Comparison

Haven Private Circles vs Howdlo

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

Head to head
About

Haven Private Circles

A private social network focused on secure sharing with close friends and family. It offers end-to-end encrypted posts, messages, and calls, with no ads or tracking. Content is shared directly between devices or via relays, ensuring privacy.

Highlights
  • Private circles for specific groups
  • End-to-end encrypted posts, photos, videos, and stories
  • Direct and group messaging with secret messages
  • Group voice and video calls with screen sharing
  • Cross-device synchronization
  • Disappearing posts
  • Offline nearby sharing via Bluetooth/Wi-Fi
Features
Read full description

Haven is a private social network for the people who actually matter. No ads. No tracking. No algorithm deciding what you see. No company server holding your memories. Everything you share is end-to-end encrypted with hybrid post-quantum cryptography and travels between your devices over the internet — directly, or through a relay that can't read it — or over Bluetooth and Wi‑Fi when you're together offline. Even we can't read it. • Private circles — share with family and close friends in separate, invite‑only circles, and always see exactly who a post will reach • Posts, photos, videos & stories — with a modern camera, easy captions, and a song • Direct & group messages — with sender names, timestamps, and delivery checks, plus scheduled and screenshot‑protected secret messages • Group voice & video calls — 1:1 and group, with screen sharing, peer‑to‑peer, no call server in the middle • All your devices in sync — start on iPhone, pick up on iPad or Mac; your posts and messages follow you • Disappearing posts — you decide how long things stick around • Nearby sharing — works with no internet at all, phone to phone • Your relay does the heavy lifting — photos and videos go up once to a relay you run and friends fetch them from there, so your phone stays cool; or keep memories on your own S3 bucket • Stays out of your way — big transfers wait while you're on a call, or when your device is hot or in Low Power Mode • No account, no phone number, no email — your identity lives only on your device Haven is a stronghold for the people you love. It's built so that no one — not advertisers, not data brokers, not even the people who made it — can get between you and your circle.

About

Howdlo

Features
Read full description

Howdlo is where your chats and your communities finally live in one beautiful place. MESSAGE LIKE YOU MEAN IT • Fast 1:1 and group chats with replies, reactions, edits, and read receipts • Photos, video clips, voice notes, and file attachments • Live polls and collaborative sheets — decide things together, right in the chat HANG OUT IN HANGOUTS • Discord-style communities with channels, roles, and permissions • Voice lounges: tap in, talk, tap out — no calls to schedule • Breakaway convos when a thread deserves its own room DROP A LINE • Drops are 24-hour posts over gorgeous aurora gradients or your photos • See friends' Drops in a strip at the top of your chats — tap through like stories CALL WITHOUT FRICTION • 1:1 voice and video calls, peer-to-peer and private YOURS, PRIVATELY • Email-code sign-in — no passwords to remember, no phone number required • Block and report anyone; delete your account in-app, instantly • No ads. No trackers. We don't sell your data. Ever. Howdlo — Hang Out, Write, Drop Lines Online.

Screenshots

Haven Private Circles4 screens
Howdlo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Haven Private Circles at 4 against Howdlo's 1. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Haven Private Circles versus Howdlo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHaven Private CirclesHowdlo
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB85 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBlaine MillerBorgMobile

In-app purchases

None

Haven Private Circles

No in-app purchases

None

Howdlo

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Haven Private Circles free?
Haven Private Circles is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Howdlo free?
Howdlo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Haven Private Circles or Howdlo have ads?
Neither Haven Private Circles nor Howdlo shows ads.

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