Comparison

String vs Riser

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

Head to head
About

String

Enhance customer engagement with a business SMS and voice platform. Organize your inbox, automate responses, and manage contacts efficiently. Send personalized messages to individuals or groups, and access your workflow from any device.

Highlights
  • Use existing or new phone numbers
  • Organize inbox with sales funnel view
  • Automated responses and auto-replies
  • Contact management and CRM integrations
  • 1-1, group, and mass messaging
  • Templates and voicemail transcription
  • Browser and mobile app access
Features
Read full description

Boost your brand engagement with String’s intuitive business SMS marketing, text and voice. ANY PHONE NUMBER, EVEN LANDLINES Use your existing mobile or landline number with String. Select a new local number or upgrade to a vanity or toll free number of your choice. ORGANIZE YOUR INBOX Transform your inbox into a sales funnel or kanban board with various viewing, filtering and tagging options — Stay on top of your conversations and never miss a message again. POWERFUL MESSAGE MANAGEMENT Mark Unread and Archive — You love it for your emails, you’ll love it for your texts. STAY RESPONSIVE, 24/7 Amplify your interaction with automations and Auto-Replies — Respond to texts and missed calls on time, every time. TAP INTO ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES Contact Management & Integrations — Save important contact notes directly from the message thread. Capture contacts, import from your phone or computer,, automate workflows, integrate with tools you love (like your CRM, etc). REACH THE MASSES, OR JUST ONE Conversational, Groups or Mass Messaging — Respond directly with 1-1 messaging, message with a group,r or send personalized Mass Messages to multiple people at once, individually. BUILD A LOYAL CUSTOMER BASE Send promos, reminders and confirmations and never miss a lead, client or customer with Elite features like triggered Keyword Responses, and Auto-Replies. SAVE TIME Templates — No more copy-pasting the same message over and over. No time to listen to voicemail? View voicemail transcriptions in your inbox with visual voicemail. USE IT ANYWHERE Browser & Mobile Apps — Increase your workflow efficiency with access to String from your computer and mobile device. CALL FORWARDING & VOICE Separate your personal and professional calls with call forwarding and flexible voice settings. GOT QUESTIONS? Email our stellar support at support@joinstring.com. Find helpful articles, join our customer community and create tickets in our Help Center: https://help.joinstring.com/hc/en-us Terms of Service: https://www.joinstring.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.joinstring.com/privacy

About

Riser

This app provides small business owners with tools to manage proposals, contracts, invoices, and payments. It also offers a second business phone number for calls and texts, shared inbox, task management, and call recording to boost productivity and client communication.

Highlights
  • Create and send proposals
  • Generate and send invoices
  • Accept credit card payments
  • Second business phone number
  • Shared team inbox
  • Task management
  • Call recording and transcription
Read full description

Riser offers an all-in-one small business app that elevates your business, boosts you and your team's productivity, and ultimately your bottom line. Create proposals, contracts, send invoices, collect payments, and separate your work and personal life with two numbers on the same phone. Elevate your business and team with professional tools like shared inbox, call recording coaching, task management and proposals / estimates / contracts / invoicing while staying connected from anywhere with the Riser app. Don’t need a business phone number? No problem, pick and choose which tools you want to use! Proposals * Create & send proposals through the mobile app or online * Make a proposal on the go * Get notifications when potential clients view your proposals * Easily invoice clients from your proposal Contracts * Protect your business with legal contracts * Create and customize contracts * Get secure mobile contracts signed Invoices & Payments * Create & send invoices through the mobile app or online * Make an invoice on the go * Get notifications when clients view your invoice and pay * Accept credit cards with easy & secure online payments * Automatic payment reminders * Recurring payments * Multiple payments Business Productivity * Set your business hours * Timeline view prepares your for the next conversation with your client * Organize your contacts with labels, so you can track your pipeline. * Take notes after a meeting, and more, wherever you are * Win more customers with quick and professional proposals and estimates * Invoice your customers in seconds with quick & professional invoices * Easily accept payments via credit card from customers to save time and get paid faster * Shared inbox allows your team to respond faster and deliver an outstanding experience. * Message templates let you answer common questions in no time. Business Calling & Texting * Call and text using your Riser business phone number on all of your devices * After-hours call handling * Respond to every customer with smart auto attendant for calls * Auto-Replies for calls and texts * Respond to voicemails by text message * Spam prevention * Voicemail transcription * Call Recording * Text messaging supports sending MMS and Group messaging * Simultaneous call handling and call forwarding Grow Your Business * Get more customers with text message marketing * Easily share your virtual business card with potential customers * Task management to make sure you deliver to your customers * Team support * Record calls so you can analyze and improve your communications with customers * Make better business decisions with insights into your business metrics High Performing Team * Task management with your team to save time, avoid losing work and information, delegate, and track tasks to stay on schedule and hit deadlines. * Shared inbox allows your team to respond faster and deliver an outstanding experience. * Review team call recordings so you can analyze and improve communications with customers Customer Support * Personalized customer support within the Riser app Riser is currently available in the US only. International calls and text messages are supported. Email hello@riserphone.com for any questions or help.

Screenshots

String4 screens
Riser4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Riser at 4.4 against String's 3.5. Riser also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On price, ratings volume, 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

Riser holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 62 and 150 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 69% of String's written reviews are positive against 84% of Riser's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

String ships an update every 2 months, Riser fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
String versus Riser: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStringRiser
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (62 ratings)4.4 (150 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.6% of reviews83.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings62150 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size68 MB87 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNumberBarn, LLCTutorwyse.com, Inc.

Customer experience

String

All ratings62 ratings
Positive64.5%
Neutral1.6%
Negative33.9%
Written reviews35 reviews
Positive68.6%
Neutral2.9%
Negative28.6%

Riser

All ratings149 ratings
Positive83.9%
Neutral2.0%
Negative14.1%
Written reviews80 reviews
Positive83.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.3%

User reviews

String

From 62 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Organizes texts like email
  • 🚀 Efficient for business communication
  • 💡 Automates common questions
  • 👍 Easy to use interface
  • 👍 Great for small businesses

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Mobile app is buggy
  • 🐛 Website loads to white screen
  • 🐛 App loads messages out of order
  • 🐛 Threads don't load
  • 🐛 Incorrect contact loading

Riser

From 150 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use and intuitive interface
  • 💼 Great for small business management
  • 📞 Affordable toll-free number service
  • 📧 All-in-one CRM with invoicing and texting
  • ⚡ Quick setup process

Room to improve

  • ⚠️ Fake and unvetted leads
  • 💳 Unauthorized charges and billing issues
  • 🚫 Account bans without clear explanation
  • 📵 Poor customer service responsiveness
  • 🔐 Unauthorized account preference changes

Bugs and requests

String

Reported bugs

22 issues
  • Calls drop within seconds
  • Line cuts out completely
  • Website loads to a white screen
  • App loads message threads out of order
  • Tapping into a thread does not load any part of the conversation
Show 17 more
  • Sending a message in the thread works, but the thread doesn’t load
  • Tapping a thread loads an entirely different number/contact at the top
  • Push notification badges don’t clear
  • Text threads are slow to update and sometimes show off screen
  • No where to sign up on the app
  • Lost account after uninstall/reinstall
  • No one to talk to for support
  • iTunes account debited without loading sign-in page
  • Stuck on unpaid account, cannot log out
  • Missed calls do not show up on the main log panel
  • Voicemails will not play in app
  • No iPad App
  • Web app directs back to mobile app
  • No attention to detail in integrations
  • Phone number picker is super limited
  • No filtering by numbers
  • Requires payment to see the app

Requested features

18 requests
  • Improve mobile app stability
  • Fix website loading issues
  • Ensure message threads load correctly
  • Improve contact loading accuracy
  • Fix push notification badge issues
Show 13 more
  • Improve text thread update speed
  • Enhance call stability
  • Improve customer support responsiveness
  • Provide in-app sign-up
  • Allow account recovery
  • Offer refunds
  • Implement missed call notifications
  • Ensure missed calls appear in logs
  • Enable voicemail playback in app
  • Develop an iPad app
  • Improve sign-up process
  • Add more phone number filtering options
  • Integrate with CRM software like HubSpot

Riser

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App stops working after phone updates
  • Notification and reminder system limitations
  • Service suspension for inactivity
  • Inconsistent lead quality and accuracy
  • Contact information errors in leads

Requested features

5 requests
  • Desktop version for call data management
  • Increased reminder limits in free version
  • Contact sync functionality
  • Desktop dialing capability
  • Enhanced user interface learning resources

In-app purchases

None

String

No in-app purchases

None

Riser

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is String free?
String is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Riser free?
Riser is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, String or Riser?
Riser is rated higher. String averages 3.5 out of 5 from 62 ratings, while Riser averages 4.4 from 150 ratings.
Do String or Riser have ads?
Neither String nor Riser shows ads.
Which is updated more often, String or Riser?
String ships an update every 2 months, and Riser fortnightly. Most recently, String was updated on November 2, 2026 and Riser on November 3, 2026.

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