VIVA vs SMS Expert
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
VIVA
This application offers a free messaging service for sharing instant messages, videos, and pictures with friends and family. It also provides various financial and telecom services, such as bill payments, money transfers, and mobile top-ups, accessible through a linked wallet.
- Instant messaging
- Multimedia sharing
- Profile personalization
- Location sharing
- Telecom services
- Bill payments
- Money transfer
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Viva Description: Viva is a cross-platform application compatible with iPhone and other Smartphone devices. At no cost anyone can become a member of Viva Network. It contains two major sections (Community and Services). The Community section contains a friendly user Messenger designed to share instant messages, Videos, pictures and other information with friends and family and Viva subscribers, it comes at no cost and requires no additional in-application purchases. It also includes a Bulk SMS and Single SMS options. The Services section implies that the user must have a Viva purchase account which could be acquired from any Viva network retail shop. Upon creating a Viva account from the Messenger section, a purchase wallet is automatically created for the user who may at his preference refill his wallet or leave it empty and simply use the Viva application as a Messenger only. At no time, Viva application will request an in-application purchase for the embedded Services. Viva Messenger features: Viva basically supports all Networks and carriers unless limitations are applied and uses the device internet connection including WiFi when available. -Auto synchronize of your phone contacts to identify Viva subscribers -Send instant messages to all your Viva subscribers contact at no cost. -Instant Translation with Voice play back. -Share multimedia -Personalize your profile with photo and status -High privacy level with Logout feature enabled -Share location -Uses push notification to instantly deliver messages. -Manage notification sounds -And many other features. Viva Services features: As mentioned, the use of these options implies that the user’s wallet is not empty For security reasons, the user will be prompted for his account password prior to each use of the below services. -Telecom Services: Buy a Voucher, DTU or Unit Transfer (To Recharge line) -Bill Payment: pay your bills through Viva -Money Transfer: Send and receive money from and into your Viva wallet to your friends and family. -Credit Transfer: Instantly transfer money from your Viva wallet to another one. -M-Payment: Generate payment code to be used on Viva POS Terminals Network. -Events: make your reservation for your preferred event via Viva. Bulk SMS (Requires a balance in Viva Wallet) Send bulk SMS to multiple recipients by setting the search criteria. Send SMS (Requires a balance in Viva Wallet) Send SMS to any of your contacts at lower cost. Transactions History: View transactions History Info Tab: -Check Your Balance. -Change Your Password. -Refill Your Viva Wallet. -Deactivate Account (deletes all user’s information in Viva network including Viva Wallet).
SMS Expert
This app helps professionals manage customer communications via SMS while protecting personal privacy. It offers features like contact grouping, automated replies, and anonymous group messaging for secure client interactions.
- Contact grouping
- Automated replies
- Anonymous group send
- Saved replies (Favorites)
- Customized auto-replies
- Conversation printing
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SMS Expert is for professionals that want to make themselves accessible to their customers via confidential SMS and also need to balance personal privacy with that availability. It will upload your contacts to the application automatically (you can add separate ones directly in the app as well). Why use SMS Expert instead of other texting apps? Our unique features for professionals are Grouping, Rules, and Auto-Replies. First, you group your contacts how you wish, and create auto-reply rules for those groups. Easy drag and drop for configuration of rules and groups. After setting up your groups you can take advantage of some of our unique features including: - Anonymous Group Send, where you can send a text to everyone in a group, but no one can see who else got that message, and replies back are only to you - Favorites, where you can save a reply or part of a reply for future use. - Customized auto-replies to individuals or groups - Printing, where you can print an entire conversation or just the new parts of it, for documentation purposes. This application is ideal for people that maintain confidential client lists and want to communicate via SMS (psychologists, lawyers, financial advisors, rental property owners, salesmen, etc.). **SMS Expert is paired with a free companion app, SMS Expert Lite to facilitate secure communication. ***PLEASE NOTE: A monthly subscription is required after your trial period.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: VIVA at none against SMS Expert's 1. VIVA also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (15 vs 3). SMS Expert's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, review sentiment, ads 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. SMS Expert sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month. VIVA asks for nothing beyond the download.
SMS Expert holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: VIVA has 15 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
VIVA ships an update monthly, SMS Expert every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | VIVA | SMS Expert |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (15 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 15 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 14.5 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 173 MB | 71 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Telepaty Holding | LTCG, LLC |
Customer experience
VIVA
SMS Expert
In-app purchases
VIVA
No in-app purchases
SMS Expert
- Standard Monthly Subscription14 Days trial$4.991 Month









