Comparison

Heartbeat Chat vs VisualTribe

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

Head to head
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

About

VisualTribe

A creative community app for digital artists to practice, share work, and learn together. It offers lessons, challenges, and shared resources to foster consistency and collaboration among illustrators.

Highlights
  • Structured art lessons and tutorials
  • Creative challenges and prompts
  • Shared digital art resources (brushes, textures)
  • Community art gallery for sharing work
  • Discussion forums for feedback and ideas
  • Procreate integration and general digital art concepts
Features
Read full description

VisualTribe is a creative community app for digital artists who want to practice consistently, share their work, and create alongside other artists using Procreate and similar tools. Created by digital artist VisualTimmy, VisualTribe brings together lessons, creative challenges, shared resources, and community discussion into a focused space designed specifically for digital illustration. Inside the app, members can explore art challenges, follow guided creative prompts, and participate in discussions centered around illustration, color, composition, stylized artwork, and creative fundamentals. VisualTribe supports artists at different stages, from hobbyists building confidence to experienced creatives refining their workflow. The app includes access to structured lessons, short tutorials, and creative exercises focused on digital art. Content is organized into clear spaces so members can easily find lessons, challenges, shared resources, and conversations without feeling overwhelmed. VisualTribe also provides access to shared creative assets used throughout lessons and challenges, including Procreate brushes, textures, and other digital tools. These resources are designed to be used together by the community, encouraging experimentation, consistency, and shared creative exploration. An active art gallery allows members to share finished artwork, works in progress, and personal experiments. Artists can ask for feedback, exchange ideas, and connect with others who share similar creative interests. Community interaction plays a central role, encouraging regular participation and creative momentum. Creative challenges run regularly inside the app, giving members a reason to draw, explore new styles, and apply techniques in practical ways. These challenges focus on creative practice and exploration rather than competition. VisualTribe is built with Procreate users in mind, though many lessons and concepts apply broadly to digital illustration workflows. The app emphasizes clarity, creative progress, and community collaboration over passive content consumption. Whether you are looking for structured art practice, shared digital tools, or a place to connect with other artists and stay motivated, VisualTribe brings learning, resources, and community into one creative space.

Screenshots

Heartbeat Chat4 screens
VisualTribe4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: VisualTribe at 100% against Heartbeat Chat's 41%. VisualTribe also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0). Heartbeat Chat's advantage is ratings volume (135 vs 13). 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

VisualTribe holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Heartbeat Chat has 135 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 41% of Heartbeat Chat's written reviews are positive against 100% of VisualTribe's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Heartbeat Chat ships an update every 5 weeks, VisualTribe monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Heartbeat Chat versus VisualTribe: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHeartbeat ChatVisualTribe
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (135 ratings)5.0 (13 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings135 — better13
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB91 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperHeartbeat Chat, IncVisualTimmy LLC

Customer experience

Heartbeat Chat

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

VisualTribe

All ratings11 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and 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

VisualTribe

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Heartbeat Chat

No in-app purchases

None

VisualTribe

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Heartbeat Chat free?
Heartbeat Chat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is VisualTribe free?
VisualTribe is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Heartbeat Chat or VisualTribe?
VisualTribe is rated higher. Heartbeat Chat averages 4.0 out of 5 from 135 ratings, while VisualTribe averages 5.0 from 13 ratings.
Do Heartbeat Chat or VisualTribe have ads?
Neither Heartbeat Chat nor VisualTribe shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Heartbeat Chat or VisualTribe?
Heartbeat Chat ships an update every 5 weeks, and VisualTribe monthly. Most recently, Heartbeat Chat was updated on October 27, 2026 and VisualTribe on October 24, 2026.

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