Chief Mobile vs Active Response
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chief Mobile
Receive and map emergency dispatches from your 911 center with push notifications and map integration. It functions as a fire pager with tone alerting and allows personnel to update their status and view schedules.
- Redundant alerting (Tone & CAD)
- Incident mapping
- Push notifications for dispatches
- Personnel status updates
- Shift and announcement notifications
- Schedule viewing
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Chief Mobile is has redundant alerting using a combination of Tone Alerting & CAD Alerting. Allows you to receive & map incidents from your 911 dispatch center quickly. A push notification will alert you when a new dispatch occurs and forward you to the incident information and map. With Tone Alert, Chief Mobile works like your Fire Pager providing two sources for alerting. You can also receive messages that are sent out by other personnel. Get notified of open shifts, training, and other announcements instantly. The latest version allows you to reply to messages. Allows your personnel to update their status (i.e. Responding Station 1, Available, etc.). Their ETA is tracked while responding. Allows companies that use Chief Scheduling to view the company schedule by day and their own schedule. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.
Active Response
This app enables volunteer firefighters to receive and respond to emergency dispatch calls. It provides a two-way communication link with dispatch, showing call and response status, and delivers situational updates and critical information.
- Receive emergency call outs
- Bi-directional communication with dispatch
- Real-time call and response status
- Situational updates
- Hazmat information
- Critical situation reports
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The Active Response smartphone application allows volunteer firefighters to receive and respond to emergency call outs from their local jurisdiction' s computer aided dispatch system. Once an account is set up, the firefighter has a bi-directional communications link with dispatch showing call and response status. The firefighter can also receive situational updates, hazmat information, and critical situation reports.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Chief Mobile at 66% against Active Response's 13%. Chief Mobile also leads on rating (3.4 vs 2.3) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). Active Response's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, ratings volume, ads 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. Chief Mobile sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Active Response asks for nothing beyond the download.
Chief Mobile holds the better App Store score, 3.4 against 2.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 43 and 23 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Chief Mobile's written reviews are positive against 13% of Active Response's.
Chief Mobile ships an update every 5 weeks, Active Response every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chief Mobile | Active Response |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (43 ratings) — better | 2.3 (23 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 65.9% of reviews — better | 12.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 43 — better | 23 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 111 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chief Technologies | CSI Technology Group |
Customer experience
Chief Mobile
Active Response
In-app purchases
Chief Mobile
- Pro Version$4.99
Active Response
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Chief Mobile free?
Is Active Response free?
Which has better reviews, Chief Mobile or Active Response?
Do Chief Mobile or Active Response have ads?
Which is updated more often, Chief Mobile or Active Response?
Other comparisons
