Alternatives
Every keep-in-touch app, and where Ciao! sits
Checked by hand in the US App Store, and again on 15 October 2026. Every app here has a page of its own. Where I could not verify something I left it blank rather than guess.
Quick picks by need
- The closest thing to Ciao!, with one payment: UNdrift
- Free on iPhone, for calling family and friends on time: Warmthly
- Free, for anyone in your Contacts: CatchUp
- Each friend a planet in a solar system: Orbit
- An avatar companion and circles of friends: Foster
- On Android, one person a day to reach out to: Ringur
- A personal CRM you fill by talking to your AI assistant: Mob
- An open-source CRM that imports from LinkedIn and Instagram: Bondery
- A contact manager you host on your own server: Meerkat
- A history of each contact from email, calls and meetings: Cloze
- Business cards and networking: ConnectMachine
Ciao!
Tells you who you haven’t talked to in a while, counted from the last time you did. No account.
Subscription, 7 days free You are here
CatchUp
Reminders for anyone in your Contacts. Free, with no limit, paid for by tips.
Free Compare →
Catchup
A different app with almost the same name. Nothing new since December 2024, and its website is gone.
Free for 2, then paid Compare →
Kinu
Birthdays, stories and voice notes, on the phone or in a browser. Ten people free.
Subscription or once Compare →
Gravity
Closeness levels and warmth rings. A web app, with the phone apps in beta.
Subscription Compare →
UNdrift
No account, one payment, notes that come back. The closest thing to Ciao!.
One payment Compare →
Buddies
Each friend is a flower that grows when you show up and fades when you do not.
Subscription Compare →
Embers
An ember for each friend that glows and dims, notes that come back, and three people free.
Subscription or once Compare →
Dear
One person a day to reach out to, in 32 languages. Fifteen people free.
Subscription or once Compare →
Amato
Well liked by the people who use it, and untouched since March 2024.
Subscription If it went quiet →
Reemi
Free, and nothing new since March 2025. Google’s AI answer still recommends it.
Free If it went quiet →
Mesh
A smart address book that fills itself in from your email, calendar and social accounts.
Free, or a subscription Compare →Monica
Open source, and you run the server. Not in the App Store at all.
Free, if you host it Compare →Read from each app’s own App Store listing or website. Ratings are from the US App Store, and ratings and prices were checked again on 15 October 2026. Nothing here is taken from another app’s reviews.
Coming from an app that went quiet?
Several apps on this list have not shipped anything in a year or more. If yours is one of them, here is what moving would mean, and what to copy out first.
Three differences that actually matter
Not features. These are the three things that come up again and again in the App Store reviews of the other apps on this list.
No account
No email, no phone number, no code to type in. There is nothing to sign up for.
Your friends never know
Your friends never know they are in it. Your notes stay on your phone and in your own iCloud, where we can’t read them.
No ceiling
Add as many people as you like. No cap of fifty, no inner circle of five, no tier where the good reminders live.
Every other app we compared
Checked on 2 October 2026, from each app’s own App Store listing or website. App Store ratings and prices were checked again on 15 October 2026.
Still around
Closed or changed
Questions
Is Ciao! the same as StayCiao?
No. StayCiao is an Italian company that manages holiday rentals in Puglia, according to its website. It is not an app for friends. Ciao! Friendship Tracker is an iPhone app that tells you when it’s been a while with each friend.
Is Ciao! the same as ciao Amigos?
No. ciao Amigos is a video chat app for meeting new people, rated 18+ in the App Store. Ciao! is for the friends and family you already have, and nobody you add ever sees the app.
What is a good app to keep in touch with friends?
Start with the job you need. Work CRMs log email, calls and deals. Free calling reminders keep a rhythm for phone calls. If you want a rhythm per friend, notes on what is going on in their lives and one look on Sunday at who is due, that is Ciao! on iPhone. 🦊
Try it for a week. Then decide.
Get Ciao! on the App Store
Then €3.99 a year · No account · Cancel any time