Comparison

Call.com vs SMS8.io

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

Head to head
About

Call.com

Get a real virtual phone number for work, travel, or personal use without needing a second SIM card. Make crystal-clear calls and send affordable SMS messages worldwide. Enjoy HD video calls and full-featured chat across all your devices.

Highlights
  • Virtual phone number
  • Voice and video calls
  • Affordable SMS messaging
  • Cross-device synchronization
  • Personalized voicemail
  • Call and SMS forwarding
  • Advanced availability controls
Features
Read full description

Your second phone number in an app. A real virtual number you can use on any device — no SIM cards, no extra phones. Call.com gives you a dedicated second line for work, travel, or personal use. Choose a local number in the US, UK, France, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, and Puerto Rico, with more countries coming soon. VOICE CALLS Make crystal-clear calls to mobiles and landlines worldwide at low rates. Call other Call.com users for free. SMS Send affordable SMS messages to any mobile number in the world. VIDEO CALLS One-to-one or group HD video calls with up to 10 participants. Free between Call.com users. CHAT & VOICE MESSAGES Full-featured chat with support for images, files, emojis, and voice messages. WHO IT'S FOR — Freelancers & Small Business: A dedicated work line to separate business and personal communication. Project a professional image with a local number. — Remote Teams: Shared company credit, flexible billing, and the ability to reassign numbers between team members in one click. — Expats & Digital Nomads: Keep a local number in your home country while living abroad. Friends, family, and banks can reach you without international charges. — International Travellers: Connect over Wi-Fi and avoid expensive roaming fees. — International Callers: Stay in touch with friends and family overseas at affordable rates. — Coaches & Teachers: Communicate with students and clients on a dedicated number with flexible availability settings. — Property Managers & Hosts: A separate line for guest and client inquiries across multiple listings. — Tablet & Laptop Users: Turn any device into a fully functioning phone — no physical SIM required. MANAGE MULTIPLE NUMBERS Add more than one virtual number and manage them all from a single app. Each number comes with its own voicemail, availability schedule, and call controls. FEATURES — Personalized voicemail for each number — Call and SMS forwarding — Advanced availability controls and quiet hours — Block unwanted calls and messages — Send SMS to multiple contacts at once — Synchronized contacts across all your devices — Remote logout for account security — Login activity monitoring — Number porting — transfer an existing number to Call.com LOW INTERNATIONAL RATES Affordable calls and SMS to hundreds of destinations. Transparent pricing visible in the app before you call or send a message. USE ON MULTIPLE DEVICES Your calls, messages, and contacts stay synchronized across your devices. Trusted by over 1,000,000 users worldwide. Built in Europe. For support, contact our team directly in the app or email support@call.com

About

SMS8.io

Send text messages from your computer using the SIM card in your iPhone or iPad. Compose messages in a dashboard or via API, and have your paired phone send them from your real number. Ideal for businesses and professionals needing to send confirmations, reminders, and alerts.

Highlights
  • Send SMS from computer
  • Use existing SIM card
  • API for custom integrations
  • Track delivery status
  • Manage contacts and groups
  • Log sent messages
Features
Read full description

SMS8 lets you send text messages from the SIM already in your iPhone & iPad, composed from your computer instead of your handset. Write a message in your SMS8 dashboard — or trigger it from your own CRM or application through the SMS8 API — and your paired phone sends it as a normal text from your real number. Your customer sees the number they already have saved for you, and they can reply to it the way they'd reply to anyone. WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH SMS8 Compose a text on your laptop and have your paired phone send it Trigger messages from your own software using the SMS8 API Send to a saved contact or a list you've built in your account Choose which SIM sends on dual-SIM devices Get delivery status back in your dashboard and on your webhook Save contacts, tag them, and group them for repeat sends Review a log of what your device has sent, with timestamps and status WHAT PEOPLE SEND WITH SMS8 Order confirmations when a sale goes through Booking and appointment confirmations, plus the reminder the day before Delivery and pickup updates as a job moves through your workflow Alerts your system raises — a failed job, a low stock level, a form submission Internal notifications to your own staff One-off messages to a customer who's easier to reach by text than by call MADE FOR EVERYDAY USE Developers who need real SMS delivery for notifications, alerts and testing without opening a carrier gateway account Shop owners sending order updates and appointment reminders from their own number Independent professionals — real estate, coaches, mechanics, tutors — sending reminders from a desk instead of a keypad Small teams dispatching messages from one shared business phone HOW IT WORKS Install SMS8 and sign in with your SMS8 account Grant SMS sending permission — you'll see a plain explanation before the request Open sms8.io on your computer to compose and send, or connect your own software with an API key YOUR NUMBER, YOUR MESSAGES Because the app uses the SIM already in your phone, recipients see your real phone number and your normal SIM plan applies. Nothing is rented, rerouted or rebranded — no shared short codes, no unfamiliar sender IDs, and no per-message gateway pricing layered on top of the plan you already pay for. WHAT SMS8 DOES NOT ACCESS SMS8 does not read, receive or intercept incoming messages SMS8 does not access your call log SMS8 does not read your device contacts — contacts live in your SMS8 account, added by you No ads, no third-party trackers, no analytics SDKs PERMISSIONS SMS8 requests one sensitive permission: sending SMS. It is used only to dispatch the messages you create in your own account. You'll see an in-app explanation before the request, and you can decline. A foreground service keeps the send queue running while the app is in the background. WHY PICK SMS8 Your own phone number, not a shared short code Sends on your existing SIM plan API and webhooks for your own applications Works with the phone you already carry — no extra hardware Small, focused app SUPPORT Email support@sms8.io or open a ticket in your account. Website: https://sms8.io

Screenshots

Call.com4 screens
SMS8.io4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Call.com at 4.6 against SMS8.io's 1.0. Call.com also leads on ratings volume (825 vs 1). SMS8.io's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly). On price, ads, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Call.com sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. SMS8.io asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Call.com holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Call.com has 825 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Call.com ships an update fortnightly, SMS8.io every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Call.com versus SMS8.io: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCall.comSMS8.io
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (825 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews38.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings825 — better1
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.415.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB41 MB
Age rating+174+
DeveloperCall.com TelecomNEXT LABS LLC

Bugs and requests

Call.com

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • In-app purchase not available
  • System server very bad, loading time out
  • Cannot log in to account
  • Numbers scramble when making calls
  • Error: 'sorry something went wrong, please try again' when making calls
Show 10 more
  • Logged out and purchased number disappeared after update
  • Fails KYC verification without explanation
  • Error: 'fetch credit products error'
  • App not logging in, says number is wrong
  • Internal server error / unable to fetch payment data
  • App not opening after migration from Cloud SIM
  • Calls cut off after a few seconds
  • Slow connection and calls disconnect after a few minutes
  • Cannot get through to numbers
  • Dropped SMS messages

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to send/receive pictures and video
  • Add more country options for numbers
  • Improve UI for handling multiple numbers
  • Allow default number selection
  • Enable in-app purchases via App Store

SMS8.io

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Call.com

One-time10
  • Add $1.39$1.99
  • $4.99 Credit$4.99
  • Add $3.49$4.99
Show 7 more
  • $6.99 Credit$6.99
  • 1 Month Subscription$6.99
  • $9.99 Credit$9.99
  • 3 Month Subscription$9.99
  • Add $8.49$11.99
  • $24.99 Credit$24.99
  • 12 Month Subscription$24.99
None

SMS8.io

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Call.com free?
Call.com is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SMS8.io free?
SMS8.io is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Call.com or SMS8.io?
Call.com is rated higher. Call.com averages 4.6 out of 5 from 825 ratings, while SMS8.io averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Call.com or SMS8.io have ads?
Neither Call.com nor SMS8.io shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Call.com or SMS8.io?
Call.com ships an update fortnightly, and SMS8.io every 3 days. Most recently, Call.com was updated on November 3, 2026 and SMS8.io on October 31, 2026.

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