Handbid vs schoolOn
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Handbid
This app allows users to participate in silent auctions from their mobile devices. Bid on items, manage your bids, purchase items, and complete checkout and payment seamlessly. It's designed to enhance the silent auction experience for bidders and event organizers.
- Mobile bidding on auction items
- Manage bids and proxy bids
- Purchase items directly
- Integrated payment processing
- Digital receipts
- iPad kiosk app for non-smartphone users
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Mobile iOS Client for the Handbid® Silent Auction service. This client allows bidders who are invited to Handbid® powered silent auctions to bid on items from their mobile device, manage bids and proxy bids, purchase items, checkout, issue payment, and get a receipt. Handbid has powered hundreds of events and delighted thousands of bidders in the process. With native apps for iPhone well as a kiosk app available for the iPad for non-smartphone users, there is not a better experience and solution for running your silent auction or fundraising event. Here are 3 great reasons to use Handbid for your next event: 1. Our mobile app experience is second to none. Your bidders will love it! And yes, they WILL download an app on their phone! 2. Handbid is built for AUCTION HOSTS by AUCTION HOSTS. Handbid has been powering silent auctions since 2011 and we have been running auctions ourselves much longer than that. We know how hard it is and we have built this system to make it EASY for you, your volunteers, and your guests. 3. Our commitment to service is as great as our software. We get as many (if not more) compliments on our customer service as we do on our software. You can be assured we will do everything we can to make your experience as smooth and easy as possible. Common questions about Handbid: - Can people pay though Handbid Yes! We have integrated payments in the app so that at the end of the night, your guests can view and pay their invoice without having to stand in line. Our system supports all major credit cards as well as Apple Pay! Can you accept payments outside of Handbid? Sure (cash, check or your own CC system) - Do you provide on-site support? Yes we can do that. We have built Handbid to be easy enough to use where you can train and do it yourself, but we certainly do offer onsite experts who can do it all for you or even just provide extra "tech support" the day of your event. - How much does it cost? We offer a number of fixed price packages that are based on the size and number of events you run. Please contact us or visit our website to view all of our pricing. - It looks cool, but is it worth the investment? Absolutely. Sure, you expected to hear us say that. But remember, we run auctions for our own organizations. We know you are on a tight budget and you want to maximize dollars for your program services. Handbid more than pays for itself. Most of our clients see anywhere from a 30% to 50% increase over what they did before on paper. Some even higher. Put it this way, this is one investment that will generate more revenue at your event. You can't say the same for your caterer, venue or even the band. What are you waiting for? Download the app already? Sign up! It's free to check out. Just go into our demo auction and start to bid around. Trust us, we won't make you pay for what you bid on there! Check out our iPad kiosk app, also in the iTunes App Store. Play with both of them! Have fun, play around, then give us a call and lets get started! Your bidders are waiting for an awesome auction experience. Don't deny them what they deserve! With love - The Handbid Team
schoolOn
Stay connected with your child's school through a personalized app experience. Access schedules, register for events, pay tuition, and receive important messages from school leadership.
- View school and sports schedules
- Register for events
- Pay tuition
- Volunteer opportunities
- Receive school messages
- Personalized school experience
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Welcome to schoolOn! The schoolOn App is a whole new way to stay connected and engaged with your child's school. Simply download the app, select the school, and you’ll be immersed in a customized app experience built for your child’s school. It will allow you to view school and sports schedules, register for events, pay tuition, volunteer, receive important messages from school leadership, and so much more. It’s your personal connection to your child’s school anytime, anywhere. If you’re a school administrator interested in learning more about how your school can benefit from schoolOn, please visit our website at aware3.com.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Handbid at 71% against schoolOn's 0%. Handbid also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (27K vs 5). schoolOn's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, update cadence, 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.
Handbid holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Handbid has 27K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Handbid's written reviews are positive against 0% of schoolOn's.
Handbid ships an update monthly, schoolOn fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Handbid | schoolOn |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (27K ratings) — better | 4.2 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 70.6% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 27K — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 126 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Handbid | Aware3, LLC |
Customer experience
Handbid
schoolOn
Bugs and requests
Handbid
Reported bugs
4 issues- Losing bids after auction closes
- Inability to clear badge notifications after auction ends
- Inconsistent login/registration experience across devices
- Compatibility issues with older devices
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to favorite/save items for later
- Clearer display of auction end times
- More user-friendly error messaging during sign-up/login
- Option to disable Dynamic Island time display on new iPhones
schoolOn
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Handbid
No in-app purchases
schoolOn
No in-app purchases









