good alternative to Facebook
Room to improve
- 👎 No content or events initially
- 👎 Slow and janky performance
- 👎 Fake reviews mentioned
- 👎 Features advertised but not present
- 🐛 Cannot delete account easily
Bugs and requests
Outside
Reported bugs
3 issues- Widget not working after iOS updates
- Countdown events suddenly blocked by paywall
- Paid subscription not working as expected
Requested features
4 requests- More customization options for widgets
- Ability to delete or edit events
- Improved Android support
- Memories/map feature to track past events
Lounge
Reported bugs
2 issues- Cannot delete account
- Difficulty changing profile picture
Requested features
4 requests- Unified lounge chat for events
- Nested events within lounges
- One society lounge with team chats
- Ability to leave initial event/lounge
In-app purchases
Outside
- Monthly subscription$2.991 Month
- Outside Pro Monthly3 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Monthly Plan$4.491 Month
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Monthly subscription3 Days trial$6.991 Month
- Yearly Pro Deal3 Days trial$12.491 Year
- Annual Pro3 Days trial$12.491 Year
- Outside Pro Annual$19.991 Year
- Annual Plan7 Days trial$29.491 Year
- Outside Pro Annual3 Days trial$31.491 Year
- Annual plan3 Days trial$44.491 Year
- Unlock Countdown styles$0.99
- Ad supported tier$4.99
- All Time Deal$5.49
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- All Time Deal$7.49
- All Time Pro$9.99
- Lifetime Access$29.99
- Lifetime access$44.49
Lounge
No in-app purchases









