Get Between if what you want is a private messenger for two with an album, a shared calendar and free calls, and you are fine with ads unless you pay $2.99 a month. Get Pookie if you already have a chat app and want something to do together instead: a pet, real-time games, a shared whiteboard, quizzes, and widgets that put your partner on your home screen, with no ads at all.
Between is the old guard. It has been around for well over a decade, it started in Korea, and a lot of couples have years of chat history and photos in it. Pookie is a much newer app built around doing things together rather than talking. They overlap on exactly one thing, storing photos, and disagree on almost everything else. That makes this an easier comparison than most.
As with our other comparisons, we pulled the recent 1 and 2 star reviews for Between from both stores and grouped them. One theme dominated so completely that it needs its own section.
What Between does well
Between is a private space for two people. A messenger with its own emoticons and GIF selfies, free voice calls, a photo and video album, notes, a shared calendar with each other's schedules, and a day counter with countdowns for anniversaries and special days. There is a PC version so you can keep the conversation going from a laptop. The listing says all data is encrypted, and that everything stays saved when you change phones.
The pricing is honest and cheap. The free tier is the whole app with ads. Between Plus is $2.99 a month, $13.99 a year, or $26.99 once for lifetime, and it removes ads and adds colourful themes, love letters and longer video and voice messages. One upgrade is described as unlocking Plus for you and your partner. A lifetime option is rare in this category and worth noting.
If you want your couple chat separate from the group chats and the work pings, nothing in our best couples apps ranking does that better than Between. Pookie does not try to.
What people complain about in Between reviews
Three themes, and the first one is by far the biggest.
- Photos and videos disappearing. Across 2025, a wave of Google Play reviews describe old media in the album showing as blank boxes or failing to download. People talk about five, eight, ten years of photos. Several say it affected media older than a certain date and that they only found out it was widespread when they went to the store page to reinstall. The same reviews say support emails went unanswered for months. We have no way to verify what happened on Between's side, and their listing still promises data stays saved. But it is the single most common complaint, and it is the one that made loyal users leave.
- Ads getting heavier. Long-time free users say the pop-up ads increased to the point of interrupting typing, occasionally opening a browser to a store page mid-message. Plus removes them, but people who had used the app free for years felt the change.
- Crashes on newer Android phones. Reviews from recent Samsung Fold and Pixel owners describe the app not opening, or the bottom buttons hidden behind the Android navigation bar. Slow message delivery and missed notifications come up too.
What Pookie does instead
Photos. Pookie's memory vault is passcode-protected, auto-locks when the app goes to the background, and holds photos and videos as polaroid-style cards you can filter by who uploaded them. It is free. What we will not do is promise that no app can ever lose a file. No honest app can. Our guide to private photo apps for couples says the same thing we would say about Between: keep a second copy of anything you would cry over.
Ads. Pookie has none, on the free tier or on premium, and nothing is sold on. That is the cleanest difference between the two apps.
Android. Pookie is on iPhone and Android with home screen and lock screen widgets on both. We cannot claim a bug-free record, nobody can, but there is no separate "worse" Android build and one premium subscription covers both of you regardless of which store each of you bought it from.
Messaging. This is where Between wins outright. Pookie has notes and doodles that show up on your partner's home screen widget, moods with replies, and daily check-ins. It is not a chat and it does not do calls. If replacing your messaging app is the point, Pookie is the wrong pick.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Pookie | Between |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier includes | Pet, plant, games, whiteboard, quizzes, doodles, vault, moods, journal, map, widgets, check-ins | Whole app with ads: chat, calls, album, calendar, countdowns |
| Premium price | $4.99/mo or $24.99/yr | $2.99/mo, $13.99/yr or $26.99 lifetime |
| One sub covers both | ✓ | ✓ (per listing) |
| Ads | None | Free tier, removed by Plus |
| Real-time games | ✓ | - |
| Widgets (home + lock) | ✓ | Not listed |
| Shared whiteboard / doodles | ✓ | - |
| Private photo vault | ✓ (passcode) | Album, no passcode listed |
| Daily questions | 10,000+ questions, plus daily check-ins | - |
| Messaging | Notes and doodles | ✓ Chat and calls |
| Shared calendar | Important dates | ✓ |
| iPhone + Android | ✓ | ✓ |
Pick Pookie if
- You already have a chat app you both like and do not want another inbox.
- You want a shared thing to look after. The pet and plant only thrive if you both show up.
- You are long distance and want games and a whiteboard, not just messages. See our long distance app ranking.
- Ads bother you and you would rather they simply not exist than pay to remove them.
Pick Between if
- You want your couple conversation walled off from every other chat on your phone.
- Free calls and a shared calendar in the same app matter more than games or widgets.
- You like the idea of paying $26.99 once and never thinking about a subscription again.
- You are happy to keep your own backup of the album, which you should do with any app.
Pookie is free to download on iPhone and Android and used by 250,000+ couples. Download Pookie on the App Store or Google Play, hatch a pet, and keep Between for the chat if you like it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Between or Pookie better for long distance?
Between is better if you want a private chat with free calls and a shared calendar in one place, because Pookie is not a messenger. Pookie is better for the rest of a long distance day: real-time online games for two, a shared whiteboard that appears on your partner's lock screen, a pet you raise together, and widgets for distance, your partner's local time and their mood. Many long distance couples keep their normal messaging app and add Pookie.
Is Between free?
Yes. The messenger, photo and video album, notes, shared calendar, anniversary countdowns and free calls are all in the free tier, with ads. Between Plus is $2.99 a month, $13.99 a year or $26.99 lifetime, and removes ads, adds themes, love letters and longer video and voice messages. The listing says one Plus upgrade unlocks features for you and your partner.
Why do Between reviews say photos disappeared?
During 2025 a large number of Google Play reviews reported that photos and videos uploaded to Between's album, in many cases years of them, started showing as blank or could no longer be downloaded, and that support emails went unanswered. We cannot verify the cause and Between's listing still says everything stays saved when you change phones. The practical lesson from those reviews is the same for any app: keep a second copy of anything you would be upset to lose.
Does Pookie have a chat like Between?
No. Pookie has notes and doodles that land on your partner's home screen widget, moods with replies, and daily check-ins, but it is not a messaging app and does not do calls. If you want one app that replaces your chat, Between is that app and Pookie is not.
Can you use Pookie and Between together?
Yes. Between covers the messaging, calls and calendar. Pookie covers the pet, games, whiteboard, quizzes, widgets and the passcode-protected memory vault. The only real overlap is photo storage, and having two places for those is a feature rather than a problem.
Want the wider picture? See how Pookie compares to every type of couples app, or read the full ranking of the best couples apps in 2026.