Best visual voicemail apps for Android and iOS

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Best visual voicemail apps for Android and iOS
Voicemail has existed for decades, and it somehow continues to be relevant even to this day. Of course, the world has changed a lot since the 70s (which is when voicemail was invented), so voicemails have evolved to keep up with the times, resulting in a little something called visual voicemail. More specifically, visual voicemail apps and the services they provide.

Nowadays, voicemail is more of a business tool than a personal one, which is why many of these voicemail apps have features and services that cater to specific needs a business owner might have. Of course, that is not to say that you cannot use these apps for personal benefits too, so read on no matter witch scenario you can relate yourself with.

Best visual voicemail apps in a nutshell:

What is visual voicemail?


Visual voicemail is a service that gives you easy access to all of the voicemails in a neatly organized and easy-to-understand structure. With visual voicemail, you can quickly see information like the person who’s sent the message, its duration, and when it was sent, and in most cases, you can also get a transcribed version of what was said.

What can I do with visual voicemail?

Visual voicemail essentials


Depending on what platform you decide to use, you can get different features related to visual voicemail. In general, though, most visual voicemail services include a dashboard that gathers all of the voicemail messages you receive, which gives you a quick overview and helps you navigate through them. You also get access to helpful information regarding the message itself and the person who has sent it.

Additionally, you can interact with the messages to rearrange, reply, delete, forward, and more. Many services also allow you to receive your voicemails in your email or via text as well.

Voicemail transcription


Voicemail transcription is a feature that most visual voicemail services have, and it transforms the contents of a message into text. That way, you don’t have to listen through the voicemail but can quickly skim through the information, which is helpful when you are in a hurry or you can’t play the audio at that time and place.

Voicemail greetings


Most voicemail apps will give the option to create your own voicemail greeting, which is very helpful if you have a business to run and want to make a good first impression while adding your personal touch. Some apps also take this further by allowing you to make specific greetings, tailored to individual phone numbers from your contact list.

How we choose the apps in this list


We aimed at choosing apps that have good overall reputation and cover all the basics of what a visual voicemail service should offer. We also wanted to include apps that have their own special twist, to give that niche edge for individual use cases. Additionally, we looked for apps that are available on both iOS and Android, so that you can get them no matter what kind of phone you use.

How do I choose the best visual voicemail app?


Each of the applications we have picked for this list come with their own unique specialty. The best way to approach this is to first learn about what visual voicemail is all about to begin with. Then, it’s time to figure out what exactly you want to take out of such a service and how much you are willing to pay (or not pay) for it. After that it is a simple matter of checking which app fits your requirements the most and testing it out — most of them come with some type of free trial or even free features, so you should be able to get an idea whether it tickles your fancy or not.

Best visual voicemail apps

Google Voice


If there is an application that can be considered a go-to choice for visual voicemail, then Google Voice would be that app. It is very easy to set up once installed and works as a voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) service for users of Google Workspace.

Google Voice’s visual voicemail feature is among the best, as it utilizes the company’s renowned proficiency in artificial intelligence to accurately transcribe voicemail, although other Visual Voicemail services have now started to implement AI transcription too.

After a voicemail is transcribed, it is sent to your email, or your phone via text, or you can open it by simply going to the Google Voice app.

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Another benefit of Google Voice is that the app is free, although you do have to pay for a subscription if you want to use some of its more advanced VoIP features.

For businesses, Google offers three different subscription tiers. Check out what they are and the features each one includes:

Starter:
  • Up to 10 users
  • Up to 10 domestic locations
  • No regional locations
  • No international locations
  • Calls between Google Voice numbers included
  • Calls to the US from any Google Voice number included2
  • Calls to Canada from a Canadian or US Google Voice number included2
  • Calls to most European countries from within Europe included2
  • SIP Link
  • Unlimited text messaging in US
  • Google Fi compatible [US only]
  • Voicemail transcription
  • Google Calendar integration
  • Google Meet integration
  • Mobile apps: Android and IOS
  • Web application
  • 24/7 support
  • Service level agreement (SLA)
  • Usage and activity reporting
  • Call forwarding

Standard:
  • Everything in Starter
  • Unlimited users
  • Unlimited regional locations
  • Unlimited domestic locations
  • No international locations
  • Multi-level auto-attendant
  • Ring groups
  • Desk phone and ATA support
  • Ediscovery for calls, voice mails and text messaging records
  • Ad-hoc user call recording

Premier:
Everything in Standard
Unlimited users
Unlimited regional locations
Unlimited domestic locations
Unlimited International locations
Advanced reporting (BigQuery)
Automatic ad-hoc user call recording

YouMail


YouMail comes with all the usual bells and whistles of a visual voicemail app, with an emphasis on protecting you from unwanted calls. It has the option to automatically play an out-of-service tone to robocalls, telemarketers, and scammers. The best part about this call-block feature is that it comes for free with the app!

You also get the option to create personalized voicemails that you can schedule to be sent at specific times. Users can use YouMail’s services from any type of platform, including their phone, tablet, or via web browser.

There are many other useful features that this application is capable of, but they require a paid subscription. If you decide you want to subscribe to YouMail, there are several options to pick from.

For starters, the plans are split into Personal and Premium. The Personal plan includes two options: Personal and Essentials, this is what they include:

Personal Plus:
  • Call screening blocks all spam, guaranteed
  • Get removed from spam lists
  • Visual voicemail with larger inbox
  • Transcriptions by email, text, or app
  • Live chat and email support
  • No ads

Personal Essentials:
  • Everything in Plus
  • Get a new virtual number to share
  • Choose your area code and number
  • Unlimited calling and texting
  • Spam-free calls and texts
  • Save memories with larger inbox
  • Live phone support

The you have the Premium section, which includes Premium Essentials, Premium Complete, and Premium Ultimate. This is everything they come with:

Premium Essentials:
  • Premium phone service for your cell
  • Works with existing or new number
  • Call screening blocks all spam, guaranteed
  • Professional and custom greetings
  • Transcriptions by email, text, or app
  • Live phone and chat support

Premium Complete:
  • Everything in Essentials
  • Up to 5 new phone numbers
  • Answer calls with auto attendant
  • Auto reply to missed calls with texts
  • 3 professionally recorded greetings
  • Business messaging with registration
  • Live phone and chat support

Premium Ultimate:
  • Everything in Complete
  • Up to 15 new phone numbers
  • Call routing for your business
  • 5 Professionally recorded greetings
  • Premium protection from fraud
  • Unlimited visual voicemail
  • Business messaging with registration
  • Live phone and chat support

HulloMail


HulloMail’s strength as a visual voicemail app lies in its great interface. It gives you the option to save voicemails so that you can categorize them and find them more easily in the future. Making things even easier is HulloMail’s feature for searching specific voicemails and contacts from your list.

Some of its other features include blocking spam emails and unwanted callers, tailored greetings for different contacts from your list, and converting voicemail to text. 

There is no free version of the app, but you do have two weeks of a free trial, which should be just about enough to see whether you want to pay for this service or not.

You can choose between two subscriptions, Lite or Pro. Here's what they include:

HulloMail Lite: Recommended if you receive less than 10 voicemails a month
  • Voicemail Transcription: First 30 seconds of your first 10 voicemails per month
  • Voicemail Length: 120 Seconds
  • Message Storage: 100 Messages
  • Call Blocker: Block spammers, telemarketers & unwanted callers
  • Email support

HulloMail Pro: Recommended for Entrepreneurs, Freelancers, Self-Employed and Professionals
  • Voicemail Transcription: 180 seconds of every voicemail
  • Voicemail Length: 5 Minutes
  • Message Storage: Unlimited
  • Out of Office: Record special greetings for meetings and holidays
  • Search Voicemails: By content and caller
  • Email & Livechat support

Voxist


Voxist is like the jack-of-all-trades app in this list. It offers accurate and fast voicemail transcription that is beautifully presented to you in the app, or you can view them in your email if you don’t have access to your phone.

The app can transcript voicemail in more than just English if you sign up for the subscription plan, which also provides you with more personalized greetings, as well as additional phone numbers.

There are three options you can choose in terms of subscription. The first and basic one is Voxist Standard and it is free, then you have Voxist Premium, and Voxist Pro. Here is what these three plans include in a nutshell:

Voxist Standard:
  • Unlimited Visual Voicemails for 1 number
  • 10 Transcriptions per month
  • Voicemail Transcript & Audio via Email
  • Connect 1 Email
  • 1 Personalized Greeting
  • Transcriptions in 1 Language

Voxist Premium:
  • Unlimited Visual Voicemails for 2 number
  • 30 Transcriptions per month
  • Voicemail Transcript & Audio via Email
  • Connect 5 Emails
  • 5 Personalized Greetings
  • Transcriptions in 2 Languages

Voxist Pro:
  • Unlimited Visual Voicemails for 5 number
  • 100 Transcriptions per month
  • Voicemail Transcript & Audio via Email
  • Connect 5 unlimited Emails
  • Unlimited Personalized Greetings
  • Transcriptions in more than 140 Languages

InstaVoice


If you have several phones you have to manage, then InstaVoice is the choice for you. Its unique perk is that it supports visual voicemail for up to 10 numbers! You also get voicemail transcriptions, all neatly presented to you in one place. You even get unlimited storage for your voicemails, so you can save them basically forever.

Another benefit to InstaVoice is that you can contact the person who’s left you a voicemail via chat or a call straight from the app. What makes it even more awesome of an app is the fact that it is free to use!

Here are some of the features InstaVoice includes in a nutshell:
  • Unlimited cloud storage
  • Unlimited visual voicemail
  • Link multiple numbers on one account
  • Converting voicemail to text
  • Free Missed Call Alerts
  • Withdrawing sent voicemail

What is the difference between voicemail and visual voicemail?


Voicemail is the voice message you receive, while visual voicemail refers to platforms that house all of your voicemails in one place, giving you the ability to view them all at once and pick the one you want to interact with.

Visual voicemail comes with multiple features that make handling voicemails easier, such as transcription, where the message from the voicemail is presented as written text.
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