# Notes in Contacts vs CircleBack

The clearest difference is rating: CircleBack at 4.5 against Notes in Contacts's 3.0. CircleBack also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ratings volume (2.5K vs 2). Notes in Contacts's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 61%) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Notes in Contacts sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. CircleBack asks for nothing beyond the download.

CircleBack holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CircleBack has 2.5K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 75% of Notes in Contacts's written reviews are positive against 61% of CircleBack's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Notes in Contacts ships an update every 3 months, CircleBack every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 20, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Notes in Contacts | CircleBack |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notes-in-contacts/id691507650/reviews) | **[4.5 (2.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/circleback-updated-contacts/id957826826/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 2 | **2.5K** |
| Positive reviews | **75.0% of reviews** | 60.9% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Every 2 months** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 15 MB | 118 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.1** | 17.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [A2G3 Media inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/1540852079) | [CircleBack, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/303908341) |

## What reviewers say

### Notes in Contacts

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notes-in-contacts/id691507650)

This app helps you manage your contacts by allowing you to add detailed notes, categorize them with color-coding, and sort business and personal relationships. It aims to improve client communication and business growth by keeping track of important details.

**Highlights:** Add detailed notes to contacts, Categorize contacts by type, Color-code contacts for easy identification, Sort business and personal contacts, Edit and remove notes anytime, Call management features

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full Access to App | $1.99 | per month |
| Full Access to App | $9.99 | per month |
| Annual Premium | $9.99 | per year |
| Full Notes in Contacts | $2.99 | one-time |


### CircleBack

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/circleback-updated-contacts/id957826826)

This app intelligently updates your contacts, finds new ones from email, and cleans duplicates. It also allows scanning business cards and offers unified contact management across devices.

**Highlights:** Automatic contact updates, Duplicate contact merging, New contact discovery from emails, Business card scanning, Unified address book, Contact sync across devices

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Easy to use
- 📚 Helpful for managing contacts
- 💾 Keeps contacts synced
- 🔍 Useful for finding updated contact info
- 🧹 Helps clean up duplicate contacts

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes or freezes
- 🔁 Duplicates keep reappearing
- 🔒 Google login issues
- 🤯 Messes up or deletes contacts
- 🕰️ Slow performance

**Reported bugs**

- Fails to update contacts on devices
- Incorrectly merges unrelated contacts
- Loses contact notes and other data
- Unreliable sync between app and phone contacts

**Requested features**

- Add ability to remove contacts from groups
- Improve search functionality
- Allow starting with a fresh contact list
- Provide better backup/restore options


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Notes in Contacts free?

Notes in Contacts is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is CircleBack free?

CircleBack is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Notes in Contacts or CircleBack?

CircleBack is rated higher. Notes in Contacts averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while CircleBack averages 4.5 from 2.5K ratings.

### Do Notes in Contacts or CircleBack have ads?

Neither Notes in Contacts nor CircleBack shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Notes in Contacts or CircleBack?

Notes in Contacts ships an update every 3 months, and CircleBack every 2 months. Most recently, Notes in Contacts was updated on August 20, 2026 and CircleBack on September 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*