Comparison

Venmo vs Chime®

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Venmo

A fast, safe, and social way to send and receive money with friends and family. Easily split bills, buy crypto, and manage your finances with integrated debit and credit cards.

Highlights
  • Send and receive money
  • Split payments among friends
  • Buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrency
  • Venmo credit and debit cards
  • Teen accounts
  • Business profiles
  • Instant transfers and direct deposit
Features
Read full description

Venmo is the fast, safe, social way to pay and get paid. Join over 90+ million people who use the Venmo app today   SEND AND RECEIVE MONEY Pay and get paid for anything from your share of rent to a gift. Add a note to each payment to share and connect with friends SPLIT A REQUEST AMONG MULTIPLE VENMO FRIENDS You can now send a payment request to multiple Venmo friends at once and customize the amount each person owes   GET REWARDED WITH THE VENMO CREDIT CARD Earn up to 3% cash back on your eligible top spend category¹ —we’ll do the math. Split card purchases with Venmo friends, and shop everywhere Visa® credit cards are accepted—online, in-store, worldwide² BUY CRYPTO WITH AS LITTLE AS $1 Buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrency right on the Venmo app. New to crypto? Learn more with in-app resources. Crypto is volatile, so it can rise and fall in value quickly. Be sure to take it at a pace you're comfortable with³ SHOP WITH THE VENMO DEBIT CARD Spend your money in Venmo everywhere Mastercard® is accepted around the globe — and earn cashback from some of your favorite spots. Terms apply: venmo.me/rewards⁴ VENMO TEEN ACCOUNTS A debit card of their very own and a Venmo account to send money to trusted friends and family⁵. All with no minimum balance or monthly fee   DO BUSINESS ON VENMO Create a business profile for your side gig, small business, or anything in between—all under your same Venmo account MANAGE YOUR MONEY Get your Venmo money in the bank within minutes using Instant Transfer⁶. Want your paycheck up to two days earlier* than your normal payday? Try Direct Deposit   ¹Use of cash back is subject to the terms of the Venmo account. See Rewards Program Terms: https://www.synchronycredit.com/gecrbterms/html/RewardsTerms.htm ²Application subject to credit approval. You must be at least 18 years old and reside in the US or its territories to apply. You must have a Venmo account in good standing, that has been open for at least 30 days prior to application The Venmo Credit Card is issued by Synchrony Bank pursuant to a license from Visa USA Inc. VISA is a registered trademark of Visa International Service Association and used under license ³Terms apply. Only available in the US and limited in certain states. Buying and selling cryptocurrency is subject to a number of risk and may result in significant losses. Venmo does not make any recommendation regarding buying or selling cryptocurrency. Consider seeking advice from your financial or tax adviser ⁴The Venmo Mastercard® is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Mastercard and the circles design are registered trademarks of Mastercard International Incorporated. The Bancorp Bank, N.A. is issuer of the Card only and not responsible for the associated accounts or other products, services, or offers from Venmo ⁵ The Venmo Teen Debit Card is available for eligible users 13-17 years old with parent or legal guardian sign up. Terms apply ⁶ Transfer speed depends on your bank and could take up to 30 minutes. Transfers are reviewed which may result in delays or funds being frozen or removed from your Venmo account. * The availability of Direct Deposit is subject to your employer sending paycheck information 1-2 days in advance of payday. Early access compared to standard banking practice of posting funds at settlement and subject to your employer providing pay information to the bank prior to payday. It may take up to two pay cycles for Direct Deposit to take effect. Transactions are reviewed, which may result in delays or funds being frozen or removed from your account. Emoji artwork is provided by emojitwo.github.io/, originally released as emojione.com/ by Ranks.com with contributions from the Emojitwo community and is licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode Venmo 2211 N. First St., San Jose, CA 95131

About

Chime®

Manage your finances with tools for early payday access, fee-free overdraft protection, and credit building. This app offers a checking account with fee-free cash deposits and ATMs, plus automatic savings features and 24/7 support.

Highlights
  • Early payday access
  • Fee-free overdraft protection
  • Credit building tools
  • Automatic savings
  • Fee-free ATM access
  • Send money with no transfer fees
Features
Read full description

Join America’s #1 Choice for Banking™ and the millions who already bank fee-free.⁵ With Chime, your money works harder from the moment it hits your account.

Screenshots

Venmo4 screens
Chime®4 screens

Verdict

The call

Venmo and Chime® both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 61% of Chime®'s written reviews are positive against 14% of Venmo's. Venmo's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (15M vs 1.6M). On price, rating, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Venmo against 4.8 for Chime®. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Venmo has 15M ratings behind it against 1.6M, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 14% of Venmo's written reviews are positive against 61% of Chime®'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Venmo versus Chime®: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVenmoChime®
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (15M ratings) — better4.8 (1.6M ratings)
Positive reviews14.4% of reviews61.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15M — better1.6M
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#4 — better#9
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size693 MB277 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperVenmoChime Financial, Inc.

Customer experience

Venmo

All ratings15,473,060 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral1.4%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews7,468 reviews
Positive14.4%
Neutral3.9%
Negative81.7%

Chime®

All ratings1,626,254 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral1.3%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews4,838 reviews
Positive61.1%
Neutral3.7%
Negative35.3%

User reviews

Venmo

From 15M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Reliable, user-friendly, and convenient
  • 🔒 Robust security features
  • 👍 Untrustworthy vendor protection
  • 💡 Investing feature built-in

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and glitchy app
  • 🔒 Weak account security
  • 🔒 Unreliable customer support
  • 💰 Holds funds without explanation
  • 💰 Freezes accounts without notice

Chime®

From 1.6M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Early paycheck
  • 💰 No overdraft fees
  • 👍 Easy to use app
  • 💳 Credit builder feature
  • 💳 Spot me feature

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent direct deposit timing
  • 🤖 Poor chatbot support
  • 💳 Difficulty with card activation/replacement
  • 💰 Fees for cash deposits
  • 🤔 Unclear account closure policies

Bugs and requests

Venmo

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Payments getting declined without reason
  • Accounts being frozen or deleted unexpectedly
  • Delays in fund transfers and withdrawals
  • Inability to access own money in account

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to cancel transactions
  • Faster money transfers
  • Better account management tools
  • Improved customer service

Chime®

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Delayed check deposits
  • Unexplained account closures
  • Disappearing funds during transfers

Requested features

4 requests
  • Instant transaction updates
  • Option to choose credit builder amount
  • Temporary card for emergencies
  • Physical bank branches

In-app purchases

None

Venmo

No in-app purchases

None

Chime®

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Venmo free?
Venmo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chime® free?
Chime® is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Venmo or Chime®?
Venmo is rated higher. Venmo averages 4.8 out of 5 from 15M ratings, while Chime® averages 4.8 from 1.6M ratings.
Do Venmo or Chime® have ads?
Chime® shows ads; Venmo does not.
Which is updated more often, Venmo or Chime®?
Venmo ships an update weekly, and Chime® weekly. Most recently, Venmo was updated on October 25, 2026 and Chime® on October 25, 2026.
Which is more popular, Venmo or Chime®?
Venmo currently peaks at #4 in the App Store charts, and Chime® at #9. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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