Root vs Osmium Chat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Root
Connect with communities through text, voice, and video chat. Customize your profile and server with free themes and animated elements. Enhance your experience with integrated apps for collaborative activities.
- Text, voice, and video chat
- Screen sharing
- Free profile and theme customization
- Integrated community apps
- Server template import
- Community discovery
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Root is community chat with voice and video calls, screen share, themes, and apps, all in one place. Chat in channels, hop into a call with your group, and add apps to enhance your community experience. FREE PROFILE AND THEME CUSTOMIZATION No paywalls on personality. Animated profile pictures, animated banners, custom emoji and themes are all free. Pick a theme or build your own. VOICE, VIDEO AND SCREEN SHARE Talk in voice channels, turn on video, and share your screen with sound. Move a call from your computer to your phone without hanging up. APPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY Add apps to your community. Draw together on one canvas, track tasks, or plan your next raid. BRING YOUR SERVER Import a server template and Root sets up your channels, categories and roles. FIND YOUR PEOPLE Browse Community Discovery to find a new group chat, or list your own community.
Osmium Chat
Experience fast, reliable, and private messaging with a global server network. This app offers a free, public API for developers and is independently owned with a privacy-first approach, ensuring no ads or data harvesting.
- Fast global messaging
- Reliable on unstable connections
- Private data infrastructure
- Free public API for developers
- No ads or data harvesting
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FAST - Built on a network of servers distributed around the world to keep messaging and voice fast anywhere. OPEN - Free, public API lets developers build custom bots, integrations, and clients without restrictions. RELIABLE - Built to deliver your messages even on slow or unstable connections. PRIVATE - Your data is stored in your region in our custom-build private infrastructure. INDEPENDENT - Privately owned and privacy first - no ads, no data harvesting, just messaging.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Root at 146 against Osmium Chat's 5. Root also leads on rating (4.2 vs 4.0) and chart position (#136 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, ads 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Root holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Root has 146 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Root's written reviews are positive against 60% of Osmium Chat's.
Root ships an update weekly, Osmium Chat every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Root | Osmium Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (146 ratings) — better | 4.0 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 69.9% of reviews — better | 60.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 146 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #136 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 18.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 178 MB | 71 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | +12 |
| Developer | Root Communications, Inc | Uncollapse |
Customer experience
Root
Osmium Chat
In-app purchases
Root
No in-app purchases
Osmium Chat
No in-app purchases
