Alternatives › Friend Alert
vs
F
Ciao! vs Friend Alert
Friend Alert, by Davidoskky
A free, open-source Android app: you set how often to keep in touch with each friend, record each call, and get a notification when it has been too long.
Android only, through F-Droid. No update since November 2023.
|
Ciao!
|
FFriend Alert | |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | One payment $9.99 |
Free |
| Free tier | 3 friends | Everything, it is free and open source |
| Account needed | None | None |
| Where it runs | iPhone | Android, through F-Droid |
| Where your notes live | Your phone and your own iCloud | Your phone |
| A creature for each friend | 15 animals, 6 moods | No |
| A weekly swipe deck | Yes | No |
Every row comes from Friend Alert’s own App Store listing or website, read on 2 October 2026. Nothing here is taken from another app’s reviews.
Sources: Friend Alert on AlternativeTo · Friend Alert’s website
F Where Friend Alert wins
- •It costs nothing, with no limit on friends, and anyone can read its code.
- •It runs on Android and reads your Android contacts. Ciao! is iPhone only.
- •There is very little to learn: a rhythm for each friend, a log of your calls, and a notification when you are overdue.
Where Ciao! wins
- •Ciao! gets regular updates. Friend Alert’s last version came out in November 2023.
- •Notes for each friend that come back when you get in touch, plus birthdays and a home screen widget.
- •One deck on Sunday with an animal for each friend, in place of a separate notification for every friend who is overdue.
Which one should you actually get?
If your phone runs Android, Friend Alert is free and does the basic job, and Ciao! will not run on your phone anyway. On an iPhone the choice is already made, because Friend Alert is Android only. There, Ciao! gives you the same rhythm per friend, plus notes, birthdays and a weekly deck.
