Groups vs A2Z Groups
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Groups
This app transforms your phone's contacts into a private social network. Organize people, share updates, and stay connected without sharing your data with large tech companies. It offers features for communication, event planning, and contact management.
- Organize contacts into custom groups
- Set reminders to reach out
- Send personalized group messages
- Create events and invite guests
- Share content from any app
- Data privacy focused
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You've just found the best, easiest app for staying in touch with people. Try it for yourself — it's free! Downloaded by millions in over 100 countries, Groups turns your phone's native contacts into a private social network. Organize your groups, share with friends and family, and stay connected — without feeding Big Tech your data. ORGANIZE YOUR CONTACTS: ◆ Group by how you know them — friends, family, work, hobbies ◆ See who you met recently and interaction history ◆ Smart search finds anyone instantly ◆ Clean up duplicates and merge contacts STAY IN TOUCH: ◆ Set reminders to reach out to people who matter ◆ Send personalized messages to your whole circle at once ◆ Message templates for birthdays, holidays, events ◆ Track who you haven't spoken to in a while SHARE TOGETHER: ◆ Exchange contact info instantly with QR codes ◆ Take Group Photos with fun AI effects ◆ Create events and invite people (they join via browser — no app needed) ◆ Share links, photos, and content from any app ◆ Custom icons for each group YOUR DATA STAYS YOURS: ◆ Unlike Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn, your contacts never leave your phone. ◆ Messages go directly through SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, or Email — recipients don't need Groups to receive them. ◆ No algorithms deciding who sees your posts. No ads. No data mining. No selling your information. ◆ Just a better way to stay connected with the people you actually care about. Through channels you already use. WORKS WITH EVERYTHING: ◆ Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, and more. ◆ Fully compatible with iOS features like Do Not Disturb, Voice Messages, and Shortcuts. Now available on iPad. OWN YOUR COMMUNITY Every contact is real social capital. Whether you're organizing a book club, coordinating family events, or building a community around shared interests — Groups helps you bring people together on your terms. Free to download. Start growing your private social network today.
A2Z Groups
Manage your contacts and send messages or emails to groups efficiently. Organize contacts, create custom groups, and send personalized mass communications. Features include backups, birthday reminders, and contact sharing.
- Create and manage contact groups
- Send mass texts and group emails
- Backup and restore contacts
- Birthday and anniversary notifications
- Share and export contacts
- Clone contacts and groups
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A2Z is the complete contact manager! With A2Z, you can easily create, edit, and delete contacts & groups. Send mass texts and group emails. View recently created contacts. Share or print your contacts. Create backups. Get birthday notifications. And so much more: CONTACTS: • View all of your contacts organized by account or group • Easily find a contact with A2Z's powerful search tool • Select multiple contacts and perform a number of actions including text, email, share, and delete • Quickly perform a number of functions with one touch directly from the contact card GROUPS: • Create groups of contacts from any account including iCloud, Google, Exchange or Outlook • Filter contacts by one or more groups at the same time • Add & remove contacts from a particular group • Add & remove groups from a particular contact FAVORITES: • Create a list of favorites allowing you to quickly call/message/email those contacts GROUP EMAILS & MESSAGES: • Send messages to groups via iMessage, SMS, & WhatsApp • Send emails to groups via Mail App or Gmail App • Attach photos & documents, including from Dropbox • Assign the to/cc/bcc email field to each contact individually • Give your message a personal touch - Automatically refer to each contact by name COMPANIES, BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, MOST VIEWED, RECENTLY CREATED/MODIFIED/DELETED: • Sort your contacts by company name • View upcoming birthdays & anniversaries • View your most frequently viewed contacts • View recently created & modified contacts • View & restore your recently deleted contacts SHARE CONTACTS: • Share one or more contacts via text message, email, or various other services • Export contacts in the CSV or vCard format DELETE CONTACTS & GROUPS: • Quickly delete contacts & groups BACKUP: • Create a backup of any contact account • Restore your backup to any contact account CLONE CONTACTS & GROUPS: • Clone a contact from the contact card screen including all contact fields & groups • Clone a group so you don't have to add all of the group members manually START SCREEN: • Specify whether the app should load the contacts, groups, or favorites screen at startup SHORTCUTS: • Press & hold a contact or group to conveniently perform a number of common functions SYNC CONTACTS WITH GOOGLE: • Fully compatible with the "Contacts Sync" app WORKS WELL WITH OTHER CONTACT APPS: • Any contact changes you make with this app will be reflected in any other contact app that queries the iPhone address book (including the standard Contacts & Phone app) SUBSCRIPTIONS: • A2Z Contacts offers a "Premium" subscription which unlocks all of the premium features in the app, including unrestricted group emails and texts, unrestricted sharing of contacts, and access to future premium features. • The "Premium" subscription is priced at $0.99 USD and the subscription length is 1 year • Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, at a cost of $0.99 USD • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable • Terms of use: https://playaapps.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003030954 • Privacy Policy: https://playaapps.zendesk.com/hc/articles/229824667
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Groups at free with in-app purchases against A2Z Groups's subscription. Groups also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 weeks). A2Z Groups's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.6 vs 4.2). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and device support 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. Groups sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and A2Z Groups sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
A2Z Groups holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4.9K and 3.9K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 59% of Groups's written reviews are positive against 82% of A2Z Groups's.
Groups ships an update every 8 days, A2Z Groups every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Groups | A2Z Groups |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (4.9K ratings) | 4.6 (3.9K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 59.3% of reviews | 81.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4.9K — better | 3.9K |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 146 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Qbix, Inc. | Playa Apps |
Customer experience
Groups
A2Z Groups
User reviews
Groups
From 4.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 👍 Helpful for organizing contacts
- 🚀 Efficient for group messaging
- 👍 Customizable groups
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Unreliable sync and data loss
- 🐛 Buggy updates
- 👎 Poor customer support
- 👎 Confusing UI changes
A2Z Groups
From 3.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Efficient group messaging
- 💡 Helpful for organizing contacts
- 🔒 Reliable privacy policy
- 👍 Customizable groups
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
- 🐛 Issues with message delivery
- 🐛 Syncing problems after updates
- 🐛 Duplicate contacts
- 🐛 Disappearing notes/data
Bugs and requests
Groups
Reported bugs
4 issues- Groups disappearing
- Contacts not syncing properly
- Inability to create new groups
- Freezing and crashing on certain actions
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to delete groups and contacts
- Improved group management and sorting
- Option to send mass texts without individual replies
- Better integration with native contacts app
A2Z Groups
Reported bugs
4 issues- Contacts being deleted unexpectedly
- Inability to save contact information
- Syncing issues with Google/Outlook contacts
- Unreliable group messaging
Requested features
5 requests- Scheduled messaging
- Improved group management
- Better integration with native Contacts app
- Map feature
- Birthdays/anniversaries tracking
In-app purchases
Groups
- Unlock All Features$0.991 Month
- Plus$1.991 Month
- Premium$2.991 Month
- Turn off Ads$1.99
- Turn off Ads$4.99
- + 500 icons$5.99
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- Unlock All Features$5.99
- + I just like your app2 variants$9.99
- Unlock All Features$9.99
- + I just like your app$14.99
- + I really love your app!2 variants$19.99
A2Z Groups
- Premium (1 Year)2 variants$0.991 Year
- Premium (Lifetime Access)$1.99
- Make Contribution$4.99
- Larger Contribution$9.99
Questions
Is Groups free?
Is A2Z Groups free?
Which has better reviews, Groups or A2Z Groups?
Do Groups or A2Z Groups have ads?
Which is updated more often, Groups or A2Z Groups?
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