Comparison

Jodel vs Shy

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

Head to head
About

Jodel

Connect with people in your immediate vicinity and discover real-time local happenings. Share posts, ask questions, and engage with a hyperlocal community focused on your neighborhood.

Highlights
  • Real-time local feed
  • Ask and answer local questions
  • Share posts, pictures, and videos
  • Vote and react to content
  • Join interest-based channels
  • Collect Karma
  • Anonymity and privacy
Read full description

With Jodel, you can stay connected with the people around you and discover what’s happening in your local area in real time. Whether it’s news, questions, events, confessions, or just a good laugh – you'll never miss out on what's happening around you again! A community app where what you say matters. [Stay informed & enjoy real moments] Get the latest local news and updates instantly in your real time feed – Jodel is full of creativity, humor, and unexpected fun. Unlike traditional social media, Jodel keeps things real and focused on your local life and interests. [Join the conversation] Ask people near you questions, share insights, and get real answers while exploring channels and communities based on your interests. Whether you’re a student at university or college, new to a neighbourhood or just looking to make friends and meet like-minded people – Jodel and its hyperlocal community is the place for you. With your vote on a Jodel post you can decide what's trending in your connected community. [Connect with locals] Interact with others around you through your Jodel posts. Whether you're discussing campus life & college experiences, upcoming events, local news, or general life situations, Jodel helps you stay engaged in your community. With Jodel you can... *be yourself without social pressure *share posts, pictures and videos with everyone around you *add multiple replies to your post while creating it to write stories without interruptions *vote and react on posts and decide what is relevant in your area *pin content you want to follow *join channels with content that interests you *collect Karma by spreading good vibes Share your personal stories with your Jodel friends! Be your original and unique self, share your own amazing thoughts, connect, and make friends. And by the way...Jodel is pronounced "YODEL"! Jodel is not just your basic social media. Jodel is... HYPERLOCAL – Stay updated on everything happening near you. DIVERSE & ENGAGING – Meet new people and share your thoughts. SUPPORTIVE & FRIENDLY – A positive community with space for everyone. Download Jodel now and become part of the most vibrant social hub in your city. Discover the latest news, and engage with your community like never before. https://jodel.com/

About

Shy

Connect with people physically near you in real-time, like in your apartment building or gym. Discover and chat with interesting individuals in your immediate vicinity without photos or real names. It focuses on proximity-based connections and offers mutual deletion for privacy.

Highlights
  • Proximity-based connections
  • Anonymous chat requests
  • Mutual delete for privacy
  • No photos or real names
  • Location-specific user discovery
  • User-controlled descriptions
Features
Read full description

Shy connects you with the people actually around you. Not strangers across the country. Not faces in a feed. The people in the room. Walk into your apartment building, your gym, your coffee shop. If someone interesting is right there, open Shy and see if they're there. Send a chat request or let them notice you and send first. The moment is yours. Photos optional. No real names. No swiping. Just real proximity and real conversation. HOW IT WORKS When you enter a Shy location or a Shy Venue, the app quietly shows you who else is there. You read short, honest descriptions of the people around you and send a chat request. Once they accept, you are connected. You can keep talking even after you both leave the Shy location or venue. They become a contact, on your terms. MUTUAL DELETE Changed your mind? Either of you can initiate Mutual Delete. Once you delete a contact, all chats and contacts vanish from both devices at the same time. A clean break, by mutual consent. Closure built in. WHERE SHY SHINES In your apartment building. The neighbor you have nodded at in the elevator for six months has a name now. At your gym. Find a lifting partner who actually shows up. Or someone who runs your pace. At your coffee shop or co-working space. The regulars stop being strangers. At concerts, conferences, lounges, and festivals. Everywhere people gather and somehow never connect. DON'T SEE A SHY LOCATION NEAR YOU YET? Open the app and request a Shy Location for your building, your gym, your favorite spot, or your office. Chat with Zai & Sky, your AI companions in the lobby. Keep Shy installed. Right now, someone in your building or your gym could be ready to connect. The day your spot turns on, you do not want to be the one who missed it. This is the app you keep just in case. The one that turns rooms full of strangers into rooms full of possibility. SHARE THE SPOT Found your people somewhere? Put it on the map for everyone. Turn any Shy location or venue into a story, post, or video and share it to Instagram, TikTok, or your group chat. Every share helps turn on more spots, the more people who show up, the more alive the lobby gets. WHY SHY IS DIFFERENT Every other social app pushes you into an endless scroll of people you will never meet. Shy does the opposite. We only show you people who are here, right now, in the same physical space. That is the whole point. When proximity ends, the noise ends with it. This is not dating. This is not networking. This is just meeting the people who are already in your life. You just have not been introduced yet. PRIVACY BY DESIGN We built Shy on something we call the ARN Protocol. You are described, not displayed. No profile photo (up to you). No surname. No map pin tracking your every move. You are visible in the room, not on the internet. Leave the room and you stop appearing to people there. Combined with Mutual Delete, you stay in control of every connection you make. You can update your user name, description, and photo anytime you want. This is useful for those wardrobe and venue changes. We do not sell your data. We do not feed it to advertisers. We do not need to. SHY PLUS Unlock the full Shy experience. Shy Plus members get unlimited chat-request and group-join tokens, AI-powered outfit descriptions with Shy Camera, and a completely ad-free experience. Free users receive 10 tokens every month to send chat requests and join groups. One token is used each time you start a new conversation or join a group. Regular users see occasional ads and can purchase additional token packs for more connections. FOR PROPERTY MANAGERS AND COMMUNITY OPERATORS If you run an apartment building, co-working space, gym, or venue and want to bring real community to your residents and members, Shy has a partner program. Visit theshyapp.com to learn more. Closer Than You Think. Terms of Use (EULA): https://theshyapp.com/eula Privacy Policy: https://theshyapp.com/privacy

Screenshots

Jodel4 screens
Shy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Shy at 100% against Jodel's 65%. Shy also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks). Jodel's advantage is rating (4.4 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (121K vs 4). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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. Jodel sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per 7 days and Shy sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $19.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Jodel holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Jodel has 121K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 65% of Jodel's written reviews are positive against 100% of Shy's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Jodel ships an update every 2 weeks, Shy every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Jodel versus Shy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJodelShy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (121K ratings) — better4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews64.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings121K — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.416.4
Further details — not scored
Size202 MB93 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperThe Jodel Venture GmbHShy Inc.

Customer experience

Jodel

All ratings121,165 ratings
Positive82.5%
Neutral5.4%
Negative12.1%
Written reviews793 reviews
Positive64.6%
Neutral3.9%
Negative31.5%

Shy

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Jodel

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatibility with older devices
  • Blank home screen after updates
  • Issues with changing location or account

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add search and filtering options
  • Implement private messaging or chat
  • Improve notification system
  • Provide a map view to see nearby activity

Shy

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Jodel

Subscriptions3
  • Jodel Plus: 1 week$8.997 Days
  • Jodel Plus: 1 month$12.991 Month
  • Jodel Plus: 1 month7 Days trial$12.991 Month
One-time7
  • Small Pack of Read Receipts$1.99
  • Fancy post color$3.99
  • Small pack of Message Requests$3.99
Show 4 more
  • Regular pack of Message Requests$8.99
  • Jodel Boost - 5x 10 minutes$11.99
  • Jodel Boost - 10x 10 minutes$19.99
  • Jodel Boost - 30x 10 minutes$39.99
1 purchases

Shy

Subscriptions1
  • Shy$19.991 Month

Questions

Is Jodel free?
Jodel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Shy free?
Shy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Jodel or Shy?
Jodel is rated higher. Jodel averages 4.4 out of 5 from 121K ratings, while Shy averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Jodel or Shy have ads?
Jodel shows ads; Shy does not.
Which is updated more often, Jodel or Shy?
Jodel ships an update every 2 weeks, and Shy every 5 days. Most recently, Jodel was updated on November 6, 2026 and Shy on November 3, 2026.

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