CircleIn vs CSUSM
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CircleIn
Connect with classmates, manage your studies, and earn rewards. This app helps you organize tasks, create study materials like flashcards, and collaborate on projects. Never study alone again and improve your college experience.
- Class channels, video, and chats
- Flashcard creation and quizzes
- Task and project management
- Group project collaboration
- Earn points for studying
- Note-taking and resource sharing
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Level up your entire college experience with CircleIn by connecting with classmates, managing your work-life balance, having fun while studying, earning points and thriving with the study motivation and tools to do your best! *Connect with classmates beyond the classroom with class channels, video and chats We partner with your school to bring all your classes and classmates onto one platform so you can reach everyone from anywhere for the support and study help you need. • Join class chats, DM study buddies or hop on a video call for a group study session any time, anywhere • Collaborate on group projects and create group chats to sync up *Have fun and earn rewards while you study & learn Have a ton of concepts, formulas, or vocabulary to memorize but snoozing on your textbooks? It’s time to have FUN while studying and training your brain! • Create flashcards, quiz yourself and play a matching game to ace your quizzes and exams • Earn points for studying and helping out your classmates • Meet study goals to reach your greatest potential • Learn anytime and anywhere • Study on-the-go! *Get your busy life organized with our task management tools• Never miss a deadline again. Access all of your notes, flashcards, study materials, and group study sessions on CircleIn while getting real answers from your peers. With CircleIn, you never have to study alone, skip a lecture, or bomb an exam. • Organize all of your tasks, schoolwork and projects Take and share notes, and post resources, and flashcards with classmates on a class feed • Access all the tools you need to balance your thriving college life for all of your assigned courses *Check out what students are saying about CircleIn: “CircleIn has truly made my first year of college as an honor student and a psych major much easier and more successful! I look forward to continuing using the app for studying purposes as it has proven to be a game-changer.” - Psych major, Class of 2024 “My favourite feature on CircleIn is the flashcards! It is so handy to be able to make them super quick and then have them right there on my phone. That way I’m able to study them wherever I am, even if I only have a few minutes.”Engineering major, Class of 2023 *Advice from current college students on CircleIn: “Use the video call function that's provided in CircleIn to form study groups in each of your classes!” “Make flashcards for the best and most simple active recall strategy” “Don't be afraid to ask a question about the current topics you are learning” Missed a lecture? Not the best at studying? Forgot the answer to a question? CircleIn provides you with a community of your classmates in one app available for free help at any time, anywhere.
CSUSM
Stay connected with campus life, academic resources, and events. This app provides personalized experiences, a digital ID, and access to course information, campus maps, and dining details. It also helps you find parking and stay updated on athletics.
- Personalized campus experiences
- Digital ID and MyCSUSM access
- Parking information and permit purchase
- Dining hours and locations
- Dynamic campus maps
- Cougar Courses and academic resources
- Campus event listings
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Connect with CSUSM on the go with our official campus mobile app! Keep up to date on your classes, never miss a campus event, enjoy access academic resources, and engage with our vibrant campus life all from your phone. This application is an ongoing project and we welcome your feedback. Current features include: Personalized experiences Digital ID MyCSUSM Get the most of your CSUSM Experience Find a parking spot and purchase parking permits Dining hours and locations Campus directory Dynamic campus maps Cougar Athletics game schedules and news Campus discounts Campus events Ace Your Classes Cougar Courses Find an open study space or chat with a librarian Check your campus email
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: CircleIn at 78% against CSUSM's 18%. CircleIn also leads on rating (4.7 vs 2.8) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 4 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.
CircleIn holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CircleIn has 1.1K ratings behind it against 25, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of CircleIn's written reviews are positive against 18% of CSUSM's.
CircleIn ships an update every 10 days, CSUSM every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and July 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CircleIn | CSUSM |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (1.1K ratings) — better | 2.8 (25 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 78.4% of reviews — better | 18.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.1K — better | 25 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 120 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | CircleIn, Inc. | California State University San Marcos |
Customer experience
CircleIn
CSUSM
Bugs and requests
CircleIn
Reported bugs
3 issues- Classes not loading properly
- Issues with adding tasks and notes
- Inconsistent app performance across devices
Requested features
4 requests- Dark mode option
- Ability to customize class names
- Better planner and task management features
- Improved integration with other apps and services
CSUSM
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
CircleIn
No in-app purchases
CSUSM
No in-app purchases









