Comparison

HootBoard vs Heartbeat Chat

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

HootBoard

Stay updated and contribute to your organization's digital bulletin board. Post announcements, events, and jobs on the go, and receive real-time notifications. Engage in discussions and manage content easily.

Highlights
  • Post updates on the go
  • Receive push notifications
  • View and add events to calendar
  • Engage with comments and questions
  • Filter content with collections
  • Admin content review and management
Features
Read full description

Introducing the HootBoard App. This is the place to stay up to date and to contribute to your organization's HootBoard. This app is part of the comprehensive bulletin board platform that works seamlessly across web, mobile, interactive kiosks and digital signage. Who is this app for? The app is designed for users who already have an account or are looking to join their organization's HootBoard. HootBoard is primarily used by workplaces where employees don't sit at a desk all day, universities, schools, residential communities and others to share critical announcements, events, notices, jobs and much more. Use HootBoard to: - Post hoots on the go. If your organization is using our digital signage or kiosks products, your displays will update like magic. - Receive push notifications of new activity on your board so you never miss a beat. - View all the hoots on your board. If it's an event you can add it right to your calendar. - Ask questions, have conversations and leave comments on hoots. - Easily filter through content on your board using collections. - Admins can get stuff done on the go too. Review and approve hoots with the tap of a button. For existing hoots, they can manage various settings like visibility, pinning, collections and more. Happy hooting!

About

Heartbeat Chat

Build and manage your online communities with a versatile platform. Engage members through chat, voice, and video, and create a knowledge base for lasting discussions. Integrate with other tools to automate actions and track growth.

Highlights
  • Customizable channels for chat and posts
  • Voice rooms for real-time conversations
  • Presence indicators for a shared room feel
  • Knowledge base creation from discussions
  • Integration with Zoom, Google Calendar, Salesforce, etc.
  • Automated community match-ups and intros
  • Permission management and payment processing
Features
Read full description

Heartbeat is the home for all your online communities. Create a space where you and your community can have fun through chats, threads, voice, and video. Heartbeat works great for online schools, accelerators, incubators, paid communities, innovations hubs, support groups, and so much more! Whether its a massive, established community, or you're just getting started, Heartbeat makes it easy to build lasting, genuine relationships. LAUNCH AN INVITE-ONLY COMMUNITY SPACE: - Customize channels to use posts or chats and design a space just for you and your community to have deep discussions about how the world is changing or just to share the best restaurants in Atlanta. - Voice rooms help you take your conversations to the next level — jump into a voice room with 1 click - Presence indicators floating around the app show you where other people are, and make it feel like you're in the same room CREATE A LASTING LIBRARY OF KNOWLEDGE - Turn insightful posts into long-lasting knowledge base articles & grow your community off the great conversations that happen - Organize information vital to your community members & create a space they can always reference for the best information - Manage access through powerful permissioning tools native to Hearbeat SCALE YOUR COMMUNITY LIKE A BOSS - Use deep integrations with Zoom, Google Calendar, Salesforce, Hubspot, Airtable, and more to automate community actions & track deep analytics over time to see how your community is growing - Automate in-community match-ups and conversations through customizable, weekly Heartbeat intros - Create moderators, special access permissions, manage payments, oversee projects & more within your customizable community space

Screenshots

HootBoard4 screens
Heartbeat Chat4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Heartbeat Chat at 4.0 against HootBoard's 3.5. Heartbeat Chat also leads on ratings volume (136 vs 4). HootBoard's advantage is review sentiment (50% vs 41%). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Heartbeat Chat holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Heartbeat Chat has 136 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of HootBoard's written reviews are positive against 41% of Heartbeat Chat's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HootBoard ships an update every 2 months, Heartbeat Chat every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
HootBoard versus Heartbeat Chat: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHootBoardHeartbeat Chat
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (4 ratings)4.0 (136 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews — better40.9% of reviews
Number of ratings4136 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.1
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB78 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHOOTBOARD LLCHeartbeat Chat, Inc

Customer experience

HootBoard

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative25.0%

Heartbeat Chat

All ratings135 ratings
Positive70.4%
Neutral5.9%
Negative23.7%
Written reviews66 reviews
Positive40.9%
Neutral12.1%
Negative47.0%

Bugs and requests

HootBoard

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Heartbeat Chat

Reported bugs

40 issues
  • Audio playback stops when phone locks
  • Users struggle with logging in
  • App is not optimized for iPad, especially in landscape view
  • Invasion of privacy concerns regarding photo access
  • Notifications are inconsistent and important messages are missed
Show 35 more
  • Auto-subscriptions and difficulty with cancellation
  • App performance is non-existent, leading to slow loading and unresponsiveness
  • Content overlaps
  • Tiny frame on iPad, displaying a mobile view
  • Forced photo upload during sign-up
  • Email already in use error after providing email
  • Courses are inaccessible
  • Slow response from support
  • App fails to update
  • Unable to access community
  • Unable to cancel subscription
  • Charged without consent
  • App not working on iPhone
  • App freezes frequently
  • White screen issues upon opening the app
  • App does not function correctly
  • Messages not sending when the send button is tapped
  • App doesn't work on tablets
  • Phantom notifications causing frustration
  • App crashes frequently
  • Jank and unstable performance
  • App shows it has posted but it never publishes
  • Notifications and Activity pages have major glitches and don't refresh
  • Unable to pull down the Activity page to refresh
  • App started messing up immediately, unable to access anything
  • App asks for information, then shows an error that it cannot find the channel
  • App loads but nothing is tappable or responsive
  • App is constantly freezing
  • App crashes after iOS update
  • App shows communication but refuses to show what it is
  • App shows a white screen and is unusable
  • App shows a white screen and is garbage
  • App shows it has posted but it never published the comment
  • Notifications are funky and make zero sense
  • App doesn't work correctly on iPhone

Requested features

17 requests
  • Allow audio to play while phone locks
  • Improve iPad optimization, especially in landscape view
  • Fix the app icon to not resemble a dating app
  • Allow users to change their RSVP to an event after confirming
  • Enable users to join public threads via the app
Show 12 more
  • Improve image embedding, especially on mobile
  • Reduce excessive white space
  • Fix notification logic
  • Improve image insertion functionality
  • Add permalinks to the app
  • Allow location changes within the app
  • Fix phantom notifications
  • Enable profile editing
  • Fix the login process for users
  • Make the app work on tablets
  • Improve backend setup on mobile
  • Allow deletion of communities on mobile

In-app purchases

None

HootBoard

No in-app purchases

None

Heartbeat Chat

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HootBoard free?
HootBoard is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Heartbeat Chat free?
Heartbeat Chat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HootBoard or Heartbeat Chat?
Heartbeat Chat is rated higher. HootBoard averages 3.5 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Heartbeat Chat averages 4.0 from 136 ratings.
Do HootBoard or Heartbeat Chat have ads?
Neither HootBoard nor Heartbeat Chat shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HootBoard or Heartbeat Chat?
HootBoard ships an update every 2 months, and Heartbeat Chat every 5 weeks. Most recently, HootBoard was updated on November 2, 2026 and Heartbeat Chat on November 3, 2026.

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