Comparison

LINE vs Messages

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

Head to head
About

LINE

Connect with friends and family through free voice and video calls, messages, and a wide array of stickers and themes. This communication platform offers a seamless experience across mobile, desktop, and smartwatches, with enhanced privacy features and content discovery options.

Highlights
  • Free voice and video calls
  • Messaging
  • Stickers and emojis
  • Customizable themes
  • Cross-platform compatibility
  • Encrypted messages
  • Keep Memo for storage
Features
Read full description

LINE is transforming the way people communicate, closing the distance between family, friends, and loved ones—for free. With voice and video calls, messages, and a limitless variety of exciting stickers, you’ll be able to express yourself in ways that you never thought possible. Available all around the world on mobile, desktop, and Apple Watch, the LINE platform continues to grow, always offering new services and features that make your life more fun and convenient. ◆ Messages, Voice calls, Video calls. Enjoy voice and video calls and exchanging messages with your LINE friends. ◆ LINE stickers, emojis, and themes Express yourself just the way you want with stickers and emojis. Also, find your favorite themes to customize your LINE app. ◆ Home Gives you easy access to your friends list, birthdays, the sticker shop and various services and contents offered by LINE. ◆ Seamless connection on mobile, Apple Watch, and desktop Chat anytime and anywhere. Whether you’re on the go or working at the office or remotely, use LINE via your iPhone, Apple Watch, or desktop. ◆ Store your personal information with Keep Memo My own chatroom to temporarily store messages, photos, and videos. ◆ Messages protected with Letter Sealing Letter Sealing encrypts your messages, call history and location information. Always be assured of your privacy when using LINE. *We recommend using a data plan or connecting to Wi-Fi as you may incur data usage fees otherwise. *Please check the recommended specifications from LINE settings > “Help center” > “LINE usage environment/Settings” > "System requirements for LINE” when installing/updating the LINE app. In addition, if you're using an old version of iOS, we recommend updating it to the latest version. ▼Click here to see how to update your iOS version. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204204 ********** If your network speed is too slow or you don't have enough device storage, LINE may not install properly. If this happens, please check your connection and try again. **********

About

Messages

Communicate with contacts through unlimited texts, photos, videos, and documents. Supports iMessage for Apple devices and RCS, SMS, and MMS for others. Features include message editing, unsending, and scheduling.

Highlights
  • Send unlimited texts, photos, videos, and documents
  • iMessage, RCS, SMS, and MMS support
  • Edit and unsend messages
  • Schedule messages
  • Message effects and stickers
  • Group chat features
  • Messages in iCloud
Features
Read full description

Stay connected to the people and conversations that matter most. Send unlimited texts, photos, videos, documents, and more to any iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, or visionOS device with iMessage, or use it to send RCS, SMS, and MMS messages. Features • Send texts, photos, videos, audio messages, documents, stickers, Memoji, polls, and more to contacts using their phone number or Apple Account. • Send Messages via satellite* to stay connected with friends and family even when you are without cellular or Wi-Fi connection. • Automatically translate incoming texts, including group messages.* • On-device spam detection filters out spam from your conversations list. • Opt-in to screen messages from unknown numbers. • Tapback with any emoji or sticker for a quick reply to express what you think about a message. • Add effects to your messages like animated text effects, full-screen effects, and bubble effects to bring your conversations to life. • Schedule a message to send at a specified time with Send Later. • Your name and photo, or even Memoji, can be shared with your friends. • Edit any message for up to 15 minutes after sending it. Recipients will be able to see a record of edits made to the message. • Unsend any message for up to 2 minutes after sending it. • Mark as unread when you don’t have time to respond but want to be sure to reply to the sender later. • Name a group and add a photo to personalize the group conversation. • Mentions let you direct a message to an individual in a group conversation. • Inline replies let you reply to a specific message and see all related messages in their own view. • Pin conversations to keep up to nine of your favorite message threads at the top of the list. • iMessage apps let you quickly share photos, recently played music, stickers, GIFs, Apple Cash*, and more right from Messages. • Start a Check In with a family member or friend to let them know when you’ve arrived at a destination or set up a Check In for a time duration. • Use Messages in iCloud to keep your entire message history updated and available on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro, even when you set up a brand-new device. • SharePlay via Messages lets you share synchronized activities like movies, music, workouts, games and more while chatting with friends in Messages. • Shared with You shows content sent to you by friends in Messages conversations in a section in Photos, Safari, News*, Music*, Podcasts, or the TV app* • Collaboration lets you invite others to collaborate on a file via Messages and shares activity updates in the thread when someone makes an edit to a shared project. Apple Watch Features • Quickly read and respond to incoming messages. • Use smart replies, dictation, audio messages, stickers, #images*, Memoji, polls, or the QWERTY keyboard (Apple Watch Series 7 or later models). • Automatically translate incoming texts, including group messages.* • Start a Check In with a family member or friend to let them know when you’ve arrived at a destination or set up a Check In for a time duration. • Pin conversations to keep your favorite message threads at the top of the list. • Save photos, audio messages and videos from your messages. • Ask Siri to send a message to your contacts. • Respond to a specific message inline to keep conversations organized. • Send, receive, and request money with Apple Pay*. • Mute or delete conversations. * Not available in all regions.

Screenshots

LINE4 screens
Messages4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Messages at 4.1 against LINE's 3.2. Messages also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 14) and ads (none vs shown). LINE's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 9 months) and chart position (#43 vs unranked). On price and ratings volume 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. LINE sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Messages asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Messages holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 18K and 38K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 14% of LINE's written reviews are positive against 46% of Messages's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

LINE ships an update every 9 days, Messages every 9 months. Both last shipped on October 19, 2026.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
LINE versus Messages: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLINEMessages
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.2 (18K ratings)4.1 (38K ratings) — better
Positive reviews14.2% of reviews45.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings18K38K — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 9 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#43 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS18.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size401 MB9 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperLINE CorporationApple Inc.

Customer experience

LINE

All ratings18,449 ratings
Positive51.0%
Neutral9.5%
Negative39.5%
Written reviews1,651 reviews
Positive14.2%
Neutral6.3%
Negative79.5%

Messages

All ratings38,415 ratings
Positive75.4%
Neutral6.1%
Negative18.5%
Written reviews4,928 reviews
Positive45.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative42.0%

User reviews

LINE

From 18K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💬 Great messaging app
  • 🎨 Customizable with cute stickers
  • 🌐 Useful for international communication
  • 🔒 Secure and private

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent bugs and glitches
  • 🔑 Difficult account recovery and transfer
  • 🚫 Accounts suspended without explanation
  • 🤖 Poor customer support
  • 🔍 Difficulty adding and searching for contacts

Messages

From 38K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and reliable messaging
  • 🔒 End-to-end encryption
  • 👍 Seamless integration with Apple devices
  • 💡 Fun features like Memoji and stickers
  • 🤝 Easy group chat management

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🔍 Limited search functionality
  • 📤 Inability to delete messages for others
  • 🔔 Lack of typing indicators in group chats
  • 📱 Incompatibility with non-Apple devices

Bugs and requests

LINE

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Unable to log in or sign up
  • Messages not sending or receiving
  • Notifications not working properly
  • App crashing after updates
  • Incompatibility with new devices and OS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • See who is online and typing
  • Ability to translate messages
  • Automatic chat history backup and sync
  • Easier sticker management and organization
  • More ways to earn free stickers and points

Messages

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Messages not delivering consistently
  • App crashing or freezing on launch
  • Issues with iCloud sync and message history
  • Problems with location sharing and privacy

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to schedule messages
  • Option to lock specific conversations
  • More customization options for Memoji
  • Improved voice message functionality
  • Expanded reaction/emoji options

In-app purchases

13 purchases

LINE

Subscriptions2
  • スタンダード1 Month trial$3.991 Month
  • Monthly Plan1 Month trial2 variants$4.991 Month
One-time11
  • 50 LINE Coin$0.99
  • 70 LINE Coin$1.39
  • LINE Characters: All the Love$1.99
Show 8 more
  • Brown & Cony's Secret Date!$1.99
  • Brown & Cony's Lovey Dovey Date$1.99
  • 100 LINE Coin$1.99
  • 150 LINE Coin$2.99
  • 200 LINE Coin$3.99
  • 500 LINE Coin$7.99
  • 800 LINE Coin$11.99
  • 1600 LINE Coin$22.99
None

Messages

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is LINE free?
LINE is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Messages free?
Messages is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, LINE or Messages?
Messages is rated higher. LINE averages 3.2 out of 5 from 18K ratings, while Messages averages 4.1 from 38K ratings.
Do LINE or Messages have ads?
LINE shows ads; Messages does not.
Which is updated more often, LINE or Messages?
LINE ships an update every 9 days, and Messages every 9 months. Most recently, LINE was updated on October 19, 2026 and Messages on October 19, 2026.

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