Comparison

Catholic Essentials vs geshe.ru

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Catholic Essentials

This app serves as a digital prayer book for Filipino Roman Catholics, offering essential guides and prayers for their spiritual journey. It provides offline access to a collection of prayers and spiritual resources, with more content planned for future updates.

Highlights
  • Holy Rosary Guide with photos
  • Holy Mass Guide
  • Holy Rosary Prayers
  • Holy Rosary Mysteries
  • Miscellaneous Prayers
  • Offline access
Features
Read full description

Catholic Essentials is a Filipino prayer companion. Over 180 prayers in Tagalog and English, side by side, in text you can actually read. Completely rebuilt from the ground up. READABLE, FINALLY Every prayer supports the iPhone's own text size settings, plus a slider right beside the text. Make it as large as you need without losing your place. Dark mode for praying at night or before dawn. TAGALOG AND ENGLISH, TOGETHER Read one language, the other, or both at once. The whole app can be set to Tagalog — not just the prayers, but the buttons and menus too. THE ROSARY, GUIDED Follow the beads one at a time. The app knows the day's mysteries, tracks where you are, and remembers your place if you're interrupted. All four sets — Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, Luminous — each with a scripture reading and a short reflection for every decade. TEN NOVENAS Nine days, tracked. Pasiyam for the departed. For the sick. For overseas workers and the families waiting at home. For students before an exam. For work and livelihood. For the family, for expectant mothers, in thanksgiving, in hardship, and for peace of mind. HOLY WEEK Visita Iglesia and Bisita Iglesya, the Stations of the Cross, and the Scriptural Way of the Cross in Tagalog — each station its own screen, no more pinching at a scanned page. DAILY RHYTHM The Angelus at 6:00 AM, noon and 6:00 PM, with optional reminders. The Hour of Mercy at 3:00 PM. Both open straight to the prayer. During Eastertide the Angelus becomes the Regina Caeli, as it should. THE CHURCH'S YEAR The app quietly follows the liturgical calendar — the season shows on the home screen, along with Philippine feasts like Santo Niño, Peñafrancia, Undas and Simbang Gabi. A calendar of saints, with the Filipino ones marked. ALSO INSIDE The Order of the Mass. Morning and evening prayers. Prayers for the sick, for travel, for storms, for the departed, for a home at peace. An examination of conscience and a plain guide to going to confession. The Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the works of mercy, the seven sacraments. FIND ANYTHING Search across both languages at once. Bookmark what you return to. WORKS ANYWHERE Everything is stored on your phone. No internet needed — in a jeepney, in the province, on a ship, anywhere. No ads. No account. Nothing about you is collected or sent anywhere. Built in the Philippines.

About

geshe.ru

Features
Read full description

This official app will keep you up-to-date with the latest news. It includes links to texts, audio and video recordings of the teachings, a list of centers, and the current schedule.

Screenshots

Catholic Essentials4 screens
geshe.ru4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: geshe.ru at Free against Catholic Essentials's $1.99. geshe.ru also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 29 months) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

geshe.ru is free to download; Catholic Essentials costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Catholic Essentials ships an update every 29 months, geshe.ru fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 4 level
Catholic Essentials versus geshe.ru: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCatholic Essentialsgeshe.ru
Price$1.99Free — better
Update frequencyEvery 29 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJovito Jr. AuzaVladimir Vovk

In-app purchases

None

Catholic Essentials

No in-app purchases

None

geshe.ru

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Catholic Essentials free?
Catholic Essentials costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is geshe.ru free?
geshe.ru is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Catholic Essentials or geshe.ru have ads?
Neither Catholic Essentials nor geshe.ru shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Catholic Essentials or geshe.ru?
Catholic Essentials ships an update every 29 months, and geshe.ru fortnightly. Most recently, Catholic Essentials was updated on November 3, 2026 and geshe.ru on November 5, 2026.

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