Starling vs Circuit Go
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Starling
A digital banking app offering free personal and business accounts with robust security features and 24/7 UK-based customer support. Manage all your finances, from everyday spending to savings and bills, all from your phone.
- Free personal and business accounts
- Joint and under-16 accounts
- Habit-building savings tools (Spaces)
- 24/7 UK customer support
- Advanced security controls
- Fee-free spending abroad
- Instant transaction notifications
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Best-in-class banking, designed for your phone and life in the 2020s. Our free, habit-building bank accounts help millions of people be good with money. Apply for a free bank account directly from your phone – in minutes. Industry-leading digital banking security. • 24/7 UK-based customer support from real people. • Manage your account security with simple controls in the app. • FSCS protection up to £120,000. • Verify if it’s us calling you, with call status indicators in the app. One app. Everyday banking. From personal to joint to business banking, bring your finances under one roof: • Personal account: Spend, organise, save with the habit-building bank account. • Joint account: Bills, budgets or just getting brunch: it’s better together. • Business account: Pay no monthly fees, 24/7 UK customer support and free invoicing and accounting tools. • Under 16s: The free debit card for kids, managed from your account. • Student account: Budget with Spaces, spend abroad with no fees and apply for an interest-free overdraft. Easy mobile banking that just works. • Branchless and fully online. • Open and manage your account entirely from your phone. • Spend abroad like a local with no fees from us. • Get an instant notification every time you spend or receive money. Build life-changing habits with game-changing features. • Organise your finances by setting money aside into virtual ‘change jars’, aka Spaces. • Get instant notifications every time you spend. On holiday? Get notifications in both currencies. • Put your bills on autopilot so you only spend what’s actually available. • Make every penny count by rounding up payments to the nearest pound. • Get a clearer picture of your spending with our AI-powered features. Starling Bank Limited (trading as Starling) is registered in England and Wales (No. 09092149), 5th Floor London Fruit And Wool Exchange, 1 Duval Square, London, United Kingdom, E1 6PW. We are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under registration number 730166.
Circuit Go
Manage your laundry with ease using this app. Check machine availability, book a wash cycle in advance, and make secure payments directly through your phone. Get notified when your laundry is done and save money with in-app coupons.
- Check machine availability
- Book laundry machines
- In-app payments
- Schedule laundry in advance
- Notifications for cycle completion
- In-app coupons for savings
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We’re on a mission to make laundry less of a chore. So with our free Circuit Go app, you can quickly check availability, book a machine and start washing. Instant, reliable payments, straight through the app Simple to book – schedule your laundry in advance Skip the queues – check machine availability in your laundry Save some cash – in-app coupons add up to great savings All on your phone – get notified when your cycle’s complete Ready to wash? Visit nearest Circuit launderette, load your laundry, choose your machine and programme, and GO. Please note: Circuit Go relies on your phone having an internet connection. As long as you're online in the laundry room, you can activate our machines and see how long’s left on your cycle. Your Circuit Go app account works separately to the terminal you might see on the wall in your launderette. Rather just tap and go? Pay contactlessly through the terminal. By downloading the Circuit Go app, you agree to the following terms: You accept that you have a non-exclusive licence to use the app. You agree not to copy the app or infringe our intellectual property rights in the app. There’s no minimum amount of top-up credit. Payments are processed through a third-party payment provider. Circuit won’t store your card details. You can refund any part-used top-up credit yourself – use Withdrawing Balance in the Balance area in the app. Refunds incur an administration charge of £2.00. Your part-used credit will need to cover the £2.00 admin charged to be able to process the refund. No refund will be processed for any free credit or coupons. Balance transfer coupons will expire 12 months after the date of purchase. Visit circuit.co.uk for more information.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Starling at 74% against Circuit Go's 25%. Starling also leads on rating (4.9 vs 2.9) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Starling holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Starling has 2.8K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Starling's written reviews are positive against 25% of Circuit Go's.
Starling ships an update weekly, Circuit Go every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Starling | Circuit Go |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (2.8K ratings) — better | 2.9 (8 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 74.1% of reviews — better | 24.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.8K — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 561 MB | 64 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | STARLING BANK LIMITED | Circuit Laundrette Services LTD |
Customer experience
Starling
Circuit Go
User reviews
Starling
From 2.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use app
- 🚀 Instant transactions
- 🔒 Secure banking
- 💡 Useful features like Spaces
- 👍 Excellent customer service
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes and freezes
- 🔒 Overly strict security measures
- 💰 Fees for cash deposits
- 🚫 Inability to open certain account types
- 🚫 Declined payments with no explanation
Circuit Go
From 8 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Surprisingly sufficient
- 🚀 Acceptable
- 👍 Way Better
Room to improve
- 🐛 Circuit laundry made me rethink my life choices
- 🐛 Dark and twisted
- 🐛 SCAM COMPANY
- 🐛 Abysmal
- 🐛 Money stolen
Bugs and requests
Starling
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login issues after phone updates
- Inability to record video for verification
- App crashes on certain devices
- Delayed or failed money transfers
Requested features
7 requests- Joint account cards with different designs
- Ability to set up automatic transfers to savings
- More customization options for Spaces
- Integration with password managers
- Showing pending payments in balance
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- Daily balance history view
- Ability to split transactions into categories
Circuit Go
No bugs or feature requests surfaced in reviews.
In-app purchases
Starling
No in-app purchases
Circuit Go
No in-app purchases








