Pay Tel vs VIPChat App
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pay Tel
Stay connected with loved ones. Receive instant alerts for messages and notifications. Easily view your balance and add funds, or send photos to inmates in eligible correctional facilities.
- Instant message alerts
- Unread message count
- Current balance visibility
- Add funds link
- Send photos to inmates
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The Pay Tel app provides you with easy access to important functionality: Instant alerts for any notifications from Pay Tel™ or your inteleMESSAGE™ contacts. Current unread messages count indicator. Just press to open inteleMESSAGE™. Visibility to your current balance, and a link to the main PayTel.com site for Adding Funds. Send photos to inmates in eligible facilities.
VIPChat App
Connect instantly with friends and family through text, photos, videos, and voice messages. This free messaging app offers a clean, simple interface with push notifications to ensure you never miss an important conversation.
- Instant text messaging
- Photo and video sharing
- Voice messages
- Push notifications
- Clean, simple design
- Completely free
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Stay connected with the people who matter most. VIPChat is a simple, free messaging app for chatting with friends and family. FEATURES - Instant text messaging with read receipts and typing indicators - Voice and video calls - Group chats with photos, admins and mute - Photo, video, document and GIF sharing - Voice messages - Reply, edit, forward and delete messages - Push notifications so you never miss a message, with quick reply - Works offline: your chats are saved on your phone and messages send when you're back online - App lock with Face ID and privacy settings for last seen, read receipts and profile photo - Dark and light themes, colors, wallpapers and text size - 10 languages: English, Español, 中文, Tagalog, Français, Tiếng Việt, العربية, Kreyòl ayisyen, Português and Русский - Clean, simple, easy-to-use design - Completely free, no subscriptions Download VIPChat today and start chatting with the people you care about.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: VIPChat App at 5.0 against Pay Tel's 1.8. VIPChat App also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 months). Pay Tel's advantage is ratings volume (147 vs 3) and chart position (#194 vs unranked). 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.
VIPChat App holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pay Tel has 147 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Pay Tel ships an update every 2 months, VIPChat App every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pay Tel | VIPChat App |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.8 (147 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 6.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 147 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #194 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pay Tel Communications | Edwin Pena |
Customer experience
Pay Tel
VIPChat App
Bugs and requests
Pay Tel
Reported bugs
21 issues- App crashes on launch or during use
- Login authentication errors persist across sessions
- Messages fail to send despite payment being deducted
- Messages don't appear in inbox despite being sent
- App logs out randomly while actively in use
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- Typing causes screen to flicker and delete message content
- Blank white screens when trying to view messages
- App won't work when Wi-Fi is enabled (Error 403)
- Incorrect notification counts
- Balance doesn't update after adding funds
- Video call invitations don't pop up or display
- Call connections drop mid-conversation
- Echo/feedback during calls
- Calls ring once then hang up immediately
- Account lockout with 'phone number doesn't belong to account' error
- PIN number errors preventing login
- App won't open on certain devices (iPhone specific issues)
- Messages appear days late
- Duplicate messages being sent and charged
- App freezes when typing long messages
- Website login doesn't sync with app login
Requested features
12 requests- Improved app stability and performance optimization
- Better customer service responsiveness (live chat, phone support)
- Reduced pricing for calls and messages
- Same-day video visit scheduling
- Better message persistence (don't delete on app exit)
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- Improved call quality and connection stability
- Wi-Fi compatibility fix
- Better user interface design and navigation
- Automatic message saving/drafts
- Transaction history visibility
- Refund policy for failed transactions
- Faster fund processing and balance updates
VIPChat App
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Pay Tel
No in-app purchases
VIPChat App
No in-app purchases
