STRETCH Get the app

Comparison · Visa services · 2026

Atlys vs iVisa

Atlys and iVisa are visa agencies. Both fill in your application and submit it for you, and both add a service fee to the government's. Stretch is the third option: the Visa Desk prepares the same forms with you, and you pay the government yourself. Here is how I would choose.

By David Toniolo, Do a Stretch · Updated 2026-08-29 · Prices and facts checked 2026-08-17 · 9 min read

Who each one is for

Pick Atlys if you want the fastest app in the category, and an embassy appointment is the thing between you and a trip. Pick iVisa if you want a price you can read first, an unusual document, or licences you can look up. Both charge a fee on top of the government's, and neither counts a day of the stay it buys.

Before you pay anyone, read the rulebook — each destination's rule, its source, the checked date, the official portal.

TL;DR

Feature Atlys iVisa Winner
What it is, and the state's fee Four taps; state fee plus Atlys's Documents and a membership; state fee as stated Tie
What it covers "150+ countries", "120+" on its site eVisas, VOAs, health declarations, paper visas iVisa
Published price None; you see it at checkout iVisa+ $79.99/yr, Family $119.99/yr iVisa
Refunds "No questions asked" — then clause 5.3 Case by case, and slow iVisa
Who submits Atlys, "a disclosed agent" iVisa, licensed in three countries iVisa
Ratings 4.8★ Play, 4.6★ iPhone 4.2★ Play, 4.8★ iPhone Atlys on Play, iVisa on iPhone
Counting your days None None Neither

Atlys is the better product to use, and its Play rating is one most travel apps never see. iVisa is the better company to buy from — it publishes its prices, holds licences you can verify, and prints the official portals on its own site. The one-star reviews on both agree: I could have done this myself.

Quick verdict

If you want… Choose
The fastest app for a sticker visa or an embassy appointment Atlys
A published price, licences you can check, a capped year of eVisas iVisa (iVisa+, $79.99/yr)
To pay the government's fee and nothing else Stretch
To know how many days the visa gives you Stretch
Your destination's official portal, free and dated Stretch (doastretch.com/visa)

Atlys at a glance

What it is. A mobile-first visa agency (2021; New York, Dubai and New Delhi). Pick a destination, scan your passport, take a selfie, and Atlys prepares and submits the application. It claims "500,000+ visas processed", "150+ countries" and most applications done "in under 4 minutes", with a document vault so the next trip needs no typing.

Price. Government fee plus an Atlys service fee. I found no published fee schedule on atlys.com on 17 August 2026: the fee appears in the flow, and both premium tiers are unpriced. Agencies like this charge $10–80+ per visa.

The promise, and the terms under it. The listing says: "We are 99.7% on time… full refund. No questions asked." Clause 5.3 says Atlys "will not refund the Visa fees or the Atlys fees for any reason whatsoever" outside Atlys Protect; clause 2.8 says the ETA is "not binding".

Rating. 4.8★ from 12.6K reviews and 500K+ installs on Google Play; 4.6★ from 3,347 ratings on the US App Store. The critical ones are about money: "7 months later I get over $90 charged out of my account".

iVisa at a glance

What it is. An online visa and document service trading as Document Advisor since 2013: eVisas, visas on arrival, invitation letters, health declarations, paper visas by courier and embassy support, each put through an expert review. Its Play listing carries a plain disclaimer — "We are a private online service provider, not a government agency" — and lists a Washington State Seller of Travel endorsement, a UK Immigration Advice Authority Level 1 licence and New Zealand certification, all in public registers. It also publishes a directory of official government portals: "users are free to use these sources and apply on their own".

Price. The government fee is separate — "charged as stated for each product" — plus a service fee that rises with speed. iVisa+ is $79.99 a year, Family $119.99 for up to five (checked 17 August 2026): no standard processing fee on eVisas.

Rating. 4.2★ from 8.14K reviews and 1M+ installs on Google Play; 4.8★ from 11,066 ratings on the US App Store — the reverse of Atlys's split. The critical ones are about the checkout: "applied for a Visa at the cost of $99. What I received was an arrival card which you can get online for free".

Feature comparison

What you are buying, and what they keep

Both sell the same thing: someone else does the form. Atlys sells speed — scan, selfie, four minutes, a concierge lane. iVisa sells range: more document types, an expert review, a consultancy behind it. Both keep your passport scan — Atlys's "saved forever" — a dossier you did not have before.

Winner Tie — Atlys for the experience, iVisa for the paperwork range.

Price transparency

iVisa publishes its membership prices and says the government's fee is separate. Atlys publishes no fee schedule I could find: the fee arrives at checkout, and both premium tiers are unpriced. On maximum published tiers, iVisa's is $119.99 a year plus government fees; Atlys's is unknowable.

Winner iVisa — a price you can read beats a price you discover.

Refunds, and who stands behind them

Atlys makes the boldest promise in the category and then contradicts it in clause 5.3. iVisa promises less and refunds case by case, which its reviewers call slow. But it states it is not a government agency, publishes the portals that let you skip it, and holds licences in three public registers, while Atlys's terms call it "a disclosed agent… authorized… to submit visa applications… on their behalf" — the right shape, with less to look up.

Winner iVisa — a modest promise kept, and licences with numbers.

Ratings, and where they disagree

Atlys wins Android decisively, iVisa wins iPhone, and both have enough reviews to mean something. Read the one-star tails, not the averages: on both they are about fees found late and documents nobody needed.

Winner Atlys on Play, iVisa on the App Store — call it a tie, and read the complaints.

Counting your days

Neither does it. Atlys will get you a 90-day e-visa; it will not tell you your Schengen days run on a rolling 90-in-180 and the October trip is already over the line. iVisa will sell you an eTA; it will not remind you to leave on the 14th.

Winner Neither — and this is the gap Stretch exists to fill.

Can't decide? The third option: Stretch

Both agencies charge you to type your details into a government form. The Visa Desk prepares your tourist-visa and entry-declaration forms with you, inside a subscription you already pay for — $49.99 a year, or $149 once; you review what it has typed, pay the government and submit. You are the applicant, you pay the state's price, and nobody keeps your passport scan. Guided applications come under fair use — roughly three a month on the yearly plan — not priced one at a time.

And the part neither agency sells at any price: the counter is free forever. Log the day you land and Stretch shows the days left and the date you must be out, with reminders at 14, 7, 3 and 1 days. Every rule carries its source, checked date and official portal, free to read at doastretch.com/visa.

Atlys iVisa Stretch
What it charges Government fee + an unpublished fee Government fee + fee by speed $49.99/yr or $149 once
Who submits Atlys, your disclosed agent iVisa, a licensed consultancy You — it prepares, you pay
Your passport scan Kept, "saved forever" Kept in a profile Your phone, no account
Free tier Every visa costs Every document costs Counter, alerts, documents
Counts your days No No Yes — the date, and reminders
Where the rules come from Not published Undated pages Source and date on each
Official portals Not prominent At ivisa.com/gov-info In the rulebook, dated

Choose Atlys if you…

  • need a sticker visa or an embassy appointment handled fast, and the app matters more than the fee;
  • travel often enough that a saved document vault saves an afternoon a trip;
  • are content to find the fee at checkout, having read clause 5.3 first.

Choose iVisa if you…

  • want a published price, capped at $79.99 a year for standard eVisas;
  • need an unusual document — invitation letter, health declaration, paper visa by courier;
  • value licences you can look up, and will use the portal directory they publish.

Choose Stretch if you…

  • would rather pay the government's fee and nothing else — it prepares the form, you pay;
  • don't want a third party holding your passport scan afterwards;
  • want to know how many days the visa gives you, and to be told before they run out;
  • want the source and checked date on every rule, with the portal link.

How we evaluated

  • What the fee buys — form-filling, submission, appointment access, or speed
  • Whether the total is published before you start, and what the maximum tier costs
  • Refund terms, read against the marketing claim on the store listing
  • Regulatory standing, what happens to your passport scan, and what the one-star reviews say — read on 17 August 2026

Frequently asked questions

Is Atlys or iVisa cheaper?

iVisa is the more predictable cost, and usually the cheaper for frequent travellers: its fees are published, and iVisa+ at $79.99 a year removes the standard processing fee on eVisas, with the government fee charged separately. Atlys publishes no fee schedule, so its fee appears only in the flow.

Does Atlys really refund you if the visa is late?

Atlys's listing says "We are 99.7% on time… full refund. No questions asked", but clause 5.3 says it "will not refund the Visa fees or the Atlys fees for any reason whatsoever" except under Atlys Protect, and clause 2.8 calls the ETA "not binding". Read what Atlys Protect covers first.

Do I need a visa agency at all?

For most travellers, most of the time, no. Much of what agencies sell are eVisas, eTAs and arrival cards from a government portal that takes a card payment and ten minutes — sometimes for nothing. An agency earns its fee for a consular appointment you cannot get, a paper visa needing courier support, or a trip too close to risk.

Is Stretch a visa agency like Atlys or iVisa?

No — Stretch is not an agency and does not act as your agent. The Visa Desk (inside Stretch+) prepares your tourist-visa and entry-declaration forms with you, then calls you to review what it has typed, pay the government and submit. You are the applicant, and no middleman keeps your passport scan.

Do Atlys or iVisa track how many days I can stay?

No. Neither counts stay days, rolling windows like Schengen's 90-in-180, or the date you must exit — their job ends when the visa is issued. Stretch's counter does that, free forever, with reminders at 14, 7, 3 and 1 days.

Sources

Count it, don't carry it

Do a stretch. Don't snap.

The counter, the alerts and your documents are free, forever. Coming to the App Store and Google Play — one email when it lands.

Recommended reads

Prices, ratings and features are as published by each product on the date shown; they change — check the store listing before you buy. Stretch is a tracker, not legal advice.