Comparison

Raptor Alert vs First Bell

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

Head to head
About

Raptor Alert

This app provides emergency management solutions for K-12 schools, including panic alerts, drill management, and student reunification. It streamlines emergency response and enhances school safety by connecting with 911 and existing security systems.

Highlights
  • Silent panic alert system
  • Expedited emergency response
  • Bi-directional security system integration
  • Drill scheduling and compliance tracking
  • Real-time student and staff accountability
  • Patented student reunification workflow
Features
Read full description

The Raptor® Alert mobile app is used with Raptor Technologies® newest emergency management solutions – Raptor Alert™, Raptor Reunification®, Raptor Accountability™ and Raptor Drill Manager®. Those who purchased Raptor Alert individually or with other Raptor Emergency Management solutions – should download this new Raptor Alert mobile app. Speak with your system administrator or Raptor support if you have questions. Raptor Emergency Management solutions include: RAPTOR ALERT™: Designed to work under duress, Raptor Alert is a silent panic alert system that works on the devices your schools use every day. Raptor Alert expedites and streamlines emergency response by allowing users to initiate an emergency alert directly through 911 and provide critical information to first responders, law enforcement and campus personnel. RAPTOR CONNECT™: Raptor Connect enables native, bi-directional integration with a school’s existing digital security systems and peripherals. It streamlines a school’s digital emergency response activations, speeding notifications and minimizing the impact of the situation. RAPTOR DRILL MANAGER®: Raptor Drill Manager gives you the power to prepare your schools for any situation. Simplify federal and state-mandated drill compliance and management by scheduling, initiating, logging and tracking drills from any smart device. District-level and school-level reports show drill status and crucial insights to help schools improve with each drill. RAPTOR ACCOUNTABILITY™: Connected with your student information system, Raptor enables teachers and staff to account for themselves, students and visitors directly in the mobile app while providing real-time status and location information. RAPTOR REUNIFICATION®: Recovery starts when the crisis begins. Minimizing trauma is directly correlated to safe, efficient reunification. Raptor Reunification software includes a patented reunification workflow and is aligned with and officially licensed by The “I Love U Guys” Foundation®. With Raptor, your reunification team can quickly confirm the location and status of each student and staff member in the mobile app. Connected to your student information system, Raptor helps ensure students are reunified only with approved guardians. Raptor Reunification includes Student Reunification®, Parent Reunification®, Guardian Reunification® and Family Reunification®. Transforming School Safety Through Software. Founded in 2002, Raptor Technologies has partnered with over 60,000 schools globally, including over 7,300 K-12 US school districts. Our team of safety software experts and our suite of industry-leading solutions provide schools with confidence in their safety and student wellbeing programs so they can focus on teaching. Driven by our shared mission to protect every child, every school, every day™, Raptor helps customers mitigate risks—from prevention and preparedness to reunifying families.

About

First Bell

This app helps high school students manage their daily class schedules with personalized views and live timers. Input your classes once to instantly organize your day and always know what's next.

Highlights
  • Personalized class schedules
  • Live timers for current block
  • View today's full schedule
  • Input class names and room numbers
  • Organized daily view
Read full description

FIRST BELL Lake Washington School District’s new high school bell schedule includes different start times, rotating blocks, and varying lunch schedules. First Bell keeps everything simple with a personalized schedule and live timers. Just enter your classes once, and your day is instantly organized. ** FEATURES * Edit: Input your class names, room numbers, and lunch. * Today's Schedule: View your full day’s schedule, synced to day of the week with live timers. * Current Schedule: A simple view of what class is happening now and what’s next. HOW IT WORKS
 Set up your classes in the app, and First Bell takes care of the rest. Your current block updates in real time, so you always know exactly where you’re supposed to be. WHY FIRST BELL
 No more paper schedules or scrolling through reminders. First Bell is built for high school students, by a high school student, to make staying on schedule effortless. Disclaimer This free app is provided 'as is' with no warranties, express or implied. The developer assumes no liability, implicit or explicit, for any issues arising from app usage. **This app is built for regular bell schedule days only.**

Screenshots

Raptor Alert4 screens
First Bell4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: First Bell at 4.8 against Raptor Alert's 2.6. First Bell also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 21%) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). Raptor Alert's advantage is ratings volume (183 vs 15) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). 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

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

First Bell holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Raptor Alert has 183 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 21% of Raptor Alert's written reviews are positive against 50% of First Bell's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Raptor Alert ships an update every 3 weeks, First Bell every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Raptor Alert versus First Bell: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRaptor AlertFirst Bell
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.6 (183 ratings)4.8 (15 ratings) — better
Positive reviews21.1% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings183 — better15
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size155 MB0 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRaptor Technologies, LLCSubramanian Ramaswamy

Customer experience

Raptor Alert

All ratings183 ratings
Positive35.5%
Neutral6.0%
Negative58.5%
Written reviews38 reviews
Positive21.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative78.9%

First Bell

All ratings15 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Raptor Alert

Reported bugs

31 issues
  • Roster system is poorly designed
  • UI is bulky
  • Return on questions by Raptor is bad
  • Extremely inconsistent
  • Doesn't work for half of the faculty and staff
Show 26 more
  • Not reliable or credible
  • Cannot disable 2 factor
  • Has not once sounded the alarm on phone during drills
  • Won't let me sign up
  • Alarm sound is too intense
  • Has never worked
  • Top bar for toggling schools and settings button not working
  • Cannot get campuses which don't apply removed
  • App is cumbersome to use
  • Hard to find rosters
  • Cannot remove personal phone number
  • Doesn't always alert or work
  • Cannot stop getting alerts even after removing app
  • Don't get alerts, only text and email
  • Phone going off constantly with drills/incidents
  • Cannot keep 'foghorn' from going off without removing app
  • App is not intuitive or quick
  • Takes at least 10 button clicks to get to roster
  • Won't let me log in
  • Most people tied to another school and support can't remove
  • Regularly get loud and disruptive alerts for wrong building
  • Will not let me login
  • Try to log in and get redirected back to same log in screen
  • Cannot successfully make it through the log in process
  • Couldn't even log in at all
  • Test alerts going off constantly since signing up

Requested features

6 requests
  • District should pay for personal phone use for 2FA
  • Better way to notify than personal phones
  • Require phone use on school devices like iPads
  • Remove ability to disable notification sound
  • Improve UI/UX for speed and intuitiveness
Show 1 more
  • Provide training on app usage

First Bell

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Raptor Alert

No in-app purchases

None

First Bell

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Raptor Alert free?
Raptor Alert is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is First Bell free?
First Bell is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Raptor Alert or First Bell?
First Bell is rated higher. Raptor Alert averages 2.6 out of 5 from 183 ratings, while First Bell averages 4.8 from 15 ratings.
Do Raptor Alert or First Bell have ads?
Neither Raptor Alert nor First Bell shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Raptor Alert or First Bell?
Raptor Alert ships an update every 3 weeks, and First Bell every 9 days. Most recently, Raptor Alert was updated on November 11, 2026 and First Bell on November 5, 2026.

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