# Josh vs Vestaboard

The clearest difference is ads: Josh at none against Vestaboard's shown. Josh also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and rating (4.9 vs 4.6). Vestaboard's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Josh holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 114 and 140 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 90% of Josh's written reviews are positive against 71% of Vestaboard's.

Josh ships an update weekly, Vestaboard every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 17, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Josh | Vestaboard |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.9 (114 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/josh-home-intelligence/id1024805681/reviews)** | [4.6 (140 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/vestaboard/id1496549734/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 114 | **140** |
| Positive reviews | **90.0% of reviews** | 70.6% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | **Free** | Ad-supported |
| Size | 142 MB | 118 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18 | **15.1** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Josh.ai Inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/1024805680) | [Vestaboard, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1496549733) |

## What reviewers say

### Josh

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/josh-home-intelligence/id1024805681)

Control your smart home with an AI-powered platform. Personalize your experience by adjusting settings, creating automations, and accessing devices from anywhere. Enjoy intuitive control through touch, text, and voice commands for the whole family.

**Highlights:** AI-powered smart home control, Personalize home intelligence, Create automations and alerts, Access property from anywhere, Intuitive touch, text, and voice commands, Customizable dashboards and interfaces

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Vestaboard

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/vestaboard/id1496549734)

Easily create and manage messages for your smart display from any location. Craft visually appealing messages, schedule them, or get inspired with pre-made content. Collaborate with others and customize display settings for a personalized experience.

**Highlights:** Visual message editor, Schedule and pin messages, Inspiration content and templates, Message history and drafts, Remote collaboration, Quiet hours and time zone settings

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- ✨ Amazing product and looks
- 👍 Easy to use app interface
- 🤩 Entertaining and fun to use
- 💡 Great for office communication
- 💖 Inspires creativity and delights users

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 App updates cause issues (mute functionality)
- 🐛 Sending new messages doesn't work
- 🐛 App is not super responsive
- 🐛 App takes a long time to load or errors out
- 🐛 Manual editor is painfully clunky

**Reported bugs**

- Mute for a period of time functionality is inoperable after update
- Sending new messages to the board simply doesn’t work
- App update forces updates when there aren’t any
- Unable to set time zone or make changes to quiet hours
- Device will not connect to internal WiFi

**Requested features**

- Option to switch off WiFi module for power saving
- More specific controls for sending messages by time
- Include Vestaboard+ in initial hardware purchase
- Add iCal support
- More basic tools for text editing (preview, alignment control)


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Josh free?

Josh is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Vestaboard free?

Vestaboard is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Josh or Vestaboard?

Josh is rated higher. Josh averages 4.9 out of 5 from 114 ratings, while Vestaboard averages 4.6 from 140 ratings.

### Do Josh or Vestaboard have ads?

Vestaboard shows ads; Josh does not.

### Which is updated more often, Josh or Vestaboard?

Josh ships an update weekly, and Vestaboard every 2 months. Most recently, Josh was updated on August 17, 2026 and Vestaboard on September 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*