Comparison

Closer vs Dearly

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

Head to head
About

Closer

Create a private digital space for your relationship to express love, share memories, and have fun. Features include private chats, daily stories, couple quizzes, and well-being check-ins. Designed for all relationship types, especially long-distance.

Highlights
  • Private relationship space
  • End-to-end encrypted chats
  • Daily stories and highlights
  • Couple quizzes and games
  • Well-being check-ins
  • Poke feature
  • Sticky notes
Features
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FOUND SOMEONE YOU LOVE? If you managed to find someone you love while passing through the craziness of modern dating, straddling your work and social life, then congratulations! You’re on such a beautiful journey of love and life together :) But why does your world with your partner still look the same as it does with everybody? Why shouldn't your relationship get a space that's truly built just for the two of you? What if you could express love and communicate what's on your mind, create memories from your dates, and have fun everyday? WAIT...BUT WHY DO WE NEED A NEW SPACE? Love is what happens you’re sitting together on a cozy couch in a living room, filled with laughter, wine, teasing & conversations. And love needs a space of its own to keep growing. As you keep grinding through work and a hundred other uncertainties in life as a couple, you need a space you can always come back to, to feel the love, warmth & joy of your partner :) We’ve designed the Closer experience so that your relationship finally gets its own space on the internet, and you can live your ‘modern love’ life in all its flavors & complexity. Whether it’s your amazing gym session, a hearty breakfast, a beautiful sunset, a blurry date night, or just a plain boring day at work, we hope you create, share, and cherish memories of love, despair, and everything in between. We'll be always rooting for your love! WHO CAN USE CLOSER? Closer is built for all types of couples & relationships - especially so, if you're in a long-distance relationship, but even if you're married and have kids. So even if you just recently started dating, or have married for years, there's something new and fun you can do on Closer everyday! :) PRIVACY THAT HUGS YOU :) Closer is privacy-first, with end-to-end encryption for chats & photos, along with biometrics-enabled app lock mechanism Closer has a lot of features to love and have fun, in more ways than one! NEED QUICK ATTENTION? OR CAN'T WAIT TO SHOWER THEM WITH LOVE? 'Poke' your partner instantly with fun emoji so that they notice you right away! Your partner's phone will be showered with your pokes every time they open the app. Beware: this turns into a fierce competition very soon. SEPARATED BY TIME ZONES? Always-on time zone widget that shows the local time in your partner's time zone! IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS! Leave small stickies to compliment, annoy or remind your partner! Stickies stay at the top in the app and disappear in a day! YOUR EMOTIONS MATTER Use Well-being check-ins to express how you're feeling in the moment, and share your mental & emotional journey with your partner! YOUR DAILY VIBES ARE ON STORIES! Never miss out on sharing your work out gains, OOTD, daily meals or beautiful sunsets with stories! You can also save stories into 'Highlights' and keep them forever! DAILY QUIZZES & COUPLE GAMES! Play quirky and thoughtful quizzes that are personalized for your relationship, to deepen your connection and have some fun everyday! GETTING IN THE MOOD? :P Are things getting….hot? Shake your phone to see the app change into 'horny mode' with new, hot pokes and spicy quizzes! Cools down automatically in 30 min! REWIND & RELIVE YOUR MEMORIES Relive your favourite moments with personalized prompts and questions in #throwback cards! A NEW HOME FOR ALL YOUR PHOTOS Your private Memories feed is your new home for all your Insta perfect and blurry memories! Add all your real and fake candids in Memories, and comment on them to keep those moments alive! NEVER FORGET YOUR PLANS Store everything from your bucket lists to movie recommendations and even grocery lists in Organize, with the help of pre-set templates! PRIVACY-FIRST CHAT An end-to-end encrypted channel just for the two of you, away from all the noise of outside world and brands!

About

Dearly

Features
Read full description

dearly is the couples app for staying close, however far apart. Share your mood, play games, answer questions and keep each other on your home screen, all in one private space made just for the two of you. Made for long distance relationships and for busy couples under one roof. A few seconds a day is all it takes to feel close. YOUR PARTNER, ON YOUR HOME SCREEN • Their mood: a little illustrated scene that changes the moment your partner shares how they feel • Sketches and doodles that land right on their home screen • Photo of the day from your partner • Together for: the years, months and days of you two • Anniversary countdown, day streak and distance with both your local times • Our list: your shared to-do list, always a glance away • Partner status: when they were last here, their battery and their time of day PLAY TOGETHER, EVEN MILES APART • 10 couple games, many played live on your own phones • Chess, Ludo, Guess the emoji and Guess the country • Couple quiz: how well do you really know each other? • Would you rather, Truth or dare, This or that, Love tic-tac-toe and Memory match QUESTIONS THAT BRING YOU CLOSER • A new question every day to spark real conversation • Decks for getting closer, playful nights, old memories and future dreams STAY IN SYNC, EVERY DAY • Private chat with photos and date plan cards • Draw together in real time on one shared canvas • Share your mood with a single tap • Send a thumb kiss or a little nudge when you're thinking of them • Keep your daily streak glowing together PLAN LIFE TOGETHER • Date ideas for home, out and about or far apart • Plan dates on a shared calendar and send them to your partner • Anniversary reminders so you never miss your day • 32 milestones to unlock as your story grows PRIVATE BY DESIGN No feeds, no followers and no ads. dearly is a little world only the two of you can see. DEARLY PREMIUM dearly Premium unlocks everything. Start with a free trial on the yearly plan or choose monthly. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions in your App Store account settings. Any unused part of a free trial is forfeited when you buy a subscription. Terms of Use: https://dearly-landing.netlify.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://dearly-landing.netlify.app/privacy

Screenshots

Closer4 screens
Dearly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Closer at weekly against Dearly's every 5 weeks. Closer also leads on iOS requirement (13.4 vs 17.0). 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

Closer ships an update weekly, Dearly every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Closer versus Dearly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCloserDearly
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (7 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings7 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size179 MB48 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperBlue Flow Technologies Private LimitedKarrtheek Maan

In-app purchases

None

Closer

No in-app purchases

None

Dearly

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Closer free?
Closer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dearly free?
Dearly is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Closer or Dearly have ads?
Neither Closer nor Dearly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Closer or Dearly?
Closer ships an update weekly, and Dearly every 5 weeks. Most recently, Closer was updated on November 3, 2026 and Dearly on October 28, 2026.

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