Meshtastic vs MeshScope
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.
MeshScope
Discover active Meshtastic nodes globally with this mobile mapping tool. View node locations, zoom in on nearby devices, and interact with an AI chatbot for detailed information. It connects to the global Meshtastic network via the internet.
- Global Meshtastic node discovery
- Interactive world map
- Nearby node identification
- Detailed node information
- AI MeshBot for node details
- Filter nodes by time
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The MeshScope application is a quick way to find active Meshtastic nodes, anywhere in the world. A mobile companion to the MeshScope web site, this makes it easy to find your position, and to zoom around and find other nodes nearby. Want to dig in to details? Chat with the AI MeshBot to find out more about nodes around you, chat in your native language, and have fun! The app relies on the Meshtastic network for finding nodes, and the nodes shown may be filtered by time to only see the most recent, or to see all nodes over the last several days. Want details? Tap a marker and view the specifics of any node on the map! Although this will show the Meshtastic network, it does not require a local mesh radio and uses an internet connection to retrieve the mesh network information. This also means that the app will not be able to show any mesh radios not reporting to the global Meshtastic MQTT network.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: MeshScope at 100% against Meshtastic's 44%. MeshScope also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2). Meshtastic's advantage is ratings volume (803 vs 2) 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.
MeshScope 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 2, 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 MeshScope's.
Meshtastic ships an update every 10 days, MeshScope fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Meshtastic | MeshScope |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (803 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 44.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 803 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | 16.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 76 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Meshtastic LLC | Lemuridae Labs LLC |
Customer experience
Meshtastic
MeshScope
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
MeshScope
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Meshtastic
No in-app purchases
MeshScope
No in-app purchases
