Comparison

Outside vs Lounge

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read 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

About

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.

Highlights
  • Group and event creation
  • Subgroup management
  • Member communication
  • Shared photo/video albums
  • Collaborative Spotify playlists
  • Polls
  • Payment processing
Features
Read 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

Outside1 screens
Lounge4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Outside sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Lounge asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Outside ships an update every 6 days, Lounge weekly. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Outside versus Lounge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOutsideLounge
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.8K ratings)4.7 (375 ratings) — better
Positive reviews51.8% of reviews92.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.8K — better375
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size144 MB131 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperOutside HQ LTDLounge Technology

Customer experience

Outside

All ratings2,760 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral2.6%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews218 reviews
Positive51.8%
Neutral8.7%
Negative39.4%

Lounge

All ratings372 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral0.8%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews38 reviews
Positive92.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.9%

User reviews

Outside

From 2.8K App Store ratings

What 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 ratings

What 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

17 purchases

Outside

Subscriptions10
  • Monthly subscription$2.991 Month
  • Outside Pro Monthly3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Monthly Plan$4.491 Month
Show 7 more
  • 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
One-time7
  • Unlock Countdown styles$0.99
  • Ad supported tier$4.99
  • All Time Deal$5.49
Show 4 more
  • All Time Deal$7.49
  • All Time Pro$9.99
  • Lifetime Access$29.99
  • Lifetime access$44.49
None

Lounge

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Outside free?
Outside is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Lounge free?
Lounge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Outside or Lounge?
Lounge is rated higher. Outside averages 4.7 out of 5 from 2.8K ratings, while Lounge averages 4.7 from 375 ratings.
Do Outside or Lounge have ads?
Neither Outside nor Lounge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Outside or Lounge?
Outside ships an update every 6 days, and Lounge weekly. Most recently, Outside was updated on October 30, 2026 and Lounge on October 30, 2026.

Other comparisons