Orchid VMS vs Relay | Communicator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Orchid VMS
Access and manage your Orchid video surveillance system from your mobile device. Connect securely over HTTPS to view live video feeds and control your system's settings from anywhere.
- Connect to Orchid VMS systems
- View live video feeds
- Manage system settings
- Secure HTTPS connection
- Save system credentials
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The Orchid VMS mobile app allows you to connect to, view video from, and manage your Orchid Fusion, Orchid Hybrid, or Orchid Alto system. Save your Orchid system's location and login credentials, then use your mobile device to connect instantly over HTTPS (required for mobile access). For more information about Orchid VMS, see https://www.ipconfigure.com/products.
Relay | Communicator
This app provides two-way communication and location tracking for teams. It includes features like a panic button and work tracking to enhance team performance and operational efficiency.
- Two-way communication
- Panic button
- GPS tracking
- Work tracking
- Radio replacement
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Relay turns the phone in your pocket into the most capable radio your team has ever carried. Built for frontline teams who don't work at desks, Relay puts push-to-talk, worker safety, and real-time location on one screen. Nationwide range. No line of sight. No dead channels. PUSH TO TALK, ANYWHERE Push to talk and your voice reaches your whole channel instantly, whether they're across the building or across the country. Switch channels in a tap and catch what you missed. Live Audio keeps the conversation running in the background while you work. CHAT AND PHOTOS WHEN VOICE ISN'T RIGHT Send text to a channel or directly to a teammate, right alongside the voice traffic in the same conversation. And now you can send photos, too — snap the broken fixture, the spill, the delivery, the whiteboard, and share it in seconds. Some things are so much faster to show than to describe. EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS EVERYONE Language shouldn't slow a team down. TeamTranslate translations appear right in the conversation, so a multilingual crew works as one. PANIC, WITH SOMEONE ON THE OTHER END Slide to confirm and Relay broadcasts a panic alert with your live location to the people who can actually respond. Responders acknowledge, follow your location as you move, and resolve the incident once you're safe. It's the difference between an alarm and a lifeline. INCIDENTS, DISPATCHED AND DOCUMENTED Dispatch an incident with a single button, mapped to the workflows your organization has already built. Track it as it unfolds, add details along the way, review the full message history, and close it out with a resolution. Every incident is kept in history for the review that comes later. FIND ANYONE, INSIDE OR OUT Outdoor maps place your team across a site or a city. Indoor positioning takes it further — the right building, the right floor, the right room — so "where are you?" stops being a question. Geofence alerts let you know the moment someone crosses a boundary that matters. YOUR ATTENTION, ON YOUR TERMS Availability Modes put you in control of what reaches you and when. Choose Available to hear everything as it comes in, Critical Alerts to let only the urgent stuff through while you focus, or Silenced for quiet when you need it. One tap to switch, so you're never fumbling with settings mid-shift. BUILT FOR THE WORK YOU DO Manufacturing floors, hotels, casinos, hospitals, campuses, golf courses, and large venues. Wherever your team moves, Relay moves with them. Relay is made for organizations running on the Relay platform. An active Relay account is required to sign in — check with your administrator, or visit relaypro.com to learn more.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Relay | Communicator at every 3 weeks against Orchid VMS's every 12 months. Relay | Communicator also leads on ratings volume (437 vs 4). Orchid VMS's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.6). On price, rating, 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Orchid VMS against 4.9 for Relay | Communicator. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Relay | Communicator has 437 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Orchid VMS ships an update every 12 months, Relay | Communicator every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Orchid VMS | Relay | Communicator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | 4.9 (437 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 75.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 437 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 79 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ipconfigure, Inc. | Relay, Inc |
Customer experience
Orchid VMS
Relay | Communicator
In-app purchases
Orchid VMS
No in-app purchases
Relay | Communicator
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Orchid VMS free?
Is Relay | Communicator free?
Which has better reviews, Orchid VMS or Relay | Communicator?
Do Orchid VMS or Relay | Communicator have ads?
Which is updated more often, Orchid VMS or Relay | Communicator?
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