Alternatives › Fabriq
Ciao! vs Fabriq
Fabriq: Stay in Touch is an iPhone app for your personal relationships: up to 150 people in circles of closeness, with reminders and conversation starters.
165 ratings in the US App Store, as of 4 November 2026
 Ciao! |
 Fabriq |
|
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | €3.99 a year after 7 days free |
$4.99 a month or $39.99 a year |
| Free tier | None. The yearly plan starts with 7 days free | Not stated |
| Account needed | None | Yes. Its website asks you to create an account and then log in to the app, and its App Store notes list SMS login |
| A creature for each friend | 15 animals, 6 moods | No |
| 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. The account row and the number of people were checked on Fabriq’s App Store listing and website on 4 November 2026. Nothing here is taken from another app’s reviews.
Sources: Fabriq on the App Store · Fabriq on AlternativeTo · Fabriq’s website
Where Fabriq wins
- It gives you a structure: up to 150 people, sorted into four circles of closeness.
- A bigger team and a longer history, so more of the edges are worked out.
- Prompts and conversation starters, if that is the part you find hard.
Where Ciao! wins
- Nothing to sign up for at all. No email, no phone number, no code to wait for.
- No caps of any kind. Add everyone you want to add.
- A face for each friend, so the list tells you something at a glance.
Which one should you actually get?
Both are personal apps for staying close to friends and family on iPhone. If you like sorting people into circles of closeness, with conversation starters to help you write first, Fabriq is built for that. If you would rather not make an account, and want a face for each person that shows at a glance who you haven’t talked to in a while, take Ciao!.
Try it for a week. Then decide.
Get Ciao! on the App Store
Then €3.99 a year · No account · Cancel any time