# ShamCheck vs Beacon

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Beacon at 15.0 against ShamCheck's 17.5. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for ShamCheck against 5.0 for Beacon. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 6 respectively.

ShamCheck ships an update every 6 weeks, Beacon every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | ShamCheck | Beacon |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [5.0 (3 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shamcheck/id6760807897/reviews) | [5.0 (6 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/beacon-scam-protection/id6788579554/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 3 | **6** |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | **Every 5 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 6 MB | 2 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 9+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Three Clicks Corporation](https://appshunter.io/developer/1885888928) | [Kedar Kulkarni](https://appshunter.io/developer/6788579556) |

## What reviewers say

### ShamCheck

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shamcheck/id6760807897)

Identify suspicious messages and phishing attempts with this free tool. Analyze shared messages or screenshots to detect potential online fraud and stay safe from scams.

**Highlights:** Identify scam messages, Detect phishing attempts, Analyze shared messages, Analyze screenshots, Free to use

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Beacon

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/beacon-scam-protection/id6788579554)

Instantly detect potential scams by pasting text messages into this app. It highlights suspicious words and provides a confidence score, explaining why a message might be a threat. Users can also explore reported scams and contribute to the community's protection.

**Highlights:** Instant scam detection, Highlights suspicious words, Confidence score for threats, Identifies scam categories, Community scam reporting, Anonymous reporting

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is ShamCheck free?

ShamCheck is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Beacon free?

Beacon is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, ShamCheck or Beacon?

ShamCheck and Beacon are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 6 ratings respectively.

### Do ShamCheck or Beacon have ads?

Neither ShamCheck nor Beacon shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, ShamCheck or Beacon?

ShamCheck ships an update every 6 weeks, and Beacon every 5 weeks. Most recently, ShamCheck was updated on October 8, 2026 and Beacon on October 23, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*