Comparison

Hiya vs Should I Answer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Hiya

Block unwanted spam and scam calls while identifying unknown callers. Get real-time caller ID and call reasons before you answer, and protect your voicemail from spam. Offers premium features for an enhanced calling experience.

Highlights
  • Spam and scam call blocking
  • Real-time caller ID
  • Call reason identification
  • Voicemail protection
  • Spoofed call protection
  • Reverse phone lookup
Features
Read full description

Know who's calling. Block unwanted calls. Screen the rest. CALLER ID & CALL BLOCKING See who's calling before you answer. Hiya shows caller names and call context for incoming calls and automatically blocks numbers reported as unwanted, using Hiya's phone number reputation data. LOOK UP UNKNOWN NUMBERS Search any number to see who called and whether it has been reported as spam or unwanted by other users. CALL SCREENER * Turn on Call Screener and set up call forwarding, and unknown calls are answered by Hiya on your behalf. Hiya asks the caller why they're calling, so you can decide whether to pick up. Call forwarding is set up through your carrier, and the steps are guided in the app. AI VOICE DETECTION & CALL SAFETY ALERTS * For calls handled by Call Screener, Hiya's servers can analyze the call and flag signs of an AI-generated voice or risky requests. You'll see the alert in the app. REPORT & REVIEW Report numbers you don't trust and see your recent call activity in one place. Requirements and availability: - Caller ID and call blocking require enabling Hiya in iPhone Settings > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification. - Call Screener, AI Voice Detection, and Call Safety Alerts require call forwarding to be enabled with your carrier. They are available only in the United States and Canada, in English and French, Spanish and may not be supported by all carriers or plans. - Feature availability may vary by device, operating system, carrier, and plan. - Detection is designed to help identify risk but cannot identify every unwanted or suspicious call. * = U.S. and Canada only. English, French, and Spanish only. Terms of Service: https://www.hiya.com/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://hiya.com/hiya-data-policy

About

Should I Answer

This app identifies and blocks unwanted incoming calls, protecting users from spam and telemarketing. It provides real-time notifications about dangerous calls and offers a user-friendly interface for managing your call experience. Daily database updates ensure comprehensive protection against evolving threats.

Highlights
  • Identifies dangerous or unsolicited calls
  • Blocks unwanted incoming calls
  • Saves user time by filtering calls
  • Daily database updates
  • User-rated number database
  • Privacy protection for personal numbers
Features
Read full description

Get rid of all spam calls. For good. It has been more than 3 years since we released the Should I Answer app, which has been protecting you against all kind of spam calls. We have done a lot of work during this period: the app warns every day against 4 000 000 of spam calls, it blocks other 200 000 and saves average time of 63 000 seconds daily! But we didn’t take a break. So, finally, we’re really lucky to introduce you the new Should I Answer app for iOS. What are the app's functions? -> It will notify you of dangerous or unsolicited incoming calls... -> … or it will block them straight away… -> … and save your precious time. For who is this app meant to be? For everybody, we hope :-) The installation of the Should I Answer application is not difficult. Just download it and then even your grandma can use it. The graphical interface is user-friendly and enables you to easily gain all the necessary information about incoming phone calls. What database do we use? Most of the numbers in the database were rated by our users from their own real experience (based on real calls), but we included ratings from Do Not Call Registry and Federal Communication Commision as well. The number of new reviews is about 30.000 a day! The user’s reviews are first gathered on our server, and after the administrator checks and approves them, they are sent to the local database of your Should I Answer application with the daily database update. You don’t have to be worried about your privacy with us - your private numbers stay always hidden in your phone, we never use them for public presentation or processing. We care only about new, unknown calls (and if we find out that someone has written a review for personal number, we work to delete it ASAP). Why is not this iOS app for free? We’ve been thinking about how to do this for a really long time. We want to offer you a full service including regular updates (so you can really count on the app). However, since there are no adverts in the app itself, we were thinking about how to secure financing our programmers’ time (because the growing database of numbers needs daily maintaining). That’s the reason, why we decided to add subscription to the iOS app. In our opinion, it’s the best way how to ensure your app will be well maintained and always saving your time as it should be. Hope you understand and stay with us :-) Where can you learn more? Interested in more info? Just have a look on our webpage (you can find a lot of uselful information about telemarketing and phone scam there). Or connect with us on Facebook. About subscription Caller ID information, blocking of unwanted calls and daily database updates are available after purchasing 1 month auto-renewal subscription. There is 1 month trial period to test if the app fit your needs. Subscription details: – Title: Database Subscription – Length of subscription : 1 month – Price of subscription: 1.99 USD. Price can differ according automatic recomputation for your country – Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase – Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period – Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal – Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase – Links to Privacy Policy and Terms of Use : https://www.shouldianswer.net/iosmanual/latest – Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable

Screenshots

Hiya4 screens
Should I Answer3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Hiya at 4.5 against Should I Answer's 2.6. Hiya also leads on monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). Should I Answer's advantage is iOS requirement (10 vs 17.6). On price, review sentiment, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Hiya sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Should I Answer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hiya holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hiya has 238K ratings behind it against 474, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 29% of Hiya's written reviews are positive against 28% of Should I Answer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hiya ships an update weekly, Should I Answer every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Hiya versus Should I Answer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHiyaShould I Answer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (238K ratings) — better2.6 (474 ratings)
Positive reviews28.9% of reviews — better27.5% of reviews
Number of ratings238K — better474
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#129 — better—
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.610 — better
Further details — not scored
Size179 MB111 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHiyaMister Group s.r.o.

Customer experience

Hiya

All ratings238,201 ratings
Positive88.5%
Neutral4.5%
Negative7.0%
Written reviews1,503 reviews
Positive28.9%
Neutral7.6%
Negative63.5%

Should I Answer

All ratings471 ratings
Positive35.7%
Neutral9.8%
Negative54.6%
Written reviews218 reviews
Positive27.5%
Neutral8.7%
Negative63.8%

User reviews

Hiya

From 238K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Blocks spam calls
  • 👍 Useful for identifying scam/fraud numbers
  • 🔒 Provides security against unwanted calls
  • 🤖 Reduces number of robocalls

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent performance, sometimes lets spam through
  • 💰 Paid subscription required for full functionality
  • 🔍 Lookup feature not always accurate
  • 🕰️ Requires manual reporting of spam numbers

Should I Answer

From 474 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Effective at blocking calls
  • 👍 Great app for controlling unwanted calls
  • 🚀 Blocks most scam/telemarketing calls

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Doesn't block all spam calls
  • 🔒 Concerns about privacy/security
  • 💰 Paid subscription required
  • 🐛 Inconsistent performance on iOS

Bugs and requests

Hiya

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Settings reset unexpectedly
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • Inability to block certain numbers

Requested features

4 requests
  • Automatic spam blocking without user intervention
  • Ability to block entire area codes
  • Integration with phone's native call blocking
  • Spam protection for text messages

Should I Answer

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Database not updating properly
  • Inability to paste numbers into search
  • Ads even with paid subscription

Requested features

3 requests
  • Ability to easily report/block numbers
  • Improved database updates
  • Free version for basic functionality

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Hiya

Subscriptions9
  • Lookup Plan - Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Hiya Premium - Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Hiya Premium - Monthly2 variants$3.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Hiya Premium - Monthly3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Hiya Premium - Quarterly7 Days trial$9.993 Months
  • Hiya Premium - Quarterly$9.993 Months
  • Hiya Premium - Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Hiya Premium - Yearly2 variants$24.991 Year
  • Hiya Premium - Yearly3 Days trial$24.991 Year
2 purchases

Should I Answer

Subscriptions2
  • Database Subscription1 Month trial$1.991 Month
  • Database Subscription1 Month trial$9.991 Year

Questions

Is Hiya free?
Hiya is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Should I Answer free?
Should I Answer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hiya or Should I Answer?
Hiya is rated higher. Hiya averages 4.5 out of 5 from 238K ratings, while Should I Answer averages 2.6 from 474 ratings.
Do Hiya or Should I Answer have ads?
Neither Hiya nor Should I Answer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hiya or Should I Answer?
Hiya ships an update weekly, and Should I Answer every 2 months. Most recently, Hiya was updated on October 30, 2026 and Should I Answer on October 29, 2026.

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