Guide · checked 1 October 2026
The best Christian prayer apps in 2026, honestly compared
There are hundreds of Christian prayer apps, and most lists of the ‘best’ ones are written by people selling one of them. So are we: we make Mutter. What we've tried to do differently is show our working. For twelve well-known apps, we checked what a year really costs, what you get free, whether there are ads, what each app tells Apple about your data, and how many people have rated it. Then we read what reviewers love and complain about. The best app is the one that fits how you pray, so the picks are by need.
We make Mutter, so we're biased. Mutter is a free iPhone prayer app made by an independent maker. We've put it in this guide where it fits, said where it falls short, and not put it first. Everything about other apps was checked on 1 October 2026 and is linked to its source.
The short answer: picks by need
- If your phone is the problemAn app that pauses your other appsLook at an app that steps in when you open Instagram or TikTok. We make one (Mutter, free on the App Store); Bible Mode and BibleScroll are out now. Our guide to those apps
- If you want it free, with no adsYouVersion Bible AppFree, no ads, no purchases, on every device. For prayer rather than reading: Lectio 365.
- If you want to listenHallowThe most audio prayer anywhere, if you'll pay. Free: Lectio 365 or Pray As You Go. For sleep: Abide.
- If you're CatholicHallowRosary, Examen, Lectio Divina and Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike. Free: Laudate (it collects no data) or Pray As You Go.
- If you're Anglican, or like set prayersDaily Prayer (Church of England)The Church of England's daily office, in full. Or Lectio 365, which keeps three times of prayer a day.
- On AndroidYouVersion Bible AppFree and excellent on Android. Also on Android: Lectio 365, Hallow, Abide, Pray.com.
- If you pray for a lot of peoplePrayerMateA few names a day, so no one is forgotten.
- For childrenBible App for KidsBible stories young children can explore, free. For teenagers, Lectio 365 is short, free and has no ads; note that YouVersion and Pray.com are rated 13+.
- For reading the BibleYouVersion Bible AppThousands of translations and reading plans. To hear it read: Dwell.
What a year really costs
Most prayer apps are ‘free to download’. That isn't the same as free to use. Here is what a year of the full app costs on the UK App Store, where the listing makes it clear. Six of the apps cost nothing at all, and only two of the twelve (Abide and Pray.com) say on their App Store listing that they contain ads.
All twelve side by side
| App | Real yearly cost | Free without paying | Ads | Account needed | Platforms | App Privacy label | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mutter we make this | Free. No ads, purchases, subscriptions or donations. | Everything | None | Yes (Apple, Google or email) | iPhone | Data linked to you: name, email, your prayers and an account ID, only to run the app. No tracking. | None yet |
| YouVersion Bible App | Free. ‘100% free. No ads or purchases ever.’ bible.com | Everything | None | Optional | iPhone, iPad, Android, web | No tracking. Linked to you: contact info, your content, search history, identifiers. App Store | 4.9 from 13.8 million (US); 4.9 from 581,729 (UK) App Store; Google Play 4.9 from 9.28 million reviews Google Play |
| Lectio 365 | Free. No in-app purchases listed. App Store | Everything | None flagged | Not confirmed | iPhone, Android | No tracking, nothing linked to you. Not linked: usage data, diagnostics. App Store | 4.8 from 1,081 (US); 4.6 from 583 (UK) App Store; Google Play 4.6 from 2,080 reviews Google Play |
| Hallow | £69.99 a year or £9.99 a month, after a free trial. A free version too. App Store Hallow help | Daily prayers, the Rosary, Bible in a Year | None flagged | Yes | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, web | Tracking: purchases, identifiers. Linked to you: six kinds, including contact info and your content. App Store | 4.9 from 378,061 (US); 4.9 from 8,340 (UK) App Store; Google Play 4.4 from 124,000 reviews Google Play |
| Abide | $39.99 a year or $9.99 a month (its US help centre). The UK App Store lists purchases from £3.99 to £47.99 without saying which is yearly. Abide help App Store | A 2-minute daily meditation, some sleep stories | Yes, flagged on its listing | Yes | iPhone, iPad, Android | Tracking: identifiers. Linked to you: contact info, your content. App Store | 4.9 from 121,943 (US); 4.8 from 6,499 (UK) App Store; Google Play 4.2 from 21,700 reviews Google Play |
| Glorify | Glorify Plus: yearly plans at £34.99 and £59.99, monthly from £5.99, on the UK App Store. App Store | Some of the daily devotional | None flagged | Not confirmed | iPhone | Tracking: identifiers. Linked to you: seven kinds, including purchases, contact info and search history. App Store | 4.9 from 99,770 (US); 4.9 from 8,991 (UK) App Store |
| Pray.com | A free version with ads, and Premium. The UK App Store lists purchases from £1.79 to £106.99; ‘Premium Subscription No Ads’ is £14.99. App Store | Daily prayer, Pray Radio, podcasts, the text Bible | Yes, even with Premium | Yes (email) | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch, Android, web | Tracking: eight kinds, including location, contact info, purchases and your content. App Store | 4.8 from 192,587 (US); 4.7 from 3,502 (UK) App Store; Google Play 4.8 from 41,500 reviews Google Play |
| Dwell | £59.99 a year or £9.99 a month on the UK App Store, with a family plan. App Store | A trial | None flagged | Not confirmed | iPhone, iPad | Tracking: identifiers. Linked to you: six kinds, including ‘sensitive info’. App Store | 4.9 from 86,739 (US); 4.9 from 1,982 (UK) App Store |
| PrayerMate | Free. An optional ‘Patron’ subscription ($0.99 a month or $10.99 a year on the US App Store) adds colour themes and supports it. App Store | Everything you need | None flagged | Not confirmed | iPhone, iPad | No tracking. Linked to you: contact info, identifiers. (US listing.) App Store | 4.8 from 423 (US); 4.8 from 179 (UK) App Store |
| Daily Prayer (Church of England) | Free for services up to a month ahead. A small yearly subscription (£2.99 to £3.99 on the UK App Store) adds offline use and a year ahead. App Store | Every service, a month ahead | None flagged | Not confirmed | iPhone, iPad | No tracking. Linked to you: purchases, contact info, identifiers. App Store | 4.8 from 89 (US); 4.3 from 165 (UK) App Store |
| Laudate | Free. No in-app purchases listed. App Store | Everything | None flagged | Not confirmed | iPhone, iPad | ‘Data Not Collected’: the developer says it collects nothing. (US listing.) App Store | 4.0 from 3,757 (US); 4.8 from 92 (UK) App Store |
| Pray As You Go | Free. ‘All of our content is always free, no subscription required.’ App Store | Everything | None flagged | Not confirmed | iPhone, iPad | No tracking, nothing linked to you. Not linked: usage data, diagnostics. App Store | 4.5 from 756 (US); 4.3 from 223 (UK) App Store |
| Bible App for Kids | Free. Its listing says it is ‘always completely free’. App Store | Everything | None flagged | Not confirmed | iPhone, iPad | No tracking. Linked to you: contact info, your content, identifiers. App Store | 4.7 from 9,428 (US); 4.6 from 522 (UK) App Store |
Checked 1 October 2026 from each app's App Store listing (UK, and US for ratings), its own pages and Google Play. ‘None flagged’ means the App Store listing doesn't say ‘Contains advertising’. ‘Not confirmed’ means we couldn't find it on the app's own pages. Privacy labels are what each developer reports to Apple; Apple doesn't check them. Swipe the table sideways on a phone.
Star ratings don't tell you much
Nearly every app here has between 4.5 and 4.9 stars, because apps ask happy users to rate them. What changes is how many people have rated it: from 89 to nearly 14 million. A high rating from a big crowd means more than the same rating from a few hundred. The one that stands out is Laudate, a free Catholic app, at 4.0 in the US.
The apps, one by one
In no particular order of merit, beginning with the free ones. Quotes are from public App Store reviews, read on 1 October 2026.
YouVersion Bible App by Life.Church
Best for: Reading the Bible, for free, on anything.
A Bible app first: over 3,500 versions in over 2,300 languages, thousands of reading plans, audio Bibles and friends to read with. It's free with no ads, run by Life.Church, and you can start without an account.
Where it falls short: It isn't built around prayer, and its Verse of the Day won't meet you when you open Instagram. Some long-time users miss features it has removed, and a few dislike the streak resetting to zero.
Cost: Free. ‘100% free. No ads or purchases ever.’ bible.com
“the plans really help with my walk with the Lord”
Lectio 365 by 24-7 Prayer
Best for: A free daily rhythm of prayer, morning, midday and night.
From 24-7 Prayer, a UK prayer movement. Each morning follows a simple pattern (pause, rejoice, ask, yield) with a psalm and a short reflection; there's the Lord's Prayer at midday and night prayers to close the day. You can read it or listen, with or without music. Its listing calls it ‘a completely free daily devotional app’.
Where it falls short: It's one set devotional a day, not a library, and on the App Store it's iPhone only (no iPad version listed). Far fewer people have rated it than the big apps, so there's less to go on.
Cost: Free. No in-app purchases listed. App Store
Hallow by Hallow, Inc.
Best for: Catholic audio prayer, and lots of it.
The biggest prayer app: over 10,000 audio sessions, the Rosary, Lectio Divina, the Examen, sleep prayers and music, with well-known voices such as Fr. Mike Schmitz and Jonathan Roumie. You need an account even for the free version.
Where it falls short: Most of it sits behind the subscription. Its worst reviews are about being charged a full year after the free trial and finding refunds hard. Non-Catholics can find it very Catholic, which is what it's for, and a smaller group of reviews object to some of its guests, funders or politics.
Cost: £69.99 a year or £9.99 a month, after a free trial. A free version too. App Store Hallow help
“it really makes it so easy to incorporate some meaningful prayer”
“very much an app for Catholics and not for Christians in general”
Abide by Guideposts
Best for: Falling asleep to Scripture.
Christian meditation and Bible-based sleep stories: over 2,000 meditations and more than 500 sleep stories, with music and soundscapes. Reviewers love the calm narrators. It offers reduced prices on request and one-year scholarships for people who can't afford it.
Where it falls short: The free version is small: in autumn 2025 the full daily meditation moved behind Premium, and reviews from then are angry about it. Some paying users still see donation or upgrade pop-ups.
Cost: $39.99 a year or $9.99 a month (its US help centre). The UK App Store lists purchases from £3.99 to £47.99 without saying which is yearly. Abide help App Store
“The prayers and sleep meditations are calming, thoughtful, and easy to return to.”
“Now 90% is locked behind premium.”
Glorify by Tupoe Ltd
Best for: A ready-made ten-minute quiet time.
A daily routine laid out for you: a quote, a Bible passage, a short devotional, then a prayer, in about ten minutes. People like to listen to it in the car or on a walk, and it says over 20 million people have used it.
Where it falls short: Its low reviews come in waves after updates that moved things people used to have free, especially the audio, into Plus. Some reviewers with dyslexia or poor sight say losing free audio shut them out. Others feel pressure from the streak.
Cost: Glorify Plus: yearly plans at £34.99 and £59.99, monthly from £5.99, on the UK App Store. App Store
“It takes 5 minutes and I’m able to connect with His Spirit”
“Joel Osteen asks for less money than this app”
Pray.com by Pray, Inc.
Best for: Christian audio of every kind: Bible dramas, sermons, radio.
A big Christian media app: daily prayers, audio Bible stories with well-known actors, bedtime stories, Pray Radio, sermons and podcasts. Its help centre says the free version and Premium both carry ads; a ‘No Ads’ plan removes most, but not sponsor ads inside some content.
Where it falls short: Ads, including for people who pay, are the most common complaint, with billing surprises after trials close behind. Its App Store privacy label lists more data used to track you than any other app here.
Cost: A free version with ads, and Premium. The UK App Store lists purchases from £1.79 to £106.99; ‘Premium Subscription No Ads’ is £14.99. App Store
“Pray.com is a good app to have.”
“Ads ads ads.”
Dwell by Dwell App, LLC
Best for: Listening to the Bible itself, beautifully read.
An audio Bible app: over 20 narrators and 14 translations (including the NIV, ESV and KJV), optional background music, read-along text and 75+ listening plans. If you mostly want to hear Scripture read well, it's the one people pay for.
Where it falls short: It's a subscription app with little to do for free, and it's mostly for listening to the Bible rather than praying.
Cost: £59.99 a year or £9.99 a month on the UK App Store, with a family plan. App Store
PrayerMate by Discipleship Tech
Best for: Praying for other people, faithfully.
A prayer list done well. You add the people and causes you pray for, and each day it deals you a few as cards to swipe through. It can pull in prayer letters from charities and churches. A UK favourite.
Where it falls short: There's nothing to read or listen to beyond what you and your church add. It's a tool, not a guide.
Cost: Free. An optional ‘Patron’ subscription ($0.99 a month or $10.99 a year on the US App Store) adds colour themes and supports it. App Store
Daily Prayer (Church of England) by Hymns Ancient and Modern
Best for: Morning, Evening and Night Prayer the Anglican way.
The Church of England's official app for the daily office: Morning, Evening and Night Prayer for every day, in contemporary (Common Worship) and traditional (Book of Common Prayer) forms, with the NRSV readings and audio for some services.
Where it falls short: It's the office and nothing else, and the UK rating is lower than most apps here (4.3 from 165).
Cost: Free for services up to a month ahead. A small yearly subscription (£2.99 to £3.99 on the UK App Store) adds offline use and a year ahead. App Store
Laudate by Andrzej Krawczyk
Best for: Free Catholic prayer, with nothing collected.
A long-running Catholic app crammed with prayer: daily Mass readings, the Liturgy of the Hours (in Latin too), many rosaries and chaplets, the Stations of the Cross, the Catechism and the Douay-Rheims Bible offline. Its App Store privacy label says it collects no data at all.
Where it falls short: It's busy and plain to look at, and its US rating (4.0 from 3,757) is the lowest here.
Cost: Free. No in-app purchases listed. App Store
Pray As You Go by Jesuits in Britain
Best for: A short daily audio prayer, Ignatian style.
From the Jesuits in Britain: a guided prayer session every day, 10 to 13 minutes of Scripture, music and reflection in the Ignatian tradition, plus the Examen, sleep prayers and prayers for children.
Where it falls short: It's built around the one daily recording, and its ratings are lower than most here (4.3 in the UK).
Cost: Free. ‘All of our content is always free, no subscription required.’ App Store
Bible App for Kids by Life.Church and OneHope
Best for: Young children.
From the YouVersion family: the big Bible stories as interactive, animated adventures for small children, with activities to help them remember.
Where it falls short: It's for young children, not teenagers, and it's stories rather than prayer.
Cost: Free. Its listing says it is ‘always completely free’. App Store
Mutter which we make
Best for: praying when you reach for your phone.
Mutter is built around one habit. You choose a verse or prayer for today and the apps that pull you in. When you open one of them, today's words come first; say Amen and the app opens. Each verse or prayer you save gets its own paper-and-ink drawing, and comes back on your widgets and wallpaper. There's the whole Bible (the BSB, WEB and KJV) with study notes, Spurgeon's Morning and Evening and Faith's Checkbook, articles from the great Christian books, hymns, historic prayers and Story, the Bible told as a timeline of posts. It's all free: no ads, purchases, subscriptions or donations.
Where it falls short: it's iPhone only, in English, and you'll need an account. It has a handful of ways to pray one verse or prayer, not a library of audio: no guided meditations, no sleep stories, and its listening uses a synthetic voice. It has no ratings or reviews, because nobody outside can use it yet. If you want a big audio library, Hallow or Abide will suit you better; if you want a Bible app for every device, YouVersion.
Questions people ask
What is the number one prayer app?
By downloads, the YouVersion Bible App, though it's a Bible app with prayer in it. Among apps built for prayer, Hallow has by far the most ratings (378,061 in the US) and calls itself the number one prayer app. ‘Most popular’ isn't the same as best for you.
Is Hallow really free?
Partly. Hallow's help centre says the daily prayers, the Rosary, Bible in a Year and some other content are free, but you need an account, and most sessions, the full sleep section and the music need the subscription (£69.99 a year in the UK). Its free trial turns into a yearly charge unless you cancel, which is the most common complaint in its reviews.
Which prayer apps have no ads?
Of the twelve, only Abide and Pray.com say on their App Store listing that they contain ads. YouVersion says ‘no ads or purchases ever’. Lectio 365, Pray As You Go and Laudate are free with no purchases listed. Mutter has no ads.
What's the best free prayer app for Android?
YouVersion for the Bible, and Lectio 365 for daily prayer. Both are free on Google Play.
How we checked
On 1 October 2026 we read each app's App Store listing in the UK and US (price list, privacy label, ‘contains’ notes, platforms, ratings), its Google Play listing where there is one, and its own website or help centre for prices and what's free. We didn't install or sign up to other apps. The review themes come from our reading of several thousand public App Store and Google Play reviews; the quotes are short, dated and linked. Prices change, and the App Store only shows an app's ten most popular purchases, so follow the links for today's figures.
Spotted something out of date or wrong? Email hello@trymutter.com and we'll fix it. None of these apps are connected to Mutter, and their names belong to their makers.
Sources
- YouVersion Bible App on the UK App Store, checked 1 October 2026.
- Lectio 365 on the UK App Store, checked 1 October 2026.
- Hallow on the UK App Store, checked 1 October 2026.
- Abide on the UK App Store, checked 1 October 2026.
- Glorify on the UK App Store, checked 1 October 2026.
- Pray.com on the UK App Store, checked 1 October 2026.
- Dwell on the UK App Store, checked 1 October 2026.
- PrayerMate on the UK App Store, checked 1 October 2026.
- Daily Prayer (Church of England) on the UK App Store, checked 1 October 2026.
- Laudate on the UK App Store, checked 1 October 2026.
- Pray As You Go on the UK App Store, checked 1 October 2026.
- Bible App for Kids on the UK App Store, checked 1 October 2026.
- bible.com/app (YouVersion: ‘100% free. No ads or purchases ever.’), checked 1 October 2026.
- Hallow help: How much does the subscription cost?, checked 1 October 2026.
- Hallow help: How do I access the free version?, checked 1 October 2026.
- Abide help: How much does Abide cost?, checked 1 October 2026.
- Pray.com help: Subscription plans, checked 1 October 2026.
- PrayerMate on the US App Store (Patron prices, privacy label), checked 1 October 2026.
- Laudate on the US App Store (privacy label, ratings), checked 1 October 2026.
- Lectio 365 on Google Play, checked 1 October 2026.
- Hallow help: What are the benefits of the paid subscription?, checked 1 October 2026.
- hallow.com (‘the #1 prayer app’), checked 1 October 2026.
- youversion.com/bible-app (installs, versions, languages), checked 1 October 2026.
- lectio365.com, checked 1 October 2026.
More detail on six of these apps: Hallow, YouVersion, Abide, Pray.com, Bible Mode and BibleScroll.