Robocalls increased by 35% in 2019, and this problem shows no signs of slowing down. There are various call blocking and spam filtering technologies that claim to solve the problem. But how do they stack up against Robokiller?
Verizon Call Filter lets you report unwanted robocalls, block spam, and screen incoming calls. In this guide, we'll compare it to Robokiller and see which of these technologies provides the best features and value for money.
Verizon Call Filter is a spam blocking and screening service from Verizon Wireless—one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. Verizon Wireless provides Call Filter exclusively to its more than 150 million subscribers.
If you use Verizon, you might have already heard about this service. Verizon Call Filter used to be a paid-only service until last year. Now there's a free version (with very limited features) and a new improved service called Verizon Call Filter Plus. (For this guide, we'll be comparing Robokiller with Call Filter Plus.)
Robokiller is an award-winning call and spam blocking app that brims with features. Ultimately, it prevents spam callers from reaching you in the first place. However, it does so much more than that. Here are just some of the Robokiller features you need to know about:
OK, let's start by talking about who can use each of these call blocking services. As the name suggests, Verizon Call Filter is exclusive to Verizon Wireless customers. Although one of the biggest cell phone providers in the United States, not everyone uses Verizon Wireless (millions and millions of people don't, in fact!). However, none of these people will be eligible to use the service.
We also think it's kind of ironic that phone carriers, in general, are creating call spam technologies when, for years, they did nothing about the problem. Now, they want to charge you for protection!
Robokiller is different. It's available for ALL phone carriers in the United States and Canada, including Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint.
Robokiller has successfully blocked more than 500 million spam calls. We couldn't find any information on how many calls Call Filter has stopped. However, it seems Call Filter offers subscribers limited caller ID-based blocking (enhanced by network-wide integration.)
Robokiller, on the other hand, offers full spam calling blocking, which prevents all those annoying calls from ever reaching your phone in the first place. Robokiller can block up to 99% of spam calls (we're working on the remaining 1%!). It blocks calls using the latest machine learning and AI technology instead of the standard caller ID blocking you find with other services.
You might think that Robokiller blocks genuine calls from reaching your phone, but this isn't the case. The company compares incoming numbers with various internal spam lists in real time, so you can still receive important personal and business communications.
Call Filter offers call screening, which provides subscribers with more information about the person calling them. They can find out whether a call might be from a scammer trying to steal their money. While this feature is effective, Robokiller does the same thing — only in real-time. This means more accurate call screening based on the latest information.
As scammers change their numbers frequently, this is the best way to stop these fraudsters from reaching you. You can see just how effective Robokiller is by checking out their free Phone Number Lookup service here. As you can see, Robokiller monitors scam numbers in real-time and even compiles lists of the most active robocallers from the previous hour and 24 hours respectively.
Sometimes, spam texts are just as frustrating as robocalls. (Scammers go to any length to steal your personal and financial information!) Some people receive hundreds of these text messages every month. Changing their phone numbers won't do much as fraudsters can just spam their new numbers. The good news is that both Verizon Call Filter and Robokiller offer SMS protection.
Both Call Filter and Robokiller offer users voicemail services. This includes Visual Voicemail, where you can see a list of your voicemails and choose which ones to listen to, save for later, or delete. (Scammers often leave voicemails, and you probably don't want to listen to them.) Call Filter can also send unknown callers straight to voicemail.
One amazing feature of Robokiller is Voicemail Transcription. Robokiller transcribes the content in your voicemails so you can quickly read it and get a general overview of the message. If the voicemail is important, you can listen to it in full. If it's not, you can delete the message. With Robokiller, you can also forward voicemails to Google Voice and YouMail.
Call Filter uses a community-based spam list that relies on users to report robocalls and spam numbers. There are obvious problems with this approach:
All spam lists will reduce the number of illegal robocalls by a significant amount but, as you can see, Call Filter isn't 100% effective.
Robokiller uses a different approach. It relies on predictive call-blocking algorithms to identify robocalls in real-time and not the feedback of its users.
The result? More accurate, timely spam lists you can count on. While both Call Filter and Robokiller monitor robocalls around the world (and not just the United States), Robokiller has a much larger global scammer database, with more than 500 million entries (compared to just 100 million for Call Filter).
Both Call Filter and Robokiller let you manually block calls and add these to blocklists. This prevents certain numbers from ever bothering you again. However, only Robokiller lets you add allowed calls to a personalized list. This prevents spam filters from stopping important calls.
One feature you won't find on Call Filter is Answer Bots, which automatically answer spam calls and drive scammers insane!
Answer Bots mimic real human beings, so you can get your own back on all those annoying scammers who waste your time (and try to steal your money.) There are loads of Answer Bots to choose from, and you can even listen back to the recordings and play them to your friends and family.
Here are some examples of Answer Bots in action!
Answer Bots are one of the most popular features on Robokiller and something you just won't find on Call Filter.
Another feature you won't find on Call Filter is audio fingerprints, which detect robocallers based on the way they talk or initiate conversation. This advanced technology is just one of the many innovations Robokiller has developed over the years. With audio fingerprints, Robokiller improves the accuracy of its call blocking features.
Neighbor Spoofing (a type of Call Spoofing) tricks you into thinking an incoming call is from someone in your local area. In reality, the person on the other end of the phone is from an entirely different location or even a different country.
Robokiller utilizes the latest neighbor spoofing blocking technology to identify these calls. It can tell whether calls are from someone in your area or from somewhere else entirely. This is another great feature you won't find on Call Filter.
Robokiller and Call Filter prices are different, with Robokiller providing more value for money. In a nutshell:
Call Filter is free, but this doesn't give you access to all the features. For caller ID, spam lookup, spam risk, and personal blocklist features, you need to upgrade to Call Filter Plus, which costs:
Robokiller costs $4.99 per month, which is slightly more than Call Filter Plus (for one line), but the former provides many advanced features you won't find with the latter.
Tip: A 1-year subscription to Robokiller costs $39.99, which equals around $3.33 per month. For just $0.34 more a month, you get far more advanced call blocking features, as well as real-time call screening, call transcriptions, and much more. You can also try a free 7-day trial of RoboKiller here. This way, you can try out all the features at no cost.
Last year, the media reported that Verizon was auto-enrolling customers into its Call Filter service without their consent. Robokiller believes in a transparent pricing structure and lists all costs on its website.
Sometimes, problems arise and you need a helping hand. Both Robokiller and Call Filter have customer service support options, including knowledge bases with helpful information about how to use the respective services. Just by looking online, you can discover the following:
Robokiller also has a live chat feature, where you can talk to a customer support agent about any problems you might have. This service is completely free to use so you don't have to worry about expensive call charges.
Both Robokiller and Call Filter are easy to set up:
In most cases, you won't need to contact a Verizon customer service rep to set up Call Filter. Just download the My Verizon app, head to your account page, find the Call Filter option, and then follow the on-screen instructions.
Robokiller also lets you complete the setup process automatically. Just download the Robokiller app from the Google Play or App Store, or sign up online here. The whole process takes just minutes!If you change your mind, it's easy to cancel Robokiller too. You can do it through the Google Play or App Store.
Call Filter currently holds a rating of 3.7/5 on the App Store (based on more than 11,000 reviews). "If you, like me, are tired of getting a call only to see it’s some unknown number then this app is worth a go," says one user.
Call Filter currently holds a rating of 4.5/5 on Google Play (based on more than 16,000 reviews). "With Call Filter. it's so easy and quick to report these numbers," says one user. "You just hit 'report,' add the number, and choose the type of call from a drop-down box."
Robokiller currently holds a rating of 4.6/5 on the App Store (based on more than 200,000 reviews).
"It’s not only extremely helpful that this app filters out the garbage calls so I don’t have to deal with them (a huge time-saver), but the app also records the call and returns the favor to these idiots and wastes plenty of their time as well," says one user who gave the app a 5/5 rating.
Robokiller currently holds a rating of 4.1/5 on Google Play (based on nearly 30,000 reviews). "I love it," says one user. "The app is awesome. It gives the annoying telemarketers a taste of some annoying medicine! Highly recommended."
Verizon Call Filter is one of the many spam call-filtering technologies on the market but, despite its many benefits, it doesn't come close to Robokiller. Although Call Filter works out slightly cheaper than Robokiller's annual payment plan (but only by $0.34 per month!), Robokiller provides more value for money, with various advanced features including neighbor spoofing blocking, audio fingerprints, and Answer Bots.
