Comparison

CaringBridge vs circles*

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

Head to head
About

CaringBridge

This platform offers a private, ad-free space for family caregivers to share updates and coordinate care for loved ones on a health journey. It fosters a supportive community, helping to alleviate feelings of isolation and overwhelm by connecting people through shared experiences.

Highlights
  • Private, ad-free health journey platform
  • Share updates with everyone at once
  • Document health journey progress
  • Coordinate care with family and friends
  • Connect with a supportive community
Features
Read full description

CaringBridge is a no-cost, 501(c)(3) nonprofit health platform that surrounds family caregivers with support while they care for a loved one on a health journey. A donor-supported nonprofit founded in 1997, the organization offers tools to share and document a health journey, simplify care coordination, and connect caregivers with a supportive community. CaringBridge addresses feelings of overwhelm, isolation, and loneliness by improving emotional health and social connectedness, helping people come together in support of healing. With over 300,000 people on the platform every day sending or receiving support, there are over 1,600 messages of love, hope, and compassion posted every hour. And every 12 minutes a new CaringBridge page is started. The CaringBridge community includes all 50 states and more than 242 countries around the world. To learn more visit www.caringbridge.org. Private, protected, and ad-free · A trusted, private, and ad-free space that only a nonprofit like CaringBridge can provide to support family caregivers and their loved ones on a health journey. Communicate to everyone all at once · Communicate to everyone all at once in a safe and private space, relieving the burden of individually updating people. Capture and process every step of the health journey · The very act of capturing a loved one’s health journey improves emotional health and social support. Coordinate care with family and friends · Making it easy to ask for help, because we know it’s often the most difficult thing to ask for.

About

circles*

A private messaging application designed for intimate communication with close contacts. Share direct and group messages, voice notes, and ephemeral photos or videos. Your identity and profile are synced from an existing account, ensuring a seamless and secure experience.

Highlights
  • Direct and group messaging
  • Voice messages
  • Ephemeral photo/video sharing (Moments)
  • Viewership tracking for Moments
  • Profile sync from existing account
Features
Read full description

Circles is a private messaging app for staying close with the people who matter. • Direct and group messages with the people in your circles • Voice messages • Moments — share a photo or video that disappears after 24 hours • See who has viewed your moments • Your profile, avatar, and identity sync from your Scrolls account Circles uses your existing Scrolls account to sign in — no separate signup required. Your conversations stay between you and your circles.

Screenshots

CaringBridge4 screens
circles*4 screens

Verdict

The call

CaringBridge and circles* both sit at 4.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of circles*'s written reviews are positive against 63% of CaringBridge's. circles* also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). CaringBridge's advantage is ratings volume (19K vs 1). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for CaringBridge against 5.0 for circles*. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CaringBridge has 19K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 63% of CaringBridge's written reviews are positive against 100% of circles*'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CaringBridge ships an update monthly, circles* every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
CaringBridge versus circles*: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCaringBridgecircles*
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (19K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings19K — better1
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size65 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCaringBridge.orgCHRISTOPHER ANTHONY PROVOST

Customer experience

CaringBridge

All ratings19,469 ratings
Positive97.9%
Neutral0.6%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews319 reviews
Positive63.0%
Neutral10.7%
Negative26.3%

circles*

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

CaringBridge

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App freezing/crashing issues
  • Inability to view recent updates
  • Sharing/linking functionality problems
  • Inconsistent behavior across platforms

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improve app stability and performance
  • Clarify donation process and usage
  • Enhance user experience and navigation
  • Provide better notification system

circles*

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

CaringBridge

No in-app purchases

None

circles*

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CaringBridge free?
CaringBridge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is circles* free?
circles* is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, CaringBridge or circles*?
circles* is rated higher. CaringBridge averages 4.9 out of 5 from 19K ratings, while circles* averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do CaringBridge or circles* have ads?
Neither CaringBridge nor circles* shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CaringBridge or circles*?
CaringBridge ships an update monthly, and circles* every 3 weeks. Most recently, CaringBridge was updated on October 11, 2026 and circles* on October 1, 2026.

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