Comparison

The Checkin vs L8ly

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

Head to head
About

The Checkin

Features
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Social media used to be fun. Now it's exhausting. Too much noise. Too much pressure. Too many posts are competing for your attention. Even sharing something simple has started to feel like overkill. Checkin is different. It's social the way it used to feel — fast, honest, low-pressure. Instead of posts, you share Checkins: quick, lightweight updates about what you're actually doing right now. The song in your headphones. The game you just finished. The movie you're halfway through. The walk you just wrapped up. No captions to agonize over. No filters. No performance. Just real life, as it happens. WHAT YOU CAN CHECK IN - Music — share what you're listening to - Watching — movies, shows, sports, whatever's on the screen - Playing — the games you're into right now - Workouts — auto-imported from Apple Fitness and Strava - Places — restaurants, cafés, cities, anywhere worth remembering - Trips — where you're headed and when - Activities — anything else you want to mark ONLY THE PEOPLE YOU CHOOSE Checkins aren't public by default. You decide who sees what — close friends, family, a small circle, or just yourself. No followers. No strangers. No algorithm pushing your life to people you've never met. A FEED THAT MAKES SENSE Your feed is chronological. Real-time. Real life. What your friends are actually doing, in the order it's happening. No ads. No suggested content. No rabbit holes. YOUR DAY, REPLAYED At the end of each day, Checkin gives you a Replay: a clean timeline of everything you checked in to. Your morning workout, the album you played on the commute, dinner with a friend, the match you watched at night. It's a low-effort journal that builds itself. BADGES WORTH EARNING Earn badges for real things you do — not for scrolling. Foodie for trying new restaurants. Cinephile for watching films. Multi-Sport for mixing up your workouts. Your profile reflects how you actually spend your time. BUILT FOR REAL LIFE - Clean, dark interface that stays out of your way - Works with the apps you already use — Spotify, Apple Music, Apple Fitness, Strava - React to friends' Checkins with stickers, comments, or a quick emoji - Start private and open up when you're ready WHY PEOPLE ARE SWITCHING Traditional social apps turned sharing into work. Every post is a performance. Every scroll is a commitment. Checkin strips it all back to what people actually miss: the feeling of casually knowing what your friends are up to, without the noise. No likes to chase. No trends to keep up with. No strangers in your feed. Just you, your people, and your day. Download Checkin and share your life the easy way. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

L8ly

Features
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Your friends. Your week. No endless feed. L8ly is a different kind of social app. Instead of posting every moment the second it happens, you collect photos, videos, and little updates throughout your week. You choose your own L8ly Day - Monday, Friday, Sunday, whatever feels like you - and that’s when your friends get to catch up with what you’ve been doing. And there’s a catch: You have to share to see. Add at least one thing from your own week before you can catch up with everyone else. No lurking. No endless scrolling. Just friends actually sharing their lives with each other. Pick your day Everyone on L8ly has a day. Maybe you’re a Friday. Maybe you’re a Sunday. Maybe, somehow, you’re a Tuesday. Your L8ly Day is when your week opens to your friends. Until then, everything you add stays yours. Add things as they happen A dinner. A terrible selfie. A trip. Something your dog did. A screenshot that made you laugh. A random Tuesday that turned out to be surprisingly good. Add as much or as little as you want. Nobody sees it immediately. Your week builds quietly in the background. Share to see L8ly is built around reciprocity. Before you can see your friends’ latest weeks, add something to yours. One moment is enough. Your friends still won’t see it until your L8ly Day — but now you’re part of the week too. Catch up. Then leave. When your friends’ weeks are ready, L8ly gives you a finite list of people to catch up with. See Sarah’s Sunday. Adam’s Friday. Maddy’s Wednesday. And when you’re done: You’re caught up. That’s it. No recommended videos. No strangers. No infinite feed waiting underneath. Come back when there’s actually something new from someone you know. A social app designed differently L8ly has: * No algorithmic feed * No public follower counts * No engagement rankings * No trending page * No influencer recommendations * No pressure to post every day * No infinite scrolling Just the people you care about and the lives they’re actually living. I’m a Friday. What are you? Choose your day and invite your friends with a personalized L8ly card. I’m a Monday. What are you? Because apparently we’re day people now. See you l8r.

Screenshots

The Checkin4 screens
L8ly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: L8ly at none against The Checkin's 1. L8ly also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.6). The Checkin's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price and ads 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. The Checkin sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. L8ly asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences · 3 level
The Checkin versus L8ly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe CheckinL8ly
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyMonthly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size82 MB70 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperBrian lozAdam Cooper

In-app purchases

1 purchases

The Checkin

Subscriptions1
  • Checkin Premium$2.991 Month
None

L8ly

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is The Checkin free?
The Checkin is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is L8ly free?
L8ly is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do The Checkin or L8ly have ads?
Neither The Checkin nor L8ly shows ads.

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