# SA Contacts Lite vs CircleBack

The clearest difference is ads: CircleBack at none against SA Contacts Lite's shown. CircleBack also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (2.5K vs 132). SA Contacts Lite's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.6). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence there is nothing between them.

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 — 4.5 for SA Contacts Lite against 4.5 for CircleBack. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CircleBack has 2.5K ratings behind it against 132, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 68% of SA Contacts Lite's written reviews are positive against 61% of CircleBack's.

SA Contacts Lite ships an update every 3 months, CircleBack every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SA Contacts Lite | CircleBack |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (132 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sa-contacts-lite/id385462419/reviews)** | [4.5 (2.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/circleback-updated-contacts/id957826826/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 132 | **2.5K** |
| Positive reviews | **68.3% of reviews** | 60.9% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Every 2 months** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 31 MB | 118 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.0** | 17.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPod** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [ShenZhen SamApp Technology Development Co., Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/351047446) | [CircleBack, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/303908341) |

## What reviewers say

### SA Contacts Lite

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sa-contacts-lite/id385462419)

Streamline your address book with a comprehensive contact management solution. Easily sync, organize, import, export, and merge duplicates to keep your contacts clean and accessible. Supports multiple local address books and contact photos.

**Highlights:** Smart real-time contact sync, Create multiple personalized address books, Import/export contacts via Excel and VCF, Automatic duplicate contact merging, Batch cleanup of invalid contacts, Import and export contact photos

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast and quick export/import process
- 👍 Simple and easy to use interface
- 💾 Effective contact backup to Excel/spreadsheet format
- 📧 Multiple transfer methods (email, WiFi, USB, Dropbox)
- 💰 Free lite version available for up to 150 contacts

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent export/import failures and errors
- ❌ Incomplete contact transfers (missing data, partial exports)
- 📉 Inconsistent performance across different iOS versions
- 🎥 Intrusive full-screen video ads in recent versions
- 🔐 Security concerns - potential for contact data theft

**Reported bugs**

- Export validation errors when creating Excel files
- Contacts missing or duplicated after import
- Incomplete exports - only partial contact list transferred
- Import fails with Dropbox and OneDrive integration
- File format incompatibility with Outlook and other programs

**Requested features**

- Prevent app from being default handler for Excel files
- Preserve contact photos during export/import
- Preserve contact ringtones and custom settings
- Support for larger contact lists in free version
- Better error messages and validation feedback


### CircleBack

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/circleback-updated-contacts/id957826826)

This app intelligently updates your contacts, finds new ones from email, and cleans duplicates. It also allows scanning business cards and offers unified contact management across devices.

**Highlights:** Automatic contact updates, Duplicate contact merging, New contact discovery from emails, Business card scanning, Unified address book, Contact sync across devices

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

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Easy to use
- 📚 Helpful for managing contacts
- 💾 Keeps contacts synced
- 🔍 Useful for finding updated contact info
- 🧹 Helps clean up duplicate contacts

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes or freezes
- 🔁 Duplicates keep reappearing
- 🔒 Google login issues
- 🤯 Messes up or deletes contacts
- 🕰️ Slow performance

**Reported bugs**

- Fails to update contacts on devices
- Incorrectly merges unrelated contacts
- Loses contact notes and other data
- Unreliable sync between app and phone contacts

**Requested features**

- Add ability to remove contacts from groups
- Improve search functionality
- Allow starting with a fresh contact list
- Provide better backup/restore options


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SA Contacts Lite free?

SA Contacts Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is CircleBack free?

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

### Which has better reviews, SA Contacts Lite or CircleBack?

SA Contacts Lite is rated higher. SA Contacts Lite averages 4.5 out of 5 from 132 ratings, while CircleBack averages 4.5 from 2.5K ratings.

### Do SA Contacts Lite or CircleBack have ads?

SA Contacts Lite shows ads; CircleBack does not.

### Which is updated more often, SA Contacts Lite or CircleBack?

SA Contacts Lite ships an update every 3 months, and CircleBack every 2 months. Most recently, SA Contacts Lite was updated on September 22, 2026 and CircleBack on September 24, 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.*