Pros
- Modern, phone-friendly app that's easy to use
- Supports photos and media, not just plain text
- Established vendor with wide coverage at state & county facilities
Reviews · ViaPath GettingOut · Our rating 6.4/10 for federal use
ViaPath GettingOut review: can you use it for federal inmates?
GettingOut is a genuinely modern inmate-messaging app — text, photos and media from your phone. The catch for the families who find us: it's built for state and county jails, and it rarely reaches federal (BOP) inmates. Good app, wrong system for federal.
What GettingOut is
GettingOut is the inmate-communications app from ViaPath Technologies (formerly GTL, Global Tel*Link). Alongside messaging it bundles photo and media sharing, money deposits, phone, and in many places video visits. As a consumer app it's one of the more polished options in the corrections space — clean mobile interface, straightforward sign-up, and features families actually recognize.
How it works
GettingOut only functions at facilities that have a contract with ViaPath. Where it's offered, the flow looks like this:
- You create a GettingOut account and locate your person by facility.
- You add funds or buy message credits.
- You send messages — and, where enabled, photos and media — which are reviewed and delivered under that facility's rules.
Which features exist, and what they cost, are set by each facility's contract, so two people using the same app can have very different experiences.
Cost
Pricing is per-message or credit-based and varies by facility. A text message costs a set number of credits; photos and media typically cost more. There's no single published rate because each contract is different — which also means the running total can creep up faster than families expect, especially once photos are involved.
Federal availability
Rarely. This is the decisive point for anyone on this site. Federal (BOP) inmates use TRULINCS, which families reach through CorrLinks — not GettingOut. ViaPath's messaging footprint is overwhelmingly state and county. So if your loved one is in a federal facility, GettingOut almost certainly won't reach them, no matter how good the app is. Always confirm against your specific facility, but for federal the honest answer is usually no.
Pros and cons
Cons
- Rarely available for federal (BOP) inmates — the wrong system for federal
- Pricing and features vary widely from one facility to the next
- Credit-based costs add up, especially with photos and media
Who it's for
GettingOut is a solid choice for families with a loved one at a state or county facility that contracts with ViaPath — confirm it's offered there and the app is pleasant to use. If your person is in federal custody, this isn't your tool. You'll want CorrLinks for the official channel, and a relay service if you want to text and send photos from your phone.
If your inmate is federal, here's the easy path
For a BOP inmate, the simplest route is almost always a relay service layered on top of the official CorrLinks/TRULINCS system. Our top-rated pick, ContactMeAsap, lets you text and share photos from your phone and delivers them through the federal channel that actually reaches your person — the one GettingOut generally can't.
Reach a federal inmate the right wayOur verdict
Good app, wrong system for federal
ViaPath GettingOut
Judged purely as a messaging app, GettingOut is one of the better ones — modern, capable, and comfortable with photos. Our 6.4 rating is for federal use specifically, where it falls down hard because it rarely reaches BOP inmates at all. If your person is at a state or county facility that uses it, mentally bump the score up; if they're federal, it isn't the right channel.
Per-message / credit pricing · varies by facility · state & county focused.
6.4/10
Our editorial assessment (federal use)
Is your person in a federal facility?
Then GettingOut probably won't reach them. The reliable way to text and send photos to a federal inmate is a relay service on the official CorrLinks/TRULINCS system.
Start texting your inmate