xat vs Piko Chat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
xat
Connect with friends and discover communities based on shared interests. Create your own free chat groups or join existing ones to communicate with users globally. Get help and support within the app's dedicated chat.
- Group and private chat
- Discover groups by interest
- Create custom chat groups
- Global user communication
- In-app help chat
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xat is a free group and private chat messaging app. Chat with your friends and people with a shared interest. Chat with other xat users from around the world. To discover new xat groups click the Groups menu. You can also make your own xat chat group for free. If you get stuck you can ask for help on help chat.
Piko Chat
Experience a nostalgic chat platform reminiscent of the early internet. Send pixel art notes, private letters, and engage in cozy themed rooms. Customize your profile and express yourself through drawings and reactions without the pressure of endless feeds.
- Send pixel art notes and private letters
- Engage in themed 'pod' chat rooms
- React to messages and keep conversations alive
- Customize profile, status bar, and theme
- Add optional public pins to a world map
- No endless feed or influencer focus
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the internet, but fun again! Piko Chat is a nostalgic social app inspired by the 2000s internet. Customize your profile, send letters, draw pixel art, and meet new people. Join Pods to talk about art, life, internet nostalgia, or whatever you’re into. In Piko Chat you can: - Customize your profile - Send and receive letters - Draw pixel art messages - Join Pods and communities - Reply and react to posts - Meet people from around the world Make your profile yours with themes, pixel avatars, status bars, photos, and more. No algorithmic feed. No AI content. No influencers. Just people making things, talking, and hanging out. If you miss Frutiger Aero, old forums, custom profiles, pixel art, and the old internet, you’ll probably feel at home here. Piko Chat. chat like it’s 2006. Subscription Some features in Piko Chat may require a paid subscription. Pricing, renewal terms, free trial information, and cancellation options are shown in the app before purchase. Privacy Policy https://pikochat.net/privacy Terms of Service https://pikochat.net/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Piko Chat at 4.8 against xat's 3.0. Piko Chat also leads on review sentiment (88% vs 52%) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 4 months). xat's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. xat sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Piko Chat sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Piko Chat holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Piko Chat has 2.7K ratings behind it against 25, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 52% of xat's written reviews are positive against 88% of Piko Chat's.
xat ships an update every 4 months, Piko Chat every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | xat | Piko Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (25 ratings) | 4.8 (2.7K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 52.0% of reviews | 88.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 25 | 2.7K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | — | #166 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 76 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 12+ |
| Developer | xat.com | Ebonnee Almeida |
Customer experience
xat
Piko Chat
In-app purchases
xat
- 500 xats$4.99
- 1200 xats$9.99
- 2500 xats$19.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- 6000 xats$39.99
Piko Chat
- Piko Plus Weekly$6.997 Days
- Piko Plus Weekly$7.997 Days
- Piko Plus Monthly$9.991 Month
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Piko Plus Yearly Offer$19.991 Year
- Piko Plus Yearly Supporter$24.991 Year
- Piko Plus Yearly$29.991 Year
- Piko Plus Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
- 100 Piko Coins$1.99
- 300 Piko Coins$4.99
- 600 Piko Coins$8.99
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Piko Coins$19.99
- Piko Coins$99.99
