Comparison

iPlum vs String

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

Head to head
About

iPlum

This app provides a dedicated second business phone number for calls and texts, offering HIPAA compliance and financial archiving. It features a virtual receptionist, international calling, and global call forwarding, all while keeping personal and business communications separate. Enjoy reliable voice quality and flexible pay-as-you-go or unlimited plans.

Highlights
  • Second business phone number
  • HIPAA compliant secure texting
  • Virtual receptionist and phone tree
  • Low-cost international calls
  • Global call forwarding
  • Port existing number
Features
Read full description

◆ Second business phone number calling & texting app. ◆ Loved by professionals, best phone call app, no annoying ads, complete privacy. ◆ HIPAA compliance secure texting with Business Associate Agreement - BAA. ◆ Financial compliance with call recording and text archiving capabilities. ◆ Local USA, Canada or 1800 Toll-free phone number with calling & secure texting. ◆ Phone tree, Auto-Attendant with virtual receptionist and forwarding extensions. ◆ Cheap with low cost international calls to over 200 countries. ◆ Global call forwarding to multiple phone numbers. ◆ International roaming. ◆ Displays the caller id phone number . ◆ Personalized free voicemail. ◆ Great carrier grade reliable voice quality. ◆ Low cost voip domestic and international calling and texting. ◆ Send pictures, audio and video. ◆ Works with Wi-fi or 3G/4G/LTE worldwide. ◆ Port or transfer your existing number to iPlum. ◆ Pay As You Go or Unlimited plans. ◆ Available in 22 global languages on iPhone & iPads. ◆ Built and supported in California, USA. iPlum brings powerful communication features right to your smartphone. iPlum keeps your privacy by separating your business and personal communications. iPlum is a free app to download without any annoying ads. Your data is secure. Developed in California, trusted by businesses worldwide and featured in Entrepreneur Magazine. ________________________________________ iPlum is the most affordable way for individuals and small businesses to add a dedicated business line to their smartphones. What can iPlum do for you and your business? ● Flexibility: Take your business communication wherever you are and stay productive while on the go. If you’re a professional, small business owner or business traveler, wherever you’re at you’ll be able to stay connected, in contact and productive by ensuring access to your important business calls, texts, and voicemails. ● Privacy: Keep your personal and business life separate with a dedicated business line on your smartphone. ● HIPAA Compliance: Enable secure texting between doctor and patient with privacy and peace of mind. ● Domestic or International: You can be a user living in U.S.A , Canada or International country. Anyone can have iPlum and get the dedicated second phone number on their mobile. ● Save money: All the features of a traditional business phone system like Phone tree, Auto-Attendant with virtual receptionist and forwarding extensions for low cost. No roaming charges or long term contracts. iPlum offers a pay as you go system with local and international calls or text. iPlum is: ● Easy to use: Get up and running in a few minutes without any new hardware to configure or purchase. ● Reliable: The app is engineered to adapt to available data rates and latency of a broad range of Wi-Fi or cellular data channels. ● Affordable: Unlimited US/Canada toll-free calling. Pay as you go and purchase additional credits as needed. Subscriptions For your convenience, the monthly subscriptions will be charged to your iTunes account and renews automatically 24 hours before the end of the current period at the same costs unless auto-renew is turned off by you in your iTunes account. Privacy policy & Terms of Use: https://iplum.com/privacy/ About iPlum iPlum is a mobile technology company based in California USA. Dedicated to building great products, iPlum is finding innovative ways to simplify business communication for its customers. Contact Us We are happy to hear your feedback and help you solve any iPlum issues. Just email us at help@iplum.com, and we'll respond to you promptly.

About

String

Enhance customer engagement with a business SMS and voice platform. Organize your inbox, automate responses, and manage contacts efficiently. Send personalized messages to individuals or groups, and access your workflow from any device.

Highlights
  • Use existing or new phone numbers
  • Organize inbox with sales funnel view
  • Automated responses and auto-replies
  • Contact management and CRM integrations
  • 1-1, group, and mass messaging
  • Templates and voicemail transcription
  • Browser and mobile app access
Features
Read full description

Boost your brand engagement with String’s intuitive business SMS marketing, text and voice. ANY PHONE NUMBER, EVEN LANDLINES Use your existing mobile or landline number with String. Select a new local number or upgrade to a vanity or toll free number of your choice. ORGANIZE YOUR INBOX Transform your inbox into a sales funnel or kanban board with various viewing, filtering and tagging options — Stay on top of your conversations and never miss a message again. POWERFUL MESSAGE MANAGEMENT Mark Unread and Archive — You love it for your emails, you’ll love it for your texts. STAY RESPONSIVE, 24/7 Amplify your interaction with automations and Auto-Replies — Respond to texts and missed calls on time, every time. TAP INTO ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES Contact Management & Integrations — Save important contact notes directly from the message thread. Capture contacts, import from your phone or computer,, automate workflows, integrate with tools you love (like your CRM, etc). REACH THE MASSES, OR JUST ONE Conversational, Groups or Mass Messaging — Respond directly with 1-1 messaging, message with a group,r or send personalized Mass Messages to multiple people at once, individually. BUILD A LOYAL CUSTOMER BASE Send promos, reminders and confirmations and never miss a lead, client or customer with Elite features like triggered Keyword Responses, and Auto-Replies. SAVE TIME Templates — No more copy-pasting the same message over and over. No time to listen to voicemail? View voicemail transcriptions in your inbox with visual voicemail. USE IT ANYWHERE Browser & Mobile Apps — Increase your workflow efficiency with access to String from your computer and mobile device. CALL FORWARDING & VOICE Separate your personal and professional calls with call forwarding and flexible voice settings. GOT QUESTIONS? Email our stellar support at support@joinstring.com. Find helpful articles, join our customer community and create tickets in our Help Center: https://help.joinstring.com/hc/en-us Terms of Service: https://www.joinstring.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.joinstring.com/privacy

Screenshots

iPlum4 screens
String4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: iPlum at 4.3 against String's 3.5. iPlum also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (1.7K vs 62). String's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and review sentiment (69% vs 56%). On price, ads, monetization model and device support 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. iPlum sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. String asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iPlum holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iPlum has 1.7K ratings behind it against 62, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 56% of iPlum's written reviews are positive against 69% of String's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iPlum ships an update every 5 days, String every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
iPlum versus String: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriPlumString
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (1.7K ratings) — better3.5 (62 ratings)
Positive reviews55.8% of reviews68.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.7K — better62
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#162 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size150 MB68 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperiPlum, Inc.NumberBarn, LLC

Customer experience

iPlum

All ratings1,682 ratings
Positive80.6%
Neutral2.3%
Negative17.1%
Written reviews378 reviews
Positive55.8%
Neutral5.8%
Negative38.4%

String

All ratings62 ratings
Positive64.5%
Neutral1.6%
Negative33.9%
Written reviews35 reviews
Positive68.6%
Neutral2.9%
Negative28.6%

User reviews

iPlum

From 1.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great call quality
  • 🔒 Secure and private
  • 👍 Affordable pricing
  • 👍 Useful second number feature
  • 👍 Reliable service

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes
  • 🐛 Unreliable text messaging
  • 🐛 Poor customer support
  • 🐛 Dropped calls
  • 🐛 Difficult to port numbers

String

From 62 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Organizes texts like email
  • 🚀 Efficient for business communication
  • 💡 Automates common questions
  • 👍 Easy to use interface
  • 👍 Great for small businesses

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Mobile app is buggy
  • 🐛 Website loads to white screen
  • 🐛 App loads messages out of order
  • 🐛 Threads don't load
  • 🐛 Incorrect contact loading

Bugs and requests

iPlum

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Texting registration issues
  • Inconsistent notification behavior
  • Voicemail greeting not updating
  • Disappearing message history

Requested features

4 requests
  • Group messaging support
  • Improved call log and contact management
  • Desktop app or web interface
  • Better backup and data recovery options

String

Reported bugs

22 issues
  • Calls drop within seconds
  • Line cuts out completely
  • Website loads to a white screen
  • App loads message threads out of order
  • Tapping into a thread does not load any part of the conversation
Show 17 more
  • Sending a message in the thread works, but the thread doesn’t load
  • Tapping a thread loads an entirely different number/contact at the top
  • Push notification badges don’t clear
  • Text threads are slow to update and sometimes show off screen
  • No where to sign up on the app
  • Lost account after uninstall/reinstall
  • No one to talk to for support
  • iTunes account debited without loading sign-in page
  • Stuck on unpaid account, cannot log out
  • Missed calls do not show up on the main log panel
  • Voicemails will not play in app
  • No iPad App
  • Web app directs back to mobile app
  • No attention to detail in integrations
  • Phone number picker is super limited
  • No filtering by numbers
  • Requires payment to see the app

Requested features

18 requests
  • Improve mobile app stability
  • Fix website loading issues
  • Ensure message threads load correctly
  • Improve contact loading accuracy
  • Fix push notification badge issues
Show 13 more
  • Improve text thread update speed
  • Enhance call stability
  • Improve customer support responsiveness
  • Provide in-app sign-up
  • Allow account recovery
  • Offer refunds
  • Implement missed call notifications
  • Ensure missed calls appear in logs
  • Enable voicemail playback in app
  • Develop an iPad app
  • Improve sign-up process
  • Add more phone number filtering options
  • Integrate with CRM software like HubSpot

In-app purchases

8 purchases

iPlum

Subscriptions7
  • Backup Basic$2.991 Month
  • Deprecated - update plan3 variants$4.991 Month
  • Security Backup, Text Channels$6.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Deprecated - update plan$11.991 Month
  • Virtual US, Canada Number$13.991 Month
  • Deprecated - update plan$13.991 Month
  • Deprecated - updated plan$19.991 Month
One-time1
  • 2000 Calling & SMS Credits$19.99
None

String

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iPlum free?
iPlum is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is String free?
String is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iPlum or String?
iPlum is rated higher. iPlum averages 4.3 out of 5 from 1.7K ratings, while String averages 3.5 from 62 ratings.
Do iPlum or String have ads?
Neither iPlum nor String shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iPlum or String?
iPlum ships an update every 5 days, and String every 2 months. Most recently, iPlum was updated on November 11, 2026 and String on November 2, 2026.

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