Meshtastic vs Forge Playground
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.
Forge Playground
Create custom mobile applications without writing any code. This tool allows for offline-first, peer-to-peer app functionality, enabling you to build and deploy tailored solutions for any need, anywhere.
- Offline-first app creation
- Peer-to-peer synchronization
- No-code mobile app builder
- Fully customizable apps
- Purpose-built app deployment
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Unlock the power of offline-first, peer-to-peer mobile apps—no coding required. With the Ditto Forge Playground App, effortlessly create fully customizable mobile applications designed to work offline and sync seamlessly peer-to-peer. Powered by Ditto's advanced technology, our intuitive Mobile Application Builder puts complete control in your hands. Create, customize, and deploy purpose-built mobile apps tailored specifically to your needs, all offline-enabled out of the box. Whether you're in the office or in the field, Ditto empowers you to work anywhere, do anything, and build exactly the app you envision—without ever writing a line of code.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Forge Playground at 100% against Meshtastic's 44%. Forge Playground also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2). Meshtastic's advantage is ratings volume (803 vs 5) and device support (4 vs 2). 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.
Forge Playground holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Meshtastic has 803 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 44% of Meshtastic's written reviews are positive against 100% of Forge Playground's.
Meshtastic ships an update every 10 days, Forge Playground every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Meshtastic | Forge Playground |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (803 ratings) | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 44.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 803 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days — better | Every 11 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 76 MB | 63 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Meshtastic LLC | DittoLive Incorporated |
Customer experience
Meshtastic
Forge Playground
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
Forge Playground
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Meshtastic
No in-app purchases
Forge Playground
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Meshtastic free?
Is Forge Playground free?
Which has better reviews, Meshtastic or Forge Playground?
Do Meshtastic or Forge Playground have ads?
Which is updated more often, Meshtastic or Forge Playground?
Other comparisons
