Meshtastic vs Phantom
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.
Phantom
This app enables off-grid voice and text communication over mesh networks, functioning without cell towers, Wi-Fi, or internet. It utilizes Meshtastic-compatible LoRa hardware for direct peer-to-peer messaging.
- Off-grid voice and text messaging
- Works without cell towers, Wi-Fi, or internet
- Hold-to-talk voice reconstruction
- Bluetooth connectivity to Meshtastic LoRa nodes
- Interoperable with standard Meshtastic app
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Phantom is an off-grid messaging app for mesh networks - voice and text that works when everything else fails. No cell towers, no wifi, no internet, no servers, no monthly fees. Hold to talk. Your voice gets reconstructed on the other end. No audio ever crosses the radio. Works with any Meshtastic-compatible LoRa node over Bluetooth. Interoperates with the standard Meshtastic app. Requires Meshtastic - compatible LoRa hardware. The future is mesh. Phantom brings voice to it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Meshtastic at 44% against Phantom's 0%. Meshtastic also leads on rating (4.1 vs 3.7) and ratings volume (824 vs 3). Phantom's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 10 days). 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
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, 4.1 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Meshtastic has 824 ratings behind it against 3, 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 0% of Phantom's.
Meshtastic ships an update every 10 days, Phantom every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Meshtastic | Phantom |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (824 ratings) — better | 3.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 44.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 824 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 — better | 26.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 95 MB | 778 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Meshtastic LLC | Antonio Lambert |
Customer experience
Meshtastic
Phantom
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
Phantom
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Meshtastic
No in-app purchases
Phantom
No in-app purchases
