Comparison

Now Students vs BCUSU

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

Head to head

Now Students

Student living is Now

About

Now Students

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The Now Students app has everything you need to manage your stay in one convenient app. From the app, you can easily access everything from your contract, rent payment schedule, Energy Performance Certificates, How-to guides and other useful documents provided by Now Students, all completely digital and paperless. You can also see the payment status of all your rent instalments, with useful reminders sent to you before each instalment is due. For questions, help and advice, live-chat lets you directly message the residence team. You can even report maintenance issues with photos and check on the status of those tickets. A News Feed and Events Calendar means you can find out about events in your residence and meet new friends, so you don’t miss out on anything. Features: - Real-time maintenance ticket notifications - Direct messaging with your residence team - Tenancy document hub - Meet other students in your residence - Discover popular events in your residence - View all your upcoming and past payments in one place

About

BCUSU

Features

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The BCUSU App puts your Students' Union in your pocket. It brings all of our services to your fingertips, including over 100 societies, the ability to have your voice heard at BCU and our full events guide at any time of the year. Get exclusive access to merch and giveaways and get in touch with us whenever you need us.

Screenshots

Now Students4 screens

BCUSU4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: BCUSU at every 3 months against Now Students's every 12 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

Now Students ships an update every 12 months, BCUSU every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on May 19, 2026 and September 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 5 level

Now Students versus BCUSU: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter	Now Students	BCUSU
Price	Free	Free
Update frequency	Every 12 months	Every 3 months — better
Ads	No	No
In-app purchases	No	No
Devices	iPhone, iPod	iPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS	15.1	15.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size	32 MB	161 MB
Age rating	4+	12+
Developer	NOW STUDENT LIVING LIMITED	MSL Membership Solutions Ltd

In-app purchases

None

Now Students

No in-app purchases

None

BCUSU

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Now Students free?

Now Students is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

Is BCUSU free?

BCUSU is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

Do Now Students or BCUSU have ads?

Neither Now Students nor BCUSU shows ads.

Which is updated more often, Now Students or BCUSU?

Now Students ships an update every 12 months, and BCUSU every 3 months. Most recently, Now Students was updated on May 19, 2026 and BCUSU on September 1, 2026.