Comparison

CircleUp vs Grainger

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

Head to head
About

CircleUp

Connect with like-minded individuals in your city for real-world activities and friendships. Discover and join weekly plans like walks, dinners, and social events, fostering a sense of belonging beyond one-off gatherings.

Highlights
  • Weekly real-world plans
  • One-tap event joining
  • Group chat for events
  • Recurring member faces
  • Member-hosted events
  • City-based communities
Features
Read full description

We're the Circle of 20s & 30s who choose belonging over attending, friendships over faces, and doing cool things over the same-old. We don't wait for plans, we create them. We refuse to be the disconnected generation. We're a circle, not strangers. A lifestyle, not one-off events. A movement, not an app. If you're craving more connection, you belong here. WHAT YOU'LL FIND INSIDE Real plans, every week. Walks, dinners, run clubs, football, pub quizzes, gallery trips, brunches and big socials, all happening in your city, with people who live near you. One tap to join. See who's going before you commit, RSVP in seconds, and get everything you need on the day: where to meet, what time, and who's hosting. Your circles. Plans come with a group chat, so you're never walking into a room of strangers. Say hello beforehand, share photos afterwards, and keep the conversation going in between. Faces you'll see again. This isn't a feed of one-off events. The same people turn up week after week, which is how acquaintances quietly turn into friends. Hosted by members. Our plans are created by people in your city who wanted something to exist, so they made it happen. You can host too. WHERE WE ARE Now live in Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Oxford, Manchester, Cambridge, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle and Nottingham, with more cities on the way. MEMBERSHIP CircleUp is a membership community. Your membership covers entry to members' plans across your city, and some ticketed plans are priced separately to cover the venue or the activity itself. Everything you pay for happens in person, in the real world. A GOOD PLACE TO BE THE NEW ONE Every member is a real member of a local community, so nobody here is anonymous. You can report or block anyone from their profile, and we act on reports within 24 hours. Our community guidelines are built into the app. Don't just attend. Belong.

About

Grainger

Features
Read full description

Book time with your property manager, report a repair, sign up to resident events within your property, stay up to date with news and local community events. This app will allow you to make the most out of living in your Grainger home. Please note: this app is only available to Grainger residents.

Screenshots

CircleUp4 screens
Grainger4 screens

Verdict

The call

CircleUp and Grainger are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters โ€” price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CircleUp ships an update fortnightly, Grainger monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
CircleUp versus Grainger: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCircleUpGrainger
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews62.5% of reviewsโ€”
Update frequencyFortnightly โ€” betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeโ€”
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.415.1 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size101 MB78 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperHearplayGrainger

In-app purchases

None

CircleUp

No in-app purchases

None

Grainger

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CircleUp free?
CircleUp is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Grainger free?
Grainger is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do CircleUp or Grainger have ads?
Neither CircleUp nor Grainger shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CircleUp or Grainger?
CircleUp ships an update fortnightly, and Grainger monthly. Most recently, CircleUp was updated on November 4, 2026 and Grainger on October 30, 2026.

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