Ciao! vs CatchUp

CatchUp: Keep in Touch, by Ryan Token

Free, no ads, paid for by tips. It reminds you about anyone in your Contacts.

47 ratings in the US App Store, as of 15 October 2026. Last updated May 2026.

	Ciao!	CatchUp
What it costs	€3.99 a year after 7 days free	Free Tips if you want to
Free tier	None. The yearly plan starts with 7 days free	Everyone
Where the list comes from	People you pick from Contacts, or type in	Your iOS Contacts
Account needed	None	Not stated
A creature for each friend	15 animals, 6 moods	No
A weekly swipe deck	Yes	No
Still being updated	Yes, October 2026	Yes, May 2026

Every row comes from the app’s own App Store listing, read in 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. There is a second app called Catchup, by Chris Lee, and it is a different app that stopped in 2024.

Sources: CatchUp on the App Store · CatchUp on AlternativeTo · CatchUp’s website

Where CatchUp wins

It is free, with no limit on people. Ciao! is €3.99 a year after a free week.
It reads your Contacts, so you are set up in about a minute.
It ranks first for “keep in touch”, so it is the one most people find.

Where Ciao! wins

Everyone who is due on the same day comes in one evening note, never more than one a day, and on Sunday in one deck.
An animal for each friend, happy after you talk and a little worried when it has been a while.
Notes about each person on their page, and a reminder you can set on any note so it comes back on the day.

Which one should you actually get?

Honestly, if all you want is a reminder, CatchUp is free and it does that well. Ciao! is for when the reminder was never the hard part, and remembering what they told you last time is.

Try it for a week. Then decide.

Get Ciao! on the App Store

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