Comparison

Talking vs Empty Boat

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

Head to head
About

Talking

Connect with empathetic listeners for instant emotional support. Vent your feelings privately and securely without judgment. Earn money by becoming a paid listener.

Highlights
  • Instant emotional support
  • Private and secure calls
  • Choose your listener
  • Pay-as-you-go model
  • Earn money as a listener
  • U.S.-based listener network
Features
Read full description

Someone to talk to. Right now. Real human listeners. Judgment-free. Available now. Talking-Buddy connects you with a trained listener for a real conversation — voice or video — when you just need to be heard. Most people don't need therapy in the moment. They need someone to listen. Talking-Buddy gives you structured, supportive conversation with a real person, on your schedule. How it works Browse listener profiles, ratings, and reviews Choose the person you'd like to talk to Start a voice or video call What you get Structured support conversations with trained listeners Judgment-free, non-clinical support Listeners you choose by profile and rating — no random matching Report and block are available after every call Pay-per-call pricing, no subscription Who is it for People feeling stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed · anyone between therapy sessions or without access to therapy · students, professionals, parents, caregivers Become a listener Trained listeners can offer structured support sessions and earn per completed session. Talking-Buddy is a peer support platform — not therapy, not a social network, and not a matching or dating service. There are no romantic profiles, swiping, or interest-based matching; every listener is selected by name from a reviewed profile, never assigned at random. Interested in listening? See talking-buddy.com. Talking-Buddy® is a registered trademark of AHAN Apps LLC. All rights reserved.

About

Empty Boat

Read full description

Something happened. You're about to do something about it. Empty Boat is what you open in that gap. You write what happened. You get one story from Zhuangzi - a Taoist text from the 4th century BC - set against your situation, a question, and one thing to stop doing. Not "do this instead." One subtraction. Want another angle, you ask for it. Most people stop at one. Some nights there is nothing to reframe. You are tired and you are reading it correctly. When that is the case the app says so, and tries to name what you are carrying instead of handing you a parable that would only argue with you. Seven days later it asks one question about what you wrote. That is what makes the log worth keeping - not a diary, a record of which things still mattered a week on. WHAT IT ISN'T A chatbot. There is nothing here to have a conversation with. A meditation app. No timers, no breathing, no sounds. A course in Taoism. It will not explain wu wei. A streak. There is nothing to keep up. WHAT IT WON'T DO It will not tell you what to do. It will not comfort you. It will not say everything happens for a reason. It has nothing to say about your body, your eating, or your drinking, and it will tell you that rather than guess. Your log stays on your phone. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Talking4 screens
Empty Boat4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Talking at none against Empty Boat's 2. Empty Boat's advantage is update cadence (every 11 days vs every 2 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Empty Boat sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Talking asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Talking ships an update every 2 months, Empty Boat every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Talking versus Empty Boat: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTalkingEmpty Boat
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (7 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings7 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size157 MB44 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperAHAN Apps LLCNguyen Manh

In-app purchases

None

Talking

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Empty Boat

Subscriptions2
  • EmptyBoat_Monthly$14.991 Month
  • EmptyBoat_yearly$69.991 Year

Questions

Is Talking free?
Talking is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Empty Boat free?
Empty Boat is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Talking or Empty Boat have ads?
Neither Talking nor Empty Boat shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Talking or Empty Boat?
Talking ships an update every 2 months, and Empty Boat every 11 days. Most recently, Talking was updated on October 18, 2026 and Empty Boat on October 6, 2026.

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