Comparison

Column Social vs Root

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

Head to head
About

Column Social

Read full description

Column is a network of private communities that host the most important conversations in the world. Some of the most important conversations in the world are happening in group chats. Column is an app for your group chats so people can subscribe and the chats can go viral to include everyone in the world that should be in the chat. On Column, you can: - Create and join private, paid groups for communities of practice - Post new content in real time in private groups, or publicly - Stay up to date in your field and communities of interest - Upload photos and share links with previews - Chat one-on-one with others from your gropus via DMs Privacy Policy: https://www.joincolumn.com/legal/privacy Terms of Service: https://stage.joincolumn.com/legal/terms-of-service

About

Root

Engage in structured debates on current events and thought-provoking questions. Share your reasoning, see community stances, and join live discussions. Submit your own questions to drive conversations.

Highlights
  • Take a stance on debates
  • Share reasoning and cite sources
  • View community breakdowns
  • Join live AI-moderated discussions
  • Submit custom debate questions
  • Browse trending and curated questions
Features
Read full description

What do you actually think? Root is the debate app that turns today's news and biggest questions into real conversations. Take a stance, share your reasoning, and see how your thinking compares to everyone else's. What's new in 1.4 Root now has a Community tab — where users like you drive the conversation. Submit your own debate questions, browse what the community is discussing, and join live rooms to debate in real time. Community questions Have a question you want Root to debate? Submit it from the Ask tab. Add an inspiration source — a Reddit thread, YouTube video, or anything that sparked the idea. Questions go through instant AI review and are live within seconds if approved. Live Rooms browser See every active Breakout Room across Root in one place. Search by keyword, filter by topic, and jump straight into a live AI-moderated discussion without having to find the question first. How Root works Pick your stance — Agree, Disagree, or Neutral on any question Share your reasoning — add context, tag your perspective, cite a source See the breakdown — how does the community actually split? Go deeper — explore the top reasons on each side, drill into the arguments, join a live Breakout Room to debate in real time In the news Root surfaces real articles twice daily and turns them into debate questions — so you're not just reading the headlines, you're weighing in on them. Tap any headline to read a summary before you respond. For You Your personalized feed mixes weekly curated questions, news-driven debates, and community submissions matched to your interests — all in one place. Trending See what's generating the most discussion on Root right now across all question types, ranked by real engagement. Breakout Rooms When a question gets heated, jump into a live AI-moderated discussion with other users. Real conversation, structured debate, no pile-ons. Built for thinkers Root isn't social media. There are no likes, no follower counts, no algorithmic rage-bait. Just questions worth debating and a community willing to engage seriously with them.

Screenshots

Column Social4 screens
Root4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Root at none against Column Social's 10. Root also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). Column Social's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price 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. Column Social sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.00 per month. Root asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Column Social ships an update every 3 weeks, Root weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Column Social versus Root: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterColumn SocialRoot
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB36 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperColumn IncMarcus Holloway

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Column Social

Subscriptions10
  • Medical Insights Hub$1.001 Month
  • Design Inspiration$1.001 Month
  • Future of Water$1.001 Month
Show 7 more
  • Future of Concrete$1.001 Month
  • Studio Visit$1.001 Month
  • Future of Katerva$1.001 Month
  • Oceans & Reefs$1.001 Month
  • Fun Learning$5.001 Month
  • Market Megatrends$5.001 Month
  • Eternal September$19.991 Month
None

Root

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Column Social free?
Column Social is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Root free?
Root is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Column Social or Root have ads?
Column Social shows ads; Root does not.
Which is updated more often, Column Social or Root?
Column Social ships an update every 3 weeks, and Root weekly. Most recently, Column Social was updated on November 8, 2026 and Root on November 5, 2026.

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