Private Property vs Balwin
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Private Property
Discover a vast selection of properties for sale and rent. Get instant notifications for new listings, customize your search with advanced filters, and explore detailed property information with photos and videos. Tools like affordability and bond calculators are also included.
- Unique property feed with instant notifications
- Advanced property search with over 400,000 listings
- Customizable search filters
- Detailed property information with photos and videos
- Affordability and bond calculators
- Save and share favorite properties
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Search a wide range of properties for sale and to rent from estate agents, developers, banks and homeowners. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or experienced investor, we’ll help you find your next property quickly and easily. Our elegant app offers a fast, slick and easy property search experience. KEY FEATURES: UNIQUE PROPERTY FEED • Receive instant notifications of new properties on the market. • Customise your feed and only see the properties that you’re interested in. ADVANCED PROPERTY SEARCH • Search over 400,000 properties for sale and to rent. • Use our handy filters like 'pet-friendly' to personalise your results. • Find out which properties are On Show in your area. • Find a great deal by searching for Bank Sales and Repossessed Properties. DETAILED PROPERTY INFO • Big, beautiful photos and HD videos help you get a real feel for the property. • See the ongoing property costs like rates and levies. SAVE AND SHARE • Save your favourite properties so that you can easily review them later. • Share the properties you love with your friends and family. USEFUL TOOLS • Work out how much home you can afford with our affordability calculator. • Calculate your monthly repayments on a property with our bond calculator. Download and start searching for property today – it's free! GET IN TOUCH: Have any questions or feedback? Please get in touch with our support team at ios@privateproperty.co.za RATE US: Had an amazing Private Property experience? Take a moment to rate us! MORE FROM US: For more property related content visit our website: https://www.privateproperty.co.za And follow us on: https://www.facebook.com/propertysa https://twitter.com/propertysa https://www.instagram.com/privatepropertysa https://www.youtube.com/privatepropertySA
Balwin
Access development information, manage services, and stay connected with your community. Explore current and upcoming projects, receive important notifications, and book amenities. This app provides a convenient way to manage your living space and connect with essential services.
- Explore developments
- Consolidated notifications center
- Access important contacts
- Book lifestyle amenities
- Emergency service links
- Manage visitor access
- View and pay utilities
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The Balwin app has provided a convenient platform for residents to access content, services, and development-related information directly from your phone. • Developments Explore all current and upcoming developments within the Balwin ecosystem at the click of a button. • Notifications Stay informed with the use of a consolidated notifications center, including general notifications, urgent notifications and booking status updates. • Directory Access to important contacts within your development, from the managing agents to key service providers. • Lifestyle Centre Immerse yourself in the ultimate lifestyle experience by navigating through the available recreational facilities and bookable amenities within your development. • Emergency Services In the case of emergency, use the quick link contact numbers in the Emergency Services feature for urgent assistance. • Events Stay up to date with all events and activities within your development. • Access Control Manage your visitor’s access in the palm of your hand. • Points of Interest Navigate through the various points of interest in and around your development. • Snags Manage your unit snag list at the click of a button • Utilities View and pay for your linked utility accounts. • Fibre Manage all your connectivity needs.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Balwin at 5.0 against Private Property's 3.1. Private Property's advantage is review sentiment (24% vs 7%) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 weeks). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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.
Balwin holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13 and 6 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 24% of Private Property's written reviews are positive against 7% of Balwin's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Private Property ships an update fortnightly, Balwin every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Private Property | Balwin |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (13 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 24.1% of reviews — better | 6.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 13 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 144 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Private Property Holdings (PTY) Ltd | Think Digital (Pty) Ltd |
Customer experience
Private Property
Balwin
Bugs and requests
Private Property
Reported bugs
69 issues- App is so slow, takes forever to pick up area
- App doesn't show anything when searching for a house in a certain area
- App no longer allows search by selecting an area
- Alerts disappear
- Favorite icon doesn't highlight until leaving and returning to property page
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- App can't search anymore, requires deleting and reloading
- Terribly glitchy, can't search for properties
- New update requests local network access
- Property search returns no results after recent update
- Favorited listings disappear after reopening app
- App still not functional after update
- New update broke app, no properties from alerts
- Notifications come through but don't lead to advert, blank home page
- Push notifications take to blank page
- New update made app harder to use
- Saved locations gone
- App overview shows new offers, but nothing when opened
- New search options complicated
- Feed feature missing
- Lost all saved favorites and alerts after update
- App freezes all the time
- Cannot install without banking details
- App only works in portrait mode on iPad
- Duplicate listings in push notifications
- Stuck on 'Tell us what you are looking for' screen
- App doesn't load after filtering on suburb
- App freezes often, requires constant reinstallation
- Incessant notifications for the same property
- Push notifications sent multiple times
- Swiping through image gallery is buggy
- Stuck in media on iPad, cannot go back
- App crashes immediately when clicking on property notification email
- Cannot view properties in landscape mode
- App doesn't load or crashes
- Filters badly and doesn't show right properties
- Favourites don't work
- App keeps resetting/throwing users out
- Filters not great, properties not meeting requirements still shown
- Search criteria doesn't work
- App crashes randomly and frequently
- App crashes immediately
- App doesn't fit on iPhone screen
- App is too basic
- App errors and no buttons to continue
- Dialogue box bug, cannot close pop up
- No pagination, cannot get beyond first list of houses
- Sort functionality broken
- Western Cape link is broken
- Saved favorites not visible (previously)
- Clicking property on map gets app stuck, requires uninstall
- App doesn't work in landscape mode
- App freezes and closes
- App crashes and gets stuck
- Picture quality poor (previously)
- No way to go back a step in some cases
- UI is terrible
- Cannot play video and go back, or quit and return
- App crashes more than a drunk driver
- App is too basic
- App crashes constantly
- Search criteria does not work
- App not structured right
- Filter not working when browsing by region
- App crashes and gets stuck on first page
- Properties for sale are all sold
- App keeps crashing
- Search is useless, shows properties in wrong locations
- New version filter still does not work
- App doesn't load
Requested features
19 requests- Include property listing date
- Agent to state property specifications correctly
- Include rates and taxes in advert
- Use recent property pictures
- Option to report sold properties still listed
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- Filter for back up power and water
- Filter for garden or not
- Filter option between monthly and per day rentals
- Landscape mode on iPad
- Filter by sqm or other size parameters
- Map feature
- Filter for 'available from' date
- Option to get alerts on the app, not email
- Bring back suburb feed format
- Filter out agent listings
- Add reference number search
- Narrow down radius search to 1km increments
- Ability to filter or add notes to favorites
- Filter by agency
Balwin
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Private Property
No in-app purchases
Balwin
No in-app purchases
