Skip to content

AppTierList › All lists › Text Messaging

Best Text Messaging Apps for iPhone (2026)

40 apps ranked S through F · · Ranked by AppTierList, computed, never sold · JSON

Text Me - Phone Call + Texting is the top-ranked of 40 text messaging apps on iPhone, at S tier with 4.7/5 from 674,261 ratings.

  1. 1
    Text Me - Phone Call + TextingS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 674,261 ratings · score 97
  2. 2
    textPlus: Text Message + CallS
    Free download · ★ 4.6 · 271,969 ratings · score 95
  3. 3
    MessengerS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 13,816,025 ratings · score 94
  4. 4
    Rakuten Viber MessengerS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 831,149 ratings · score 93
  5. 5
    Discord - Talk, Play, Hang OutS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 3,571,871 ratings · score 93

What belongs in this list

Send and receive text messages with other people.

Not here: speech to text alone; a texting game alone; an SMS receiving number alone; a keyboard alone; a general AI chatbot alone

More lists: Best Group Chat Apps

How we pick

For this list we ask the App Store the same searches a person would, in several countries, and keep every app it returns. A model reads each app's listing and rejects the ones that only mention the use case. Every app that stays is scored out of 100 from four parts, each 0 to 100 and averaged with no weights: its App Store rating, how many people rated it, where the App Store itself ranks it for this list's searches, and how recently its current version shipped. An app showing Apple's Editors' Choice badge gets a fifth part of 100, which can only lift its score. Tiers follow fixed score bands: S from 90, A from 80, B from 70, C from 60, D from 50, F below. The list's leader is S if it scores 80 or more. On a list of 20 or more ranked apps, a tier from S to D takes in new apps only up to a quarter of the top 40: an app pushed out of a full tier falls to the next tier with room, and F takes the rest. An app already in a tier keeps its place while the tier is at most 2 apps over a quarter; past that, only the apps over that margin go down, lowest score first. Equal scores share a tier, and no app has a better tier than an app ranked above it. An app keeps its tier until its score passes the band edge by more than 1 point, or a full tier or the order above moves it. Only the top 40 of a list get a tier. Read the full method →

S
Text MetextPlusMessengerRakutenDiscordTalkatone
A
TextNowSecondGroupMeText FreeWhatsAppKik Messagin…PingerWeChatText App
B
MessagesFree ToneStarsPrivateGroup TextSignalTXT AppBonChat
C
Pronto TeamKinzooMySudoZoho CliqDustiMeGarminText In ChurchGroup SMS+SimpleTextingMessenger KidsKakaoTalk
D
Hit Em UpDingtoneTelegramRocket.ChatSession
F
None at F yet

Compare every app

  1. 1
    Text Me - Phone Call + TextingS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 674,261 ratings · score 97 · best in class
  2. 2
    textPlus: Text Message + CallS
    Free download · ★ 4.6 · 271,969 ratings · score 95 · best in class
  3. 3
    MessengerS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 13,816,025 ratings · score 94 · best in class
  4. 4
    Rakuten Viber MessengerS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 831,149 ratings · score 93 · best in class
  5. 5
    Discord - Talk, Play, Hang OutS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 3,571,871 ratings · score 93 · best in class
  6. 6
    Talkatone: WiFi Text & CallsS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 142,539 ratings · score 91 · best in class
  7. 7
    TextNow: Call + Text UnlimitedA
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 925,038 ratings · score 90 · excellent
  8. 8
    Second Texting NumberA
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 65,812 ratings · score 90 · excellent
  9. 9
    GroupMeA
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 1,559,136 ratings · score 89 · excellent
  10. 10
    Text Free: Second Phone NumberA
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 609,538 ratings · score 89 · excellent
  11. 11
    WhatsApp MessengerA
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 18,798,631 ratings · score 88 · excellent
  12. 12
    Kik Messaging & Chat AppA
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.3 · 485,447 ratings · score 87 · excellent
  13. 13
    Pinger: Call Plus Texting AppA
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 70,527 ratings · score 86 · excellent
  14. 14
    WeChatA
    Free + IAP · ★ 3.9 · 81,440 ratings · score 85 · excellent
  15. 15
    Text App: Texting+Calling NowA
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 9,659 ratings · score 83 · excellent
  16. 16
    MessagesB
    Free download · ★ 4.1 · 39,039 ratings · score 82 · good
  17. 17
    Free Tone - Calling & TextingB
    $1.99 + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 62,730 ratings · score 82 · good
  18. 18
    Stars Messenger Kids Safe ChatB
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 4,971 ratings · score 80 · good
  19. 19
    Private Texting SMS Phone TextB
    Free download · ★ 4.4 · 16,291 ratings · score 80 · good
  20. 20
    Group Text | Mass MessageB
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.3 · 5,842 ratings · score 79 · good
  21. 21
    Signal - Private MessengerB
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 1,100,834 ratings · score 74 · good · provisional
  22. 22
    TXT App Phone NowB
    Free download · ★ 4.5 · 11,775 ratings · score 73 · good
  23. 23
    BonChatB
    Free download · ★ 4.8 · 59,563 ratings · score 71 · good · provisional
  24. 24
    Pronto Team CommunicationC
    Free · ★ 4.9 · 21,310 ratings · score 70 · situational · provisional
  25. 25
    Kinzoo: Fun All-Ages MessengerC
    Free download · ★ 4.7 · 9,058 ratings · score 69 · situational · provisional
  26. 26
    MySudo - Identity ProtectionC
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 15,667 ratings · score 69 · situational · provisional
  27. 27
    Zoho Cliq - Team CommunicationC
    Free download · ★ 4.8 · 6,547 ratings · score 69 · situational · provisional
  28. 28
    Dust - a safer place to textC
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 4,397 ratings · score 69 · situational
  29. 29
    iMe: Telegram AI MessengerC
    Free download · ★ 4.7 · 9,164 ratings · score 68 · situational · provisional
  30. 30
    Garmin Messenger™C
    Free · ★ 4.6 · 13,643 ratings · score 68 · situational · provisional
  31. 31
    Text In ChurchC
    Free download · ★ 4.8 · 4,942 ratings · score 68 · situational · provisional
  32. 32
    Group SMS+C
    Free download · ★ 4.7 · 4,148 ratings · score 68 · situational · provisional
  33. 33
    SimpleTextingC
    Free download · ★ 4.7 · 3,485 ratings · score 67 · situational · provisional
  34. 34
    Messenger KidsC
    Free · ★ 4.3 · 116,309 ratings · score 67 · situational · provisional
  35. 35
    KakaoTalk : MessengerC
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.4 · 47,758 ratings · score 67 · situational · provisional
  36. 36
    Hit Em Up: Mass Text Bulk SMSD
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 4,905 ratings · score 66 · weak · provisional
  37. 37
    Dingtone: Phone Calls + TextsD
    Free download · ★ 4.5 · 30,646 ratings · score 66 · weak
  38. 38
    Telegram MessengerD
    Free download · ★ 4.0 · 283,411 ratings · score 65 · weak · provisional
  39. 39
    Rocket.ChatD
    Free · ★ 4.4 · 3,747 ratings · score 65 · weak · provisional
  40. 40
    Session - Private MessengerD
    Free download · ★ 4.4 · 5,252 ratings · score 64 · weak · provisional

Beyond the top 40

7 more, not ranked yet

  1. Threema. The Secure Messenger
  2. imo video calls and chat HD
  3. WA Messenger Plus
  4. Text Us ™ Texting For Me Now
  5. Text ▹
  6. Staya Messenger
  7. Zalo

New in the last 30 days

Questions people ask

What is the best text messaging app for iPhone?
Text Me - Phone Call + Texting, S tier, ranked #1 of 40, rated 4.7 by 674,261 people.
Which text messaging apps are free?
39 of 40 are free to download: Text Me - Phone Call + Texting (S), textPlus: Text Message + Call (S), Messenger (S), Rakuten Viber Messenger (S) and more. 21 of them sell in-app purchases. 4 report no in-app purchases.
Which text messaging app has the best App Store rating?
Pronto Team Communication at 4.9 from 21,310 ratings.
How many text messaging apps reach S or A tier?
15 of 40. Tiers follow fixed score bands: S from 90, A from 80, B from 70, C from 60, D from 50, F below. The list's leader is S if it scores 80 or more. On a list of 20 or more ranked apps, a tier from S to D takes in new apps only up to a quarter of the top 40: an app pushed out of a full tier falls to the next tier with room, and F takes the rest. An app already in a tier keeps its place while the tier is at most 2 apps over a quarter; past that, only the apps over that margin go down, lowest score first. Equal scores share a tier, and no app has a better tier than an app ranked above it. An app keeps its tier until its score passes the band edge by more than 1 point, or a full tier or the order above moves it. Only the top 40 of a list get a tier.

Related lists