NatureDex vs Ekko Chat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NatureDex
Identify plants, animals, and fungi using AI-powered image recognition. Share your discoveries with detailed notes and location data, and explore what others are finding in a social feed. Engage with a community through comments, likes, and challenges.
- AI-enabled plant, animal, and fungi identification
- Share discoveries with notes and location
- Social feed of user captures
- Follow users, like, and comment
- Complete challenges and earn badges
- Organize captures into collections
- Map view of local discoveries
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NatureDex is an app for exploring and sharing your ecosystem! - Identify plants, animals, and fungi with an AI-enabled camera - Share what you discover, including a description, field notes, privacy-first location, and more - Check out what people are capturing on your For You Feed - Follow other users and like or comment on their posts - Complete challenges to get award badges to display on your profile - View local and global leaderboards to see how you're doing on challenges and streaks - Organize your captures into private or public collections like "Around the Neighborhood" or "In my Garden" - Use map views to see what people have captured around you And so much more! NatureDex is also new -- Sign up today to secure your favorite username and help guide the development of the app. Thanks for trying it out!
Ekko Chat
A secure messaging app that uses multiple independent transport paths to ensure message delivery. It offers end-to-end encryption, offline messaging via Bluetooth, and no account or personal information required for use.
- Multi-transport message delivery
- End-to-end encryption
- Offline messaging via Bluetooth
- No account or personal info required
- Disappearing messages
- Encrypted group chats
- Transparent networking dashboard
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Ekko is a chat messenger that delivers your messages through six independent transport paths. If one is blocked, your message finds another way. No phone number. No email. No account. Your identity is a cryptographic key pair generated on your device and never shared with anyone — not even us. Add contacts by scanning QR codes when you meet in person. This is how trust should work. ENCRYPTED BY DEFAULT Every message is end-to-end encrypted before it leaves your device. Text, photos, documents, GIFs, and files are all protected. Not even Ekko can read your conversations. WORKS WITHOUT INTERNET Ekko uses Bluetooth Low Energy to exchange messages with nearby contacts automatically. Walk past someone at a coffee shop and pending messages deliver silently — no cell tower, no Wi-Fi required. When contacts aren't nearby, messages route through the internet via five other transport methods. SIX TRANSPORT PATHS - Bluetooth: Nearby offline delivery within 100 meters - Mesh Gossip: Messages forwarded by nearby peers - Distributed Hash Table: Decentralized serverless routing - Tor Onion: High-privacy delivery - Peer Link: Fast QUIC-based direct connections - Private Relay: Always-on encrypted push delivery Each message automatically finds the best available path. The transport dashboard shows you exactly how every message traveled. GROUP CONVERSATIONS Create encrypted group chats, invite contacts, share files, and set disappearing message timers for the entire group. Member management lets you add or remove participants at any time. DISAPPEARING MESSAGES Set messages to self-destruct after 5 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day, or 1 week. Once gone, they cannot be recovered. SHARE MEDIA SECURELY Send photos from your camera or gallery, browse and send animated GIFs, attach documents and files of any type — all encrypted end-to-end. An inline attachment menu gives you quick access to Files, Photos, Camera, and GIF search without leaving the conversation. PRIVATE RELAY SERVER Subscribe to a dedicated relay server for instant push delivery when you and your contacts aren't nearby. Messages are stored encrypted on the relay — it cannot read them. Invite contacts to share your relay for mutual always-on delivery. VERIFY CONTACTS Compare cryptographic fingerprints in person or through a trusted channel to verify that your contact is who they claim to be. No certificate authorities, no central trust — just mathematics. TRANSPARENT NETWORKING The transport dashboard gives you full visibility into how your messages travel. See which transports are active, how many network peers you're connected to, and which path delivered each individual message. An in-chat legend explains every transport and status icon. YOUR DATA, YOUR DEVICE All data stays on your device. There is no cloud sync, no analytics, no tracking, and no telemetry. Export an encrypted backup anytime for device transfers. Delete everything with a single tap. BIOMETRIC UNLOCK Secure the app with Face ID or fingerprint authentication on supported devices for fast, convenient access. BUILT FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED PRIVACY Ekko is designed for journalists, activists, travelers, and anyone who believes private communication is a fundamental right. Whether you're in a restrictive environment where traditional messengers are monitored, or you simply want conversations that stay between you and your contacts, Ekko ensures your messages always find a way. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: NatureDex at none against Ekko Chat's 4. NatureDex also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 weeks). Ekko Chat's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. Ekko Chat sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. NatureDex asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for NatureDex against 5.0 for Ekko Chat. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 4 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
NatureDex ships an update every 6 days, Ekko Chat every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NatureDex | Ekko Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 69 MB | 65 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Co AI, Inc. | Chris Ross |
Customer experience
NatureDex
Ekko Chat
In-app purchases
NatureDex
No in-app purchases
Ekko Chat
- Standard Relay Monthly Subscription$6.991 Month
- Premium Relay Monthly Subscription$12.991 Month
- Annual Relay Standard Subscription$69.991 Year
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- Annual Relay Premium Subscription$99.991 Year









