GettingOut App Review: What It Covers and What It Doesn’t

The GettingOut app is ViaPath’s messaging and account app for people held in many state prisons and county jails. It is not a single nationwide service, and it is not the federal system. Whether your loved one can use it depends on the contract their facility has signed, so the first thing to check is the facility’s own website or handbook, not the app store listing. If the facility doesn’t use ViaPath, the app will not help you no matter how many features it lists.

What GettingOut actually is

GettingOut is the family-facing side of ViaPath’s inmate communication platform. Families use it to manage an account and send messages to someone at a participating facility. The inmate reads and replies through the facility’s own equipment, on the schedule the facility allows.

Two things follow from that, and they matter more than any feature list:

• The facility sets the rules. Message length, how often someone can write, whether photos are allowed, and how messages are reviewed are all decided locally. Two jails in the same state can run it differently.
• You will not find a single price. ViaPath’s rates are set per contract, so the cost of a message, a photo or a video visit varies from one facility to the next. Any review that quotes one flat price for GettingOut is describing one facility, not the app. Check the rate sheet posted on your facility’s site or inside the app once you select the facility.

Before you download anything

Do this in order. It saves the most common and most expensive mistake, which is paying to set up an account at a facility that doesn’t use the system.

1. Find out which vendor your facility uses. Search the facility’s website for “inmate communication” or “messaging,” or call the facility’s main line and ask which company handles messages. Staff answer this question all day.
2. If the answer is ViaPath or GettingOut, create the account and add your inmate using the name and ID number the facility gave you. Numbers get transposed; double-check against a letter or the facility’s inmate lookup.
3. Read the facility’s messaging rules before your first send. They usually cover what gets a message rejected: certain attachments, three-way calling language, or anything that looks like it’s arranging contact the facility hasn’t approved.
4. Send a short, plain first message. Something like “It’s [name], got your number from [relative], hope you’re okay, write back when you can” gives the inmate what they need to confirm who you are without triggering a review problem.

What usually goes wrong the first time

The account works, the message sends, and then nothing comes back for a while. That is normal and it is not a sign the app failed. Your message sits until the inmate can get to the facility’s messaging station, and staff may review it before it’s released. How long that takes depends on the facility’s schedule and staffing, not on the app.

The other frequent snag is a rejected message with a vague reason. Nine times out of ten it’s one of three things: an attachment type the facility doesn’t accept, a message that reads like it’s setting up a call, or account details that don’t match the inmate’s record. Fix the specific item, resend, and don’t pile on duplicate messages while you wait, since duplicates can look like a pattern to a reviewer.

If the app itself is misbehaving (login loops, messages stuck in draft), update it, try the website version on a browser, and then contact ViaPath support with the facility name and your account email. Support can see the account; a general review page cannot.

Where GettingOut stops, and what federal families do instead

GettingOut is built for state prisons and county jails that contract with ViaPath. It is not the route into the federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal inmates send electronic messages from TRULINCS terminals inside the facility, and CorrLinks is the outside side of that email system.

That leaves federal families with a different set of choices. If CorrLinks has been awkward for you, our guide on how to text an inmate without CorrLinks walks through the alternatives. And if you’re not sure yet whether your person is state or federal, start with checking your state before you pay for any messaging service, because the state is what determines the vendor.

One option federal families use is InmateDB, which works with BOP facilities that use CorrLinks (about 93% of federal facilities). The inmate texts any U.S. or Canada phone number and the family replies from their normal texting app. Setup is a one-time step: the family finds the inmate by name or BOP register number, and the inmate adds one InmateDB contact in TRULINCS. After that, messages go through by putting a phone number in the subject line and the message in the body. Plans start at $9.99 a month, and new accounts get a 3-day free trial. InmateDB does not work in state prisons or county jails, so it is not a substitute for GettingOut if your loved one is in a state facility. Best Inmate Texting App is made by the team behind InmateDB, so weigh that as you read this.

If you’re comparing options for someone in a state facility, our plain-language walkthrough of how to text loved ones in prison without the headache covers the facility-first approach that applies to every vendor.

How to judge whether GettingOut is right for your family

Skip the feature checklist and ask three practical questions. Does my facility use it? What does each message and each photo actually cost here, according to the facility’s posted rates? And can my inmate get to the messaging station often enough for this to feel like a conversation rather than a letter?

If the answer to the first is no, stop. If the answer to the second is uncomfortable, compare it against what the facility allows for mail and calls, since those are usually still available. If the answer to the third is “rarely,” a messaging app may not be the best use of your money, and letters or scheduled calls might carry more of the relationship.

What GettingOut does well is give families one place to manage an account at a participating facility, with the facility’s rules built in. What it doesn’t do is work everywhere, or cost the same everywhere. Treat any single price you see online as one facility’s number until you confirm your own.

Quick answers

Is GettingOut the same as CorrLinks?

No. GettingOut is ViaPath’s app for state prisons and county jails that contract with ViaPath. CorrLinks is the outside side of the federal Bureau of Prisons email system. They serve different populations and do not overlap.

Can I use GettingOut for a federal inmate?

Not for Bureau of Prisons messaging. Federal inmates use TRULINCS terminals inside the facility. Check bop.gov or the facility for the current federal rules, and look at federal-specific options if CorrLinks hasn’t worked well for you.

Why can’t I find one price for GettingOut?

Because rates are set per facility contract. The same message can cost different amounts at two jails in the same state. Look for the rate sheet on your facility’s website or inside the app after you select the facility.

If your loved one is in federal custody, you can find your loved one on InmateDB by name or BOP register number and see whether their facility is covered before you commit to anything.