Fext vs MessageDesk
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Fext
Send a single message to multiple recipients, with each person receiving it as a private, one-on-one SMS. This app offers a simple, fast, and organized way to conduct group texting without the clutter of traditional group chats. It's designed for personal outreach and clear communication.
- Private one-on-one SMS delivery
- No noisy group threads
- Create flexible groups
- Reuse message templates
- Attach photos, video, or audio
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Fext is a texting app for iPhone and iPad. Send one message to many people; each person receives it as a private one-on-one SMS. Simple, fast, organized, and personal — like Messages, but built to scale. Simple texting at its finest. Built for real-world outreach • Send text messages that read like individual conversations • Run clean, direct group texts without noisy threads • Create flexible groups and reuse templates • Attach photos, video, or audio when needed Why people choose it They want a group messaging app that behaves like Messages, not a group chat. They want easy texting with a personal feel. They want the speed of SMS, without reply-all clutter. They want to reach people fast and keep communication clear and direct. If you’re looking for a group text app that can send clean group texts and stay simple, Fext was built for that. Group text. Personal delivery. You will need a subscription in order to get access to app's features. Each subscription will be automatically renewed unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current payment period. Your iTunes account will be automatically charged at the same price for renewal within the 24-hour period prior to the end of the current payment period unless you change your subscription preferences in your iTunes Account Settings. When a subscription is canceled, access to the app’s features will expire at the end of the current payment period. Questions: contact@pericarp.io Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
MessageDesk
Integrate SMS messaging into your business phone lines, including VoIP and landlines. This app offers a shared team inbox and broadcast capabilities for efficient communication. Features like scheduled messages, autoresponders, and templates help streamline SMS workflows.
- Add SMS to business phone numbers
- Shared team SMS inbox
- Mass text broadcasts
- Scheduled text messages
- Keyword-based autoresponders
- Automation
- Pre-saved text message templates
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Add texting to any business phone number including VoIP and landlines. Use MessageDesk's shared team SMS inbox and mass text broadcasts to get the right message to the right people at the right time. Streamline your SMS communication and save time with scheduled text messages, keyword-based autoresponders, automation, and pre-saved text message templates.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: MessageDesk at 80% against Fext's 24%. MessageDesk also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 16) and iOS requirement (13.0.0 vs 15.0). Fext's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.0 vs 3.7). On price and device support 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. Fext sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. MessageDesk asks for nothing beyond the download.
Fext holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Fext has 551 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 24% of Fext's written reviews are positive against 80% of MessageDesk's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Fext ships an update every 5 days, MessageDesk every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 12, 2026 and July 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Fext | MessageDesk |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (551 ratings) — better | 3.7 (17 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 23.6% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 551 — better | 17 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Subscription | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 82 MB | 76 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pericarp Inc. | Alderwood Labs Inc. |
Customer experience
Fext
MessageDesk
Bugs and requests
Fext
Reported bugs
4 issues- Verification process fails
- Can't log in or sign up
- Scheduled texts not sent
- Glitches and crashes
Requested features
4 requests- Allow scheduling texts from own number
- Integrate with iPhone Messages app
- Add auto-search function for Pro numbers
- Provide better customer support and communication
MessageDesk
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Fext
- Fext Plus$1.997 Days
- Fext Plus$3.991 Month
- Fext Gold$3.997 Days
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- Fext Plus$7.993 Months
- Unlimited$8.997 Days
- Personal Phone Number$9.997 Days
- Fext Platinum$19.993 Months
- Personal Phone Number$19.991 Month
- Unlimited$29.991 Month
- Personal Phone Number$49.991 Year
- Unlimited Promotion$49.991 Year
- Unlimited7 Days trial$69.991 Year
- 100 SMS Credits$9.99
- 250 SMS Credits$19.99
- 2000 SMS Credits$119.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- 25000 SMS Credits$999.99
MessageDesk
No in-app purchases









