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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

MoneyGram® Money Transfers App vs Venmo

MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 4.9★ · Free to download 65
Winner MoneyGram® Money Transfers App
Venmo 4.8★ · Free to download 60

While both apps face significant criticism regarding account suspensions and customer service, MoneyGram appears to have a slight edge for international transfers due to its stated competitive rates and speed, whereas Venmo is more geared towards domestic peer-to-peer payments.

Full reviews: MoneyGram® Money Transfers App · Venmo

MoneyGram and Venmo are both free-to-download money transfer apps with high lifetime ratings, but recent user reviews highlight significant issues with account suspensions, transfer reliability, and customer support for both. MoneyGram is often praised for quick international transfers and competitive rates, while Venmo is favored for its ease of use in domestic peer-to-peer transactions, despite recent performance and privacy concerns.

Head to head

Features and Use Case tieR6R18R28R36
MoneyGram® Money Transfers App MoneyGram is primarily used for international money transfers, with users appreciating its ability to send money to family abroad and offering cash pickup options R18R36R52. Some users desire features like saving contact details for easier future transfers and adding memos to transactions R6R28.
Venmo Venmo is widely used for peer-to-peer payments and offers features like a debit card and business accounts . Users enjoy its simplicity for sending money to friends and family . However, some are annoyed by the public feed, ads, and large icons on the homepage .
Ease of Use tieR6R14R18R24
MoneyGram® Money Transfers App Many MoneyGram users find the app easy and convenient for sending money R14R18R24. However, some experience issues with the app closing during transactions or not saving contact information, making it less user-friendly R6.
Venmo Venmo is frequently praised for being easy and simple to use for sending and receiving money . Conversely, some users find the app not very user-friendly, describing it as glitchy or having poor UI .
Reliability and Performance tieR7R8R10R11
MoneyGram® Money Transfers App MoneyGram receives mixed reviews on reliability. Many users report fast and timely transfers R8R11R24. However, a significant number of users complain about incredibly slow transfers, money not arriving, or transactions being canceled after funds are deducted R7R10R13.
Venmo Venmo users also report inconsistent reliability. While some find it works well, others experience frequent error messages, inability to make payments, or money not appearing in their account after transfer . There are also reports of the app not working on newer iPhone models .
Price and Value edge: MoneyGram® Money Transfers AppR3R4R9R21
MoneyGram® Money Transfers App MoneyGram's pricing is a point of contention. Some users praise competitive exchange rates and low fees R32R46. However, many others find the cost of sending money to be high, complain about low exchange rates, or report hidden fees R3R9R21. Lack of promo codes for frequent users is also a common complaint R4R9R37.
Venmo Venmo is free to download, but users report random charges on their account R76 and issues with refunds not being processed . There's also a complaint about having to pay for a metal card that gets stuck in ATMs and not getting a refund when switching to plastic .
Support and Account Management tieR1R7R10R12
MoneyGram® Money Transfers App MoneyGram users frequently report severe issues with account suspensions and poor customer service. Accounts are often closed without warning or clear reason, and customer support is described as unhelpful, unable to provide clarification, or directing users to physical stores R1R7R10R13. Refunds are also reported to be slow R12.
Venmo Venmo also faces widespread criticism for its customer service and account management. Users report accounts being frozen or locked without valid reason, difficulty accessing accounts after changing phone numbers, and unhelpful customer support that provides generic responses or is non-existent R76. Issues with debit card service and delayed card delivery are also mentioned .
Pick MoneyGram® Money Transfers App if

You frequently send money internationally and prioritize potentially competitive exchange rates and quick transfers, especially for cash pickup R11R32R46R52.

Pick Venmo if

You primarily need to send and receive money from friends and family domestically, and value a simple, widely-adopted peer-to-peer payment system .

Evidence note: Both apps have a significant number of negative recent reviews, particularly concerning account issues and customer service, despite high lifetime ratings. The evidence for both is robust regarding these common pain points.

Frequently asked

Which app is better for international money transfers?
MoneyGram is generally better for international money transfers, with users citing competitive exchange rates and quick delivery to various countries, including cash pickup options R11R32R46R52.
Do MoneyGram or Venmo have good customer service?
Neither MoneyGram nor Venmo are consistently reported to have good customer service; users of both apps frequently describe support as unhelpful, unresponsive, or providing generic answers, especially concerning account suspensions and transaction issues R13R33R45R57.
Are there hidden fees with MoneyGram or Venmo?
MoneyGram users have reported hidden fees, such as recipients being charged a percentage of the total sum that was not disclosed upfront R59, and some find the overall cost of sending money to be high R3R37. Venmo users have mentioned random charges on their accounts and issues with refunds R76.

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. [R6] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 3/5 · US Make it easier: Banesco does not show up on the bank list but separately, the App won’t allow me to save my contacts needed data (account #, bank, etc.) to make future transfers easily.
  2. [R18] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 5/5 · US Transfer money: Easy way to send money to family
  3. [R28] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 5/5 · US Added Feature: Everything about the website/app so far is good. The only thing if it can be upgraded is the memo/noted for each transfer. Sometimes as the sender, it would be cool if the transaction can be sent along with some notes/memo.
  4. [R36] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 5/5 · US Freedom: This platform helps me send money to my love ones around the world
  5. [R14] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 5/5 · US First time user: I’m very impressed how easy it is to use MoneyGram App to send money.
  6. [R24] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 5/5 · US Fast Track: Convenient, easy and fast
  7. [R7] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 1/5 · US Terrible app: They closed my account Down and my transactions never arrived.
  8. [R8] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 5/5 · US Fue rápido: Todo el proceso fue rápido
  9. [R10] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 1/5 · US Garbage application: Let me send money, took money out of my account, then canceled my profile. Pure garbage.
  10. [R11] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 5/5 · US MoneyGreat!: Best Money Transfer👍 MoneyGram has been the best for Money Transfer! Timely transfers, dependable, never a problem! 👍
  11. [R3] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 3/5 · US High Cost: The cost of sending is higher then other apps.
  12. [R4] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 1/5 · US Promo: No promo code even the amount of times I’ve send money through the app
  13. [R9] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 3/5 · US Tacaños: Buena aplicación no está muy caro pero lo malo que nunca regalan un promo code por más dinero que uno mande no dan nada, ya estoy pensando en cambiarme donde no sean tan tacaños.
  14. [R21] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 1/5 · US Low rate: Always low compare to others
  15. [R1] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 1/5 · US Account suspended: They have intentionally closed my account during the transaction and asked me to visit the stores to transfer money to make users use store process.
  16. [R12] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 3/5 · US Refunds: Refunds should be given back within few mins shouldn’t have to wait to get money back. The app is very quick to take your money lol.
  17. [R32] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 5/5 · US Recomiendo esta aplicación: Es bastante rápido enviar dinero y además de eso el tipo de cambio es muy bueno por lo cual se las recomiendo si quieren enviar dinero así familia en México u otros países
  18. [R46] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 5/5 · US Efficient, straight forward, practical tool: Competitive exchange rates, easy to use app and website, quick service.
  19. [R52] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 5/5 · US Envío de dinero a otro país: Me encanta porque llega es fácil y súper rápido, también te mantienen informado del proceso del envío vía correo electrónico
  20. [R13] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 1/5 · US adri: Es de las peores aplicaciones dicen que en cuestión de minutos llega el dinero y a veces demora días . Si es urgente es mejor que usen otra y servicio al cliente nunca te soluciona nada.
  21. [R33] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 1/5 · US Unreliable and Untrustworthy: Everything was going fine until moneygram decided to stop my account for no reason and when asked for further clarification, they didn’t provide any feedback. This is really disappointing and bad from a service that claims to make people’s life easier with money transfers. Not even a valid reason to support their unfair decision. Totally unrealistic.
  22. [R45] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 1/5 · US Es una cagada: No sirve, es una aplicación con mucha burocracia y con personal poco calificado para atender a los clientes y dar respuesta a las complicaciones que uno pueda tener, nada que ver como Remitly o ría, a esta aplicación no la recomiendo para nada cero de 10.
  23. [R57] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 1/5 · US Worst app: The worst money transfer app I’ve ever used. I regularly send money to different countries because I shop internationally, and I have relatives living there but my account was suspended without any clear reason. To make matters worse, the customer service was extremely unhelpful. When I asked why my account had been suspended, all they could say was, “We don’t have any more information.
  24. [R37] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 1/5 · US to expensive: far to expensive and beginning to feel it’s not worth using. it doesn’t even send out promo codes
  25. [R59] MoneyGram® Money Transfers App 1/5 · US Beware! Hidden fees: On the website they said they're charging about $6 for the transfer. When the recipient received the money they were charged 2% on the total sum! At no point did MoneyGram declare or even remotely mention this fee. It derailed a business deal since the sum they delivered was less than the one they claimed were going to deliver. When I contacted them I was given a shrug and a c
  26. [R76] Venmo 1/5 · US Customer care is a joke: Customer care is a joke, if you want random charges on your account just keep using Venmo. Then when you ask for refund they make things hard unlike regular bank institutions.

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