Ciao! vs Buddies

Buddies: Friendship Tracker, by Hbrothers L.L.C.

Each friend is a flower that grows when you show up and fades when you do not.

Released April 2026. 3 ratings in the US App Store, as of 15 October 2026.

	Ciao!	Buddies
What it costs	€3.99 a year after 7 days free	$9.99 a month or $39.99 a year
Free tier	None. The yearly plan starts with 7 days free	A free trial (its length is not stated), then a subscription
Account needed	None	Not stated
A creature for each friend	15 animals, 6 moods	A flower that fades
A weekly swipe deck	Yes	No

Price, tier and feature rows are read from the App Store listing, September 2026. Where a cell says Not stated, I could not confirm it without installing and paying. Ratings, prices and update dates were checked again in the US App Store on 15 October 2026. Ciao!’s prices here are the euro ones. The App Store shows yours before you confirm. Nothing here is taken from another app’s reviews.

Sources: Buddies on the App Store

Where Buddies wins

The flowers. If a garden appeals to you more than a zoo, that is a real reason and not a small one.
A per-friend rhythm and a memory timeline, same as Ciao!.

Where Ciao! wins

The Sunday deck, which nothing else in this category has.
Fifteen animals with six faces each, one for every friend.

Which one should you actually get?

Same idea, a flower instead of an animal. Pick whichever one you would rather look at fifty times, then check which one you would rather pay for every year.

Try it for a week. Then decide.

Get Ciao! on the App Store

Then €3.99 a year · No account · Cancel any time