Circles vs Openlight
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Circles
A private social network designed for close-knit groups like families or teams. It offers a secure space for interaction with features like posts, comments, and custom avatars, free from ads and data selling.
- Private group interaction
- Posts and threaded comments
- Custom avatar creator
- Member lists
- Email invitations
- Ad-free experience
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The mini, subscription-based, private social network for your group, family, team, squad and besties to interact in a personal, private, and secure manner without ads, targeting or data brokers bidding on your personal information. Our mini social network currently includes the following features; - Posts - Threaded comments - Custom avatar maker - Members List - Email invite system We're free while in Early Access and will introduce a lightweight subscription soon. In order to truly be a private, subscription based, social network, we promise to never ever sell ads, manipulate your feed or sell your personal data to a third party. To create a Circle all you need is for one member of your group to sponsor it, and that's it; no ads, no targeting, no silly business.
Openlight
A social platform for discovering content, sharing updates, and connecting with others. It aims to provide a personalized and engaging experience for users to forge friendships and explore new ideas within a creative community.
- Discover new content
- Share updates
- Forge friendships
- Personalized experience
- Community interaction
- Creative communication
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Discover Openlight, a dynamic social platform designed to foster connections and inspire meaningful interactions. Whether you're sharing updates, exploring new content, or forging friendships, Openlight provides a personalized and engaging experience. Stay in touch with friends, uncover innovative ideas, and become part of a community that values creativity and communication. Embrace a new era of social networking – download Openlight today and make every moment more vibrant!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Openlight at weekly against Circles's every 6 weeks. On price, rating, ratings volume 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Circles against 5.0 for Openlight. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
Circles ships an update every 6 weeks, Openlight weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Circles | Openlight |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 118 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Magnus Sveinbjornsson | Fossa |
Customer experience
Circles
Openlight
In-app purchases
Circles
No in-app purchases
Openlight
No in-app purchases
