InmateSales vs VIPChat App
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
InmateSales
Manage your account for inmate services, including making deposits for products and scheduling video sessions. Send emails to individuals at supported facilities. Not all services are available at every location.
- Manage InmateSales account
- Make deposits for products
- Schedule video sessions
- Send emails to inmates
- Check facility service availability
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The InmateSales mobile app allows you to manage your InmateSales account and make deposits for products at certain facilities. You can also schedule video sessions and send emails to these individuals where they are allowed at a facility. Not all facilities support all products and services that we offer.
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 InmateSales's 2.4. VIPChat App also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 4 months). InmateSales's advantage is ratings volume (244 vs 4) and chart position (#120 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 2.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: InmateSales has 244 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.
InmateSales ships an update every 4 months, VIPChat App every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | InmateSales | VIPChat App |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.4 (244 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 15.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 244 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #120 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 108 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Combined Public Communications | Edwin Pena |
Customer experience
InmateSales
VIPChat App
Bugs and requests
InmateSales
Reported bugs
24 issues- App crashes frequently
- Login issues
- Account creation fails
- Calls drop mid-conversation
- App logs out unexpectedly
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- Emails and pictures not being sent/received
- Video calls fail to connect
- Verification links expire
- App freezes on logo screen
- Calls not ringing through
- Mutes inmate during calls
- Cannot hear inmate
- App kicks users out
- Password reset links not sent
- Error message: failed to reach contact
- Visits not logged correctly
- Chirp screen goes black
- Calls come through as normal phone calls
- Text messages not delivered
- App deletes unsaved emails
- Cannot zoom in on text
- Reloading app does not fix issues
- Verification emails not working
- App crashing after loading money
Requested features
18 requests- Add option to save email drafts
- Fix glitch with normal phone calls
- Make video visits longer
- Show phone airtime and Chirp text balance on app
- Allow larger increments for video visits and tablet time
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- Make app 100% reliable
- Add more ways to create an account
- Add account reset button
- Provide FAQ page with clear pricing
- Allow users to see phone balance on app
- Fix issue with inmate not being able to use specific funds
- Allow users to check account balances
- Add ability to connect with inmate for texts
- Allow uploading pictures for emails
- Fix issue with emails/pictures not being received
- Add dark mode option
- Improve text message delivery
- Allow users to email customer service
VIPChat App
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
InmateSales
No in-app purchases
VIPChat App
No in-app purchases
