Ciao! vs Kinu

Kinu: Remember Your People, by FRESHLAB

A private place for the little things: birthdays, stories, voice notes, and a nudge when it has been a while.

No ratings in the US App Store yet, as of 15 October 2026. Also on Android and in a browser.

	Ciao!	Kinu
What it costs	€3.99 a year after 7 days free	$6.99 a month, $69.99 a year, or $149.99 once, in the App Store
Free tier	None. The yearly plan starts with 7 days free	10 people
Account needed	None	Yes
Where it runs	iPhone	iPhone, Android and the web
Where your notes live	Your phone and your own iCloud	Your device, with backup and sync you switch on
A creature for each friend	15 animals, 6 moods	No
A weekly swipe deck	Yes	No

Every row comes from Kinu’s own App Store listing and its pricing page, read on 24 September 2026. Prices are the ones in the US App Store; its site shows euro prices. 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: Kinu on the App Store · Kinu on AlternativeTo · Kinu’s website

Where Kinu wins

Ten people free, with every feature in the free tier.
It runs on Android and in a browser. Ciao! is iPhone only, so if your phone is not an iPhone, this is your answer and not Ciao!.
Voice notes, and a map of who feels close. Ciao! keeps notes as plain text and nothing more.

Where Ciao! wins

No account. Kinu keeps your notes on your device too, but you sign up to use it, and Ciao! never asks you for anything.
€3.99 a year. Kinu Plus is $69.99 a year in the App Store.
One deck on Sunday that you swipe through, instead of a list of people to manage.

Which one should you actually get?

Kinu is the more generous of the two, and it is the right pick if you are on Android, or you want your notes open in a browser. Ciao! is for people who want it to stay on the phone, with nobody to sign up to.

Try it for a week. Then decide.

Get Ciao! on the App Store

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