Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Yalla vs PolyBuzz

Yalla 4.2★ · Free + IAP 30
Winner PolyBuzz
PolyBuzz 4.5★ · Free + IAP 65

PolyBuzz is the better choice for AI chatbot interaction, despite its aggressive ad strategy, while Yalla struggles with severe issues like account bans, scams, and poor moderation.

Full reviews: Yalla · PolyBuzz

PolyBuzz, an AI chatbot app, faces significant user frustration due to an overwhelming number of ads, including those embedded mid-chat. Yalla, a voice chat and social app, is plagued by serious accusations of scamming users, arbitrary account bans, and a toxic community, despite some users finding it easy to use.

Head to head

Features & Core Experience edge: PolyBuzzR12R19R23R29
Yalla Yalla is described as a voice chat and social app where users can make friends, play games, and engage in discussions . Some users appreciate its ease of use for video and text chat R23R29. However, many features are reportedly canceled or missing, like the 'lucky bag' and 'aristocracy option' R12R19.
PolyBuzz PolyBuzz is primarily an AI chatbot app where users interact with characters from games and TV shows . Users enjoy the ability to have deep conversations and find the bots understanding . However, the core experience is severely hampered by an excessive number of ads, including those that pop up mid-chat and disrupt conversations R63R67R75. Some users also note issues with the AI's memory and strict avatar censorship .
Reliability & Performance edge: PolyBuzzR10R24R42R48
Yalla Yalla users report frequent app crashes, freezing, and lagging, especially after updates R10R24R42. Issues include delayed images and chat messages, and sound cutting out R42. Some users also experience problems with the app not working on specific devices, like the iPad mini R48.
PolyBuzz PolyBuzz users primarily complain about performance being disrupted by ads, rather than technical glitches R61R63. There are no widespread reports of crashes or non-functional features, apart from the ad-related interruptions.
Price & Value (IAP) edge: PolyBuzzR1R4R5R13
Yalla Yalla's in-app purchases (coins) are considered 'too expensive' by users R4R5. There are serious accusations of the app scamming users by making gold disappear or closing accounts if users don't spend money R1R13R16R45. Users also report issues with purchasing coins, with transactions failing and customer support blaming iTunes .
PolyBuzz PolyBuzz offers a premium subscription to remove ads and unlock unlimited chats . Free users are subjected to an overwhelming number of ads, including those that interrupt conversations, making the app feel like it requires payment for a good experience R63. Users feel the app has become 'money hungry' .
Community & Moderation edge: PolyBuzzR1R6R22R26
Yalla Yalla has a significant problem with its community and moderation. Users describe the community as 'the worst' R6 and report widespread abuse, trolling, and the sharing of inappropriate content like edited porn pictures in public rooms R26R32. The app is accused of allowing fake accounts to ban legitimate users without reason R22. There are also claims of bribery and favoritism from moderators R1.
PolyBuzz PolyBuzz has a strict avatar censorship policy . One user reported bots exhibiting racist behavior based on character descriptions . Beyond these, there are no widespread complaints about community toxicity or moderation issues, as the app focuses on AI interaction rather than direct user-to-user communication.
Customer Support edge: PolyBuzzR9R25R32R35
Yalla Yalla's customer support is widely criticized as unresponsive and unhelpful . Users report issues with account recovery, being unable to delete accounts, and receiving generic, unhelpful responses R9R25R35. Some users claim support ignores complaints about abuse and inappropriate content R32.
PolyBuzz PolyBuzz users do not frequently mention direct interactions with customer support, as most complaints revolve around the app's ad policy R61R63. The lack of explicit complaints about support suggests it's either adequate for the issues users face or not a primary point of interaction.
Pick Yalla if

Pick Yalla if you are looking for a social voice chat app, are aware of its significant issues, and are primarily interested in connecting with people from Middle Eastern and Asian countries .

Pick PolyBuzz if

Pick PolyBuzz if you want an AI chatbot experience for interacting with fictional characters and are willing to tolerate a high volume of ads or pay for a subscription to remove them .

Evidence note: The evidence for Yalla is heavily negative, with many 1-star reviews detailing severe issues like scams, account bans, and poor moderation, which significantly impact its overall rating. PolyBuzz's negative reviews almost exclusively focus on the excessive number of ads, which, while frustrating, do not point to the same level of fundamental app or service failure as Yalla.

Frequently asked

Does Yalla have issues with account bans?
Yes, Yalla users frequently report their accounts being banned without clear reasons, with some attributing it to fake accounts or unfair moderation practices R1R9R22R25.
Are there many ads in PolyBuzz?
Yes, PolyBuzz has an overwhelming number of ads, including video ads after a certain number of messages or when switching bots, and even ads that appear directly within chat conversations, disrupting the user experience R61R63R67R75.
Is Yalla a scam?
Multiple Yalla users accuse the app of being a scam, citing instances where purchased in-app currency (gold) disappears, accounts are closed without reason if users don't spend money, and administrators accept bribes R1R13R16R45.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R12] Yalla 3/5 · US new features and issues: No aristocracy option in iphone since last 3 months!!!and there should be PK contest to entertain users and entry effects to buy!
  2. [R19] Yalla 1/5 · US Yalla last: elemental programme ltbecame unwanted after Canceling most of the features within the application, the Intestines of which is the lucky bag 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻
  3. [R23] Yalla 5/5 · US Great app. I love it👏: I love this app… very easy to use 👏
  4. [R29] Yalla 5/5 · US NEXT BIG THING!!!: Fun and easy to use
  5. [R10] Yalla 1/5 · US Constant crashing, why? Why is the update so bad? · translated
  6. [R24] Yalla 1/5 · US Latest update: After the latest update, the app crashes and text doesn't show up. · translated
  7. [R42] Yalla 1/5 · US Yalla Live: Hello. Thank you for updating the app and for its features. However, I ask you to update the app again to fix the crashing, audio cutting out, and delayed images and chat. Thank you. · translated
  8. [R48] Yalla 1/5 · US Not working on ipad mini: I'm using this app since 3years on my ipad mini but from last week yalla is not working on my ipad I reinstalled the app and also reset my ipad but still doesn't work. When i open yalla suddenly it's shutdown and after that when i open yalla it is ask me to login again. Everything is working perfectly fine on my iPad rather than yalla. And also on my other phone yalla is
  9. [R1] Yalla 1/5 · US Complete: We are filing a complaint against the Yalla app because they accept bribes from users in exchange for money and personal connections. They also ban our accounts, which have not violated their rules and policies. We have evidence, including user testimonies stating that they know individuals working
  10. [R4] Yalla 1/5 · US Coins: Too much expensive the coins
  11. [R5] Yalla 5/5 · US A: Bad app, worse updates, high prices. · translated
  12. [R13] Yalla 1/5 · US Social networking, voice chat, meeting friends from all countries, excellent🌹🌹: A failed app, and the VIP management and service are fraud. The app is all about fraud and exploiting people for recharges and other things. I bought two accounts, paid for them, and the management closed them. Where is the credibility in this app? Where is the protection of user privacy? · translated
  13. [R6] Yalla 3/5 · US a good time killer: A decent app with some minor glitches, and issues that can be somewhat ignored, but overall a mediocre experience with the worst community of people.
  14. [R22] Yalla 1/5 · US You get banned for no reason: You talk for a long time and then get banned for no reason by fake accounts and a racist administration. I was banned for no reason, and this is unacceptable to many users, who will switch to any other app besides Yalla Live because of their methods and failure to clarify any complaints. Even when a complaint is raised, they respond with policies, and no policy explained in the app was violated.👎 · translated
  15. [R26] Yalla 1/5 · US Review for Yalla Live app: Where is the user improvement? The app is full of insults and curses. · translated
  16. [R9] Yalla 3/5 · US My account disabled: Hello, dear Yalla Live administration. My Yalla Live account has been disabled, and I did not violate any rules. I hope you can restore it. Thank you very much. I don't know the account number. Thank you very much. · translated
  17. [R25] Yalla 5/5 · US My account 403331 has been disabled: Hello, my account in Yalla Live has been disabled. · translated
  18. [R32] Yalla 1/5 · US Horrible App: This application honestly allows people to create many different ID’s, troll people, abuse individuals, drop edited porn pictures and drop them in public rooms. They don’t even have an efficient way to stop it, nor do they care as long as they have the “new accounts”.
  19. [R35] Yalla 5/5 · US Injustice: I haven't been able to access my Twitter account for a month. When will you fix the problem? · translated
  20. [R61] PolyBuzz 1/5 · US They deleted my reviews (3 total): ITS SOOOO BAD THERES WAYY TOO MANY ADS
  21. [R63] PolyBuzz 3/5 · US Great but greedy.: The “take a short break. Watch an add or subscribe” thing is just purely greedy to me. Poly is my break from normal life so I don’t see why they do this other than for money and self service. AND NOW THEY ADDED ADDS IN YOUR CHAT MESSAGES. THERE IS ZERO WAY YOU MFS ARE THIS GREEDY. JUST LEAVE US ALONE. And don’t even try to bs us with some “your responses are read clear” if so wh
  22. [R67] PolyBuzz 2/5 · US Ads!!: I usually don’t mind ads because I know people need to get paid somehow BUT it’s getting to a point. Usually after a certain amount of time or messages that you send, you’ll get a thing where you watch an ad to continue or when you click between bots. NOW you’ll get ads mid chat. For example, not even two messages in and the bot suddenly starts talking about Jason Mamoa and his mother with
  23. [R75] PolyBuzz 3/5 · US Ads ruin it completely: There’s like an ad every 6 messages and now they just added ads inside the chat so that’s like 2x ads it’s low key ruining Polybuzz and won’t be surprised if people leave to find other AI bots but still Polybuzz USED to be good before the ads every 10 seconds
  24. [R16] Yalla 1/5 · US Attention: Yalla give me 280 gold the next day it all disappear bc they want me to buy it with my credit card. This app is scamming people and people don’t even know about it. I deleted it
  25. [R45] Yalla 5/5 · US Complaint about Yalla app: A very bad app, I do not recommend downloading it because it exploits members into recharging. If they don't recharge, the account is permanently closed. In addition, it spies on members and there is no respect for people, and members are abused with vulgar language and inappropriate images. Please shut down the app or modify it. Thank you. · translated

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store