Comparison

DhowCSD vs Chara

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

Head to head
About

DhowCSD

Manage your Central Bank of Kenya investment account directly from your mobile device. Participate in securities auctions, view results, and access portfolio statements. Initiate secondary market and pledge instructions securely and efficiently.

Highlights
  • Open and manage investment accounts
  • Participate in securities auctions
  • View auction results and payment details
  • Access corporate actions
  • View portfolio statements
  • Initiate secondary market instructions
  • Initiate pledge instructions
Features
Read full description

Welcome to CBK DhowCSD. You can now open and manage a CSD investment account at the Central Bank of Kenya allowing you to participate in securities auctions, view auction results and payment details, view upcoming corporate actions, access updated portfolio statements and initiate secondary market and pledge instructions via the app in a convenient, simple, efficient and secure manner.

About

Chara

Features
Read full description

Split expenses with roommates, partners, and friends without the awkward math. Chara is a private, open-source bill splitter that's free forever. No ads, no subscriptions, no paywalled features. Add an expense, pick who's in, and Chara handles the math. See who owes who at a glance. Settle up when you're ready. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Create groups for roommates, trips, couples, or one-off events • Split equally, unequally, by percentage, or by shares • Snap a receipt and pull out the line items automatically • Track balances per currency, with no sketchy auto-conversion • Settle up with a tap and keep a clean history • Get notified when someone adds an expense or pays you back PRIVATE BY DEFAULT No trackers. No ad SDKs. No third-party analytics. Your group's expenses are visible to your group, and nobody else. SELF-HOST IT Chara is open source. Run it on your own server if you want. The app talks to your server the same way it talks to ours. Keep accounts on multiple servers at once and see everything in one place. FREE, FOREVER The core app is free. No subscription. No paywalled features. Chara is what bill-splitting should have been all along.

Screenshots

DhowCSD1 screens
Chara4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Chara at every 3 days against DhowCSD's every 3 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DhowCSD ships an update every 3 months, Chara every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on June 11, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
DhowCSD versus Chara: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDhowCSDChara
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (7 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings7 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB46 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperCentral Bank of KenyaLucas Dow

In-app purchases

None

DhowCSD

No in-app purchases

None

Chara

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is DhowCSD free?
DhowCSD is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chara free?
Chara is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do DhowCSD or Chara have ads?
Neither DhowCSD nor Chara shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DhowCSD or Chara?
DhowCSD ships an update every 3 months, and Chara every 3 days. Most recently, DhowCSD was updated on June 11, 2026 and Chara on September 14, 2026.

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