Stolo Systems vs Phantom
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Stolo Systems
This app provides encrypted, off-grid messaging that functions without internet connectivity. It creates a peer-to-peer mesh network using Wi-Fi, cellular, or LoRa radio, enabling secure communication of messages, photos, voice notes, and GPS locations even when cell towers or servers are unavailable.
- Off-grid encrypted messaging
- Peer-to-peer mesh network
- Works without internet
- End-to-end encryption
- Offline world map
- Emergency SOS beacon
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Stolo is an encrypted messenger that built off of Reticulum and LXMF Out of the box it is a private, end-to-end encrypted messenger: no account, no phone number, no sign-up. Your identity and your history live only on your device, and Stolo's gateway relays your messages across the internet. When you need more, the same app becomes your own network. Create a network, share one invitation, and everyone who joins is in each other's contacts, trusted, automatically. Phones link directly over Wi-Fi and cellular, and optional long-range LoRa radios carry messages where there is no signal at all. Messages to someone out of range wait and are delivered when they come back. What you can send, on or off the grid: • Messages, photos, and voice notes, end-to-end encrypted. Only the people in the conversation can read them. Not us. • Live GPS positions on a built-in offline world map. See yourself and your team with zero connectivity. Under the hood, Stolo is built on Reticulum, the open cryptographic mesh stack, and sets up in a minute with no config files. Used for backcountry trips, maritime, job sites, disaster response, and everyday group chats that should stay between the people in them. Built on privacy. Works every day, everywhere, and keeps working when nothing else does.
Phantom
This app enables off-grid voice and text communication over mesh networks, functioning without cell towers, Wi-Fi, or internet. It utilizes Meshtastic-compatible LoRa hardware for direct peer-to-peer messaging.
- Off-grid voice and text messaging
- Works without cell towers, Wi-Fi, or internet
- Hold-to-talk voice reconstruction
- Bluetooth connectivity to Meshtastic LoRa nodes
- Interoperable with standard Meshtastic app
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Phantom is an off-grid messaging app for mesh networks - voice and text that works when everything else fails. No cell towers, no wifi, no internet, no servers, no monthly fees. Hold to talk. Your voice gets reconstructed on the other end. No audio ever crosses the radio. Works with any Meshtastic-compatible LoRa node over Bluetooth. Interoperates with the standard Meshtastic app. Requires Meshtastic - compatible LoRa hardware. The future is mesh. Phantom brings voice to it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Stolo Systems at 88% against Phantom's 0%. Stolo Systems also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.7) and ratings volume (10 vs 3). Phantom's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 8 days). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Stolo Systems holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Stolo Systems's written reviews are positive against 0% of Phantom's.
Stolo Systems ships an update every 8 days, Phantom every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Stolo Systems | Phantom |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (10 ratings) — better | 3.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 87.5% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 10 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 26.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 265 MB | 778 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stolo Systems Inc. | Antonio Lambert |
Customer experience
Stolo Systems
Phantom
In-app purchases
Stolo Systems
No in-app purchases
Phantom
No in-app purchases









