Meshtastic vs Ola Radio
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Meshtastic
This app enables off-grid, decentralized communication via a low-power mesh network. Send text messages in areas lacking cellular or WiFi service.
- Off-grid communication
- Decentralized mesh network
- Low-power LoRa radio support
- Text messaging
- No cellular/WiFi required
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Meshtastic® is an open source, off-grid, decentralized, mesh network built to run on low-power Lora radios letting you send text messages in areas without reliable cellular or WiFi service.
Ola Radio
This app simplifies walkie-talkie management with features like facility management, configuration scheme management, and community management. It offers one-click sharing of frequency schemes for convenient intelligent communication.
- Walkie-talkie facility management
- Configuration scheme management
- Community management
- One-click frequency scheme sharing
- Intelligent communication
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Ola Radio is a convenient and easy-to-operate walkie-talkie intelligent management tool. It integrates walkie-talkie Facility Management, configuration scheme management, community management, and has one-click sharing of the same frequency scheme and other special functions. Fully meet your walkie-talkie daily management needs and take you easily into a new era of convenient intelligent communication.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Meshtastic at 4.2 against Ola Radio's 2.1. Meshtastic also leads on review sentiment (45% vs 14%) and ratings volume (803 vs 52). Ola Radio's advantage is iOS requirement (15 vs 17.5). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Meshtastic holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 2.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Meshtastic has 803 ratings behind it against 52, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of Meshtastic's written reviews are positive against 14% of Ola Radio's.
Meshtastic ships an update every 10 days, Ola Radio every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Meshtastic | Ola Radio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (803 ratings) — better | 2.1 (52 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 45.2% of reviews — better | 14.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 803 — better | 52 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | 15 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 76 MB | 156 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Meshtastic LLC | 福建宝锋电子有限公司 |
Customer experience
Meshtastic
Ola Radio
Bugs and requests
Meshtastic
Reported bugs
4 issues- Canned messages configuration issues
- Location sharing and traceroute functions not working
- Settings screen bugs and crashes
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between devices
Requested features
5 requests- Offline maps support
- Ability to customize notifications
- More sorting and filtering options for nodes
- Apple Watch and Shortcuts integration
- Improved documentation and user guidance
Ola Radio
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Meshtastic
No in-app purchases
Ola Radio
No in-app purchases
