Comparison

first direct vs Starling

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

Head to head
About

first direct

Manage your finances on the go with this intuitive banking app. Check balances, view transactions, and send money to friends and family with ease. This app simplifies everyday money management with a host of features designed for convenience.

Highlights
  • Check account balances
  • View transaction history
  • Pay friends and family
  • Simplified money management
  • Intuitive user interface
Features
Read full description

Your everyday just got a whole lot easier. Even better banking has arrived. At the coffee shop, deciding if it’s a skinny soy latte or a cup of tea. In a taxi stuck in traffic, wondering how much you’ve saved for your trip to Machu Picchu. On a rollercoaster, planning the decorations for your dog’s third birthday party… Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, our new and improved mobile app makes banking even simpler. From checking your balances and viewing transactions to paying family and friends, mobile banking takes all the hassle out of everyday money stuff. You can now do more than ever from the comfort of your own phone - and if that’s not exciting enough, this is just the start of our mini digital revolution, with loads more improvements on the way. So go on. Get yourself up to date. Update now >> • Free to use, but providers may charge for download and usage • Use in accordance with local laws and check charges if using abroad • Use in accordance with our App terms and conditions • Use in accordance with Apple terms and conditions • This app may be withdrawn at any time, but we’ll always keep you in the loop.

About

Starling

A digital banking app offering personal, joint, and business accounts with advanced security and 24/7 UK-based support. Manage your money, organize spending, and build financial habits with intuitive tools.

Highlights
  • Apply for accounts from your phone
  • 24/7 UK customer support
  • Manage account security
  • FSCS protection up to £120,000
  • Personal, joint, and business accounts
  • Organize finances with 'Spaces'
  • Instant spending notifications
Features
Read full description

Best-in-class banking, designed for your phone and life in the 2020s. Our free, habit-building bank accounts help millions of people be good with money. Apply for a free bank account directly from your phone – in minutes. Industry-leading digital banking security. • 24/7 UK-based customer support from real people. • Manage your account security with simple controls in the app. • FSCS protection up to £120,000. • Verify if it’s us calling you, with call status indicators in the app. One app. Everyday banking. From personal to joint to business banking, bring your finances under one roof: • Personal account: Spend, organise, save with the habit-building bank account. • Joint account: Bills, budgets or just getting brunch: it’s better together. • Business account: Pay no monthly fees, 24/7 UK customer support and free invoicing and accounting tools. • Under 16s: The free debit card for kids, managed from your account. • Student account: Budget with Spaces, spend abroad with no fees and apply for an interest-free overdraft. Easy mobile banking that just works. • Branchless and fully online. • Open and manage your account entirely from your phone. • Spend abroad like a local with no fees from us. • Get an instant notification every time you spend or receive money. Build life-changing habits with game-changing features. • Organise your finances by setting money aside into virtual ‘change jars’, aka Spaces. • Get instant notifications every time you spend. On holiday? Get notifications in both currencies. • Put your bills on autopilot so you only spend what’s actually available. • Make every penny count by rounding up payments to the nearest pound. • Get a clearer picture of your spending with our AI-powered features. Starling Bank Limited (trading as Starling) is registered in England and Wales (No. 09092149), 5th Floor London Fruit And Wool Exchange, 1 Duval Square, London, United Kingdom, E1 6PW. We are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under registration number 730166.

Screenshots

first direct4 screens
Starling4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Starling at weekly against first direct's monthly. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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 first direct against 4.9 for Starling. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2K and 2.8K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 77% of first direct's written reviews are positive against 74% of Starling's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

first direct ships an update monthly, Starling weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
first direct versus Starling: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterfirst directStarling
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (2K ratings) — better4.9 (2.8K ratings)
Positive reviews76.5% of reviews — better74.1% of reviews
Number of ratings2K2.8K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size319 MB558 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerfirst directSTARLING BANK LIMITED

Customer experience

first direct

All ratings1,974 ratings
Positive97.2%
Neutral1.1%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews996 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral5.0%
Negative18.5%

Starling

All ratings2,804 ratings
Positive97.4%
Neutral0.9%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews1,588 reviews
Positive74.1%
Neutral4.1%
Negative21.8%

User reviews

first direct

From 2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Fast and accurate
  • 🔒 Excellent security
  • 💡 Helpful customer service
  • 👍 Consistent and reliable

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional app crashes
  • 🔒 Overly complex security measures
  • 💡 Outdated and basic design
  • 🔒 Frustrating authentication process
  • 🐛 Buggy cheque deposit feature

Starling

From 2.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use app
  • 🚀 Instant transactions
  • 🔒 Secure banking
  • 💡 Useful features like Spaces
  • 👍 Excellent customer service

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes and freezes
  • 🔒 Overly strict security measures
  • 💰 Fees for cash deposits
  • 🚫 Inability to open certain account types
  • 🚫 Declined payments with no explanation

Bugs and requests

first direct

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App freezing and crashing
  • Issues with cheque deposit functionality
  • Problems with multi-device authentication
  • Inconsistent behavior when updating payee details

Requested features

5 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Improved transaction history and insights
  • Ability to edit scheduled payments and payees
  • Streamlined payment flow
  • Better categorization and budgeting tools

Starling

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login issues after phone updates
  • Inability to record video for verification
  • App crashes on certain devices
  • Delayed or failed money transfers

Requested features

7 requests
  • Joint account cards with different designs
  • Ability to set up automatic transfers to savings
  • More customization options for Spaces
  • Integration with password managers
  • Showing pending payments in balance
Show 2 more
  • Daily balance history view
  • Ability to split transactions into categories

In-app purchases

None

first direct

No in-app purchases

None

Starling

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is first direct free?
first direct is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Starling free?
Starling is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, first direct or Starling?
first direct is rated higher. first direct averages 4.9 out of 5 from 2K ratings, while Starling averages 4.9 from 2.8K ratings.
Do first direct or Starling have ads?
Neither first direct nor Starling shows ads.
Which is updated more often, first direct or Starling?
first direct ships an update monthly, and Starling weekly. Most recently, first direct was updated on November 6, 2026 and Starling on November 8, 2026.

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