base vs Essences
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
base
This app offers a private, ad-free social networking experience focused on community and inspiration. It features secure communication, AI integration, and tools for creative collaboration, moving away from manipulative social media tactics.
- Ad-free and tracker-free community spaces
- Secure encrypted audio and video calls
- AI technologies to amplify voices
- Focus on inspiration over manipulation
- Community-centric design
- Privacy controls and data erasure
- Multilingual support
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Base: - Create a personalized space for your community devoid of distractions, ads, and trackers. - Unlock new possibilities and reach higher success by redefining the possibilities of your social network. - Connect deeper through seamless, secure audio and video calls — whether it’s a quick catch-up with a friend or a group discussion with your network - Considered disconnecting from your social networks? Don’t. Let’s show you how to use them differently. - endless scroll? Sorry, we don’t do that here! - two ways to readily influence behavior: manipulate or inspire. We choose to inspire. - Deconstructing and reconstructing social media - Shifting from individualistic and capitalistic social media platforms towards community-centric spaces. - Building spaces that give people access to cutting-edge AI technologies to help amplify their voices and narratives. - Humans and Machines work together - for each other. Why Base? - Privacy - Encrypted data and communications - Ability to erase ALL of your data from base - Focus - Only notified about topics and people you chose - Positive community - Creativity - Unleash collaboration, productivity, and kindle problem solving - Full ability to manage spaces, interactions, control, and conversations - Reach - Scale and engage with a larger audience through your digital community center - Have conversations and interactions in over 100 languages - Innovation - Experience and make advanced (AI) technologies work for you like never before - Persuasive design/ Manipulative technologies - Base leverages ZERO technologies, tactics, and algorithms to get you hooked
Essences
Share personal stories and messages within curated topics based on real-life experiences. Connect with others by highlighting resonant parts of their stories, symbolizing shared life experiences.
- Curated topic-based sharing
- Personal story and message submission
- Highlighting resonant story fragments
- Symbolic connection acknowledgment
- Focus on real-life experiences
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Essences curates topics(hives) grounded in real-life experiences, inviting users to share their personal stories and/or messages. When a story resonates with another user—echoing a fragment of their own life's essence—they can acknowledge this connection by highlighting it with a yellow hexagon. This shape, symbolically known as a building block of life, underscores the story's significance as a foundational element in their personal narrative.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: base at monthly against Essences's every 5 months. base also leads on ratings volume (8 vs 2). On price, rating, 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for base against 5.0 for Essences. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 2 respectively.
base ships an update monthly, Essences every 5 months. Both last shipped on October 8, 2026.
| Parameter | base | Essences |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (8 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 111 MB | 50 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | IssakaAI | Caridad Rivera |
Customer experience
base
Essences
In-app purchases
base
No in-app purchases
Essences
No in-app purchases









