# UC San Diego vs Piazza

The clearest difference is rating: UC San Diego at 3.1 against Piazza's 2.1. UC San Diego also leads on review sentiment (51% vs 14%). Piazza's advantage is update cadence (every 11 days vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (282 vs 61). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UC San Diego holds the better App Store score, 3.1 against 2.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 61 and 282 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 51% of UC San Diego's written reviews are positive against 14% of Piazza's.

UC San Diego ships an update every 3 months, Piazza every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | UC San Diego | Piazza |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.1 (61 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/uc-san-diego/id318646412/reviews)** | [2.1 (282 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piazza/id453142230/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 61 | **282** |
| Positive reviews | **50.6% of reviews** | 13.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Every 11 days** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 52 MB | 3 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [University of California, San Diego (Business Affairs)](https://appshunter.io/developer/318646415) | [Piazza Technologies, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/453142233) |

## What reviewers say

### UC San Diego

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/uc-san-diego/id318646412)

Access essential campus information and services with a mobile-first approach. Log in securely, view your schedule, find dining options, and navigate campus with ease. Stay updated on news and events, and access your student or employee ID.

**Highlights:** Single Sign-On login, Class and finals schedule, Student/Employee ID, Campus map search, Dining locations, Shuttle arrival times, Campus news and events

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Useful for shuttle tracking (historically)
- 👍 Informative for course and DH hours (historically)
- 👍 Good for incoming freshmen (historically)
- 👍 Directory is very useful (historically)
- 👍 Map is helpful (historically)

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Horrible to use
- 🐛 One of the worst apps ever used
- 🐛 Insanely bad app
- 🐛 Unintuitive UI
- 🐛 Cards don’t stay on consistently

**Reported bugs**

- App needs to be deleted and reinstalled every few weeks
- Login doesn't work without opening and closing the app
- Cards don't stay on consistently
- Map is dysfunctional
- Building searches yield no or spurious results

**Requested features**

- Bring back the previous shuttle tracker
- Bring back Hopkins and Gilman parking structures
- Add option to hide restaurants or favorite them
- List restaurants by closest to farthest
- Push notification when class starts


### Piazza

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piazza/id453142230)

This platform facilitates communication and learning for higher education. Students can ask and answer questions, while instructors can monitor student engagement. It provides real-time updates and a centralized space for class interactions.

**Highlights:** Ask and answer questions, Real-time updates, Centralized class communication, Student engagement monitoring, Mobile access for students and instructors

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Useful app
- 🚀 Great for tracking classes
- 🚀 Convenient mobile access

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🐛 Buggy and unreliable
- 🐛 Lacks key features from web version
- 🐛 Poor user interface and navigation
- 🔒 Login and authentication issues

**Reported bugs**

- Inability to post or reply
- Randomly logs out users
- Fails to load posts and resources
- Incompatible with newer iOS versions

**Requested features**

- Dark mode option
- Ability to access course materials
- Improved formatting and editing tools
- Better organization of posts and discussions
- Seamless integration with web version


## Frequently asked questions

### Is UC San Diego free?

UC San Diego is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Piazza free?

Piazza is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, UC San Diego or Piazza?

UC San Diego is rated higher. UC San Diego averages 3.1 out of 5 from 61 ratings, while Piazza averages 2.1 from 282 ratings.

### Do UC San Diego or Piazza have ads?

Neither UC San Diego nor Piazza shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, UC San Diego or Piazza?

UC San Diego ships an update every 3 months, and Piazza every 11 days. Most recently, UC San Diego was updated on October 31, 2026 and Piazza on November 1, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*