Ingress vs GO FRIEND
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ingress
Explore the real world as a battlefield in this augmented reality game. Choose a faction, discover hidden energy sources, and collaborate with others to control territories and influence the future of humanity. Your mission begins now.
- Explore real-world locations
- Augmented reality gameplay
- Choose between two factions
- Capture and link virtual portals
- Form teams and plan strategies
- Participate in live global events
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ENTER THE INGRESS UNIVERSE Welcome, Agent. A mysterious energy source known as Exotic Matter (XM) has been discovered. Its origin is unknown, and its power is seemingly unlimited. Two Factions are racing to control it, and the future of humanity hangs in the balance. The newly enhanced Ingress Scanner is online, and waiting for you. THE WORLD IS YOUR GAME Step outside and turn the real world into your battlefield. Explore landmarks, monuments, and hidden corners of your city. Every public artwork and point of interest becomes a Portal: a gateway to gather XM and uncover the secrets that are shaping our world. CHOOSE YOUR FACTION Will you enlighten humanity’s evolution with The Enlightened, or defend free will from mind control with The Resistance? Your choice defines your mission, your allies, and your destiny. TEAM UP, THINK BIG Coordinate with Agents nearby and across the globe. Build strategies, plan operations, and take part in live events that reshape the map, and reality itself. CONTROL THE BATTLEFIELD Capture and link Portals to create massive Control Fields spanning entire cities. Compete for dominance, territory, and influence in a global, ever-changing war. YOUR MISSION STARTS NOW XM is everywhere. The battle is real. Download Ingress and join the fight. Note: Agents must be over 13 years old (for residents outside of the European Economic Area); or over 16 years old or such age needed to consent to the processing of personal data in the Agent's country of residence (for residents of the European Economic Area). Unfortunately, no children may play Ingress. The optional Adventure Sync feature integrates with HealthKit to credit your distance traveled Agent Stats, even when Ingress is in the background. Support Contact us in-game by going to Settings > Help Center > Go. Privacy Policy https://www.nianticspatial.com/privacy Terms of Service https://www.nianticspatial.com/terms
GO FRIEND
Connect with trainers globally to participate in remote raid battles. Host raids by posting details and recruiting guests, or join worldwide raids by searching active invitations and sending friend requests.
- Find trainers for remote raids
- Host raids by posting details
- Recruit guest trainers
- Search active worldwide raids
- Join raids via invitations
- Send friend requests
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GO Friend is an application to find trainers who want participate in Invitation Raid Battle. Let's participate Raids around the world using "Invitation Raid BBS" of GO Friend ! 【How to use Invitation Raid BBS】 ■Host Trainer (who invite Guest trainer to the raids) 1.Report Raids Tap the “+” button at the top of Invitation Raid BBS Enter the required contents such as Raid information and the number of recruitment, and post. 2.Approve the Friend Request from guests 3.Join the Raid and invite guests ■Guest Trainer (who invited to raids by the Host Trainer) 1.Search active Raids on BBS. Search the active raids reported worldwide. 2.When you find the Raid you want to join, tap “ENTRY”. 3.Send a Friend Request When you find the raid you want to join, copy the Host trainer's friend code and send a Friend Request to the trainer. 4.Wait for the invitation Join the raid when you get an invitation from your Host trainer.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Ingress at none against GO FRIEND's shown. Ingress also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Ingress sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and GO FRIEND sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Ingress holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ingress has 5.4K ratings behind it against 982, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 45% of Ingress's written reviews are positive against 50% of GO FRIEND's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Ingress ships an update every 3 weeks, GO FRIEND every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ingress | GO FRIEND |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (5.4K ratings) — better | 4.3 (982 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 45.4% of reviews | 49.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5.4K — better | 982 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 397 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Niantic Spatial, Inc. | takumi suzuki |
Customer experience
Ingress
GO FRIEND
User reviews
Ingress
From 5.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fantastic game concept
- 👍 Great for getting exercise and exploring
- 🌈 Enjoyable community and social aspects
- 💡 Innovative location-based gameplay
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent bugs and crashes
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🤖 Concerns about stalking and harassment from other players
- 🤔 Confusing or cluttered user interface in newer versions
GO FRIEND
From 982 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and convenient for raiding
- 🌍 Ability to raid globally
- 👥 Helps connect players for raids
- 🏆 Useful for getting rare/legendary Pokémon
Room to improve
- 🕰️ Long wait times to join raids
- 💰 Expensive paid features (plugs)
- 🤖 Hosts not sending invites
- 🤯 Confusing rating system
- 🔒 Lack of transparency/communication from developers
Bugs and requests
Ingress
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login issues and account problems
- Inaccurate location tracking and portal detection
- Inventory management and recharging bugs
- Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to change factions without contacting support
- Better portal nomination and review process
- More in-game events and community activities
- Improved performance and stability on older devices
GO FRIEND
Reported bugs
3 issues- Refreshing issues after hosting raids
- Inability to rate players after raids
- Randomly getting banned/locked out of app
Requested features
4 requests- Group chat functionality
- Better raid coordination tools
- Refund system for unused raid passes
- Improved anti-abuse measures
In-app purchases
Ingress
- C.O.R.E. Monthly$7.991 Month
- 1,200 CMU$0.99
- 2,500 CMU Pack$1.99
- 7,000 CMU Pack$4.99
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- 15,000 CMU Pack$9.99
- 32,000 CMU Pack$19.99
- 90,000 CMU Pack$49.99
- 200,000 CMU Pack$99.99
GO FRIEND
- 100 PLUGS (PREMIUM)$0.99
- 550 PLUGS (PREMIUM)$4.99
- 1100 PLUGS (PREMIUM)$9.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- 2200 PLUGS (PREMIUM)$19.99








