Comparison

Idle Heroes vs Darkest AFK

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

Head to head
About

Idle Heroes

Assemble and train a powerful squad of heroes in this idle RPG. Your heroes train automatically while you're away, gaining new abilities and becoming stronger. Explore dungeons, battle darkness, and compete in global arenas and guild wars.

Highlights
  • Idle hero training
  • Hero collection and evolution
  • Strategic team building
  • Dungeon crawling
  • Guild wars
  • Worldwide arena battles
Features
Read full description

【The unique IDLE RPG on App Store. Form your heroes and battle for victory!!!!】 Join millions of other players around the world and start your journey from Sara Forest to the High Heaven, leading your band of heroes into ancient ruins to battle the forces of darkness! ------ GAME FEATURES ------ ■ Idle System Set your heroes training while you’re away. When you return to your phone, they will be stronger, gained new abilities, and ready for battle. Grow & Train a powerful squad without all the grinding! ■ Evolving Strategy More than 400 Heroes in different factions with specific skills. Summon your Warriors, TRAIN them to become powerful heroes, or convert them into Spirit material for EVOLVING. Forge magical gears, and outfit your warriors for victory! ■ Tons of Content With battlegrounds galore and dungeons aplenty, heroic quests, mysterious towers, arena, guild, much fun to enjoy! ■ Guild Wars Fight alongside your friends and players everywhere in a war for control of the floating continent. Join multiplayer guild boss-battles and lead your guild to supremacy! ■ Worldwide Arena Put forth your best heroes to do battle in the ARENA. Watch them PK online in a multiplayer contest for glory! Climb the Leader board for the best rewards! ————— Subscription Extra Gold: 1. Gold coin in auto-battle +100% for one week 2. A special gold dragon avatar for one week $0.99 weekly(Price may vary by location) ————— Price may vary by location. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period,and identify the cost of the renewal. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period,if offered,will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication,where applicable. —————— Privacy Policy: http://www.droidhang.com/privacyen.html Terms of Service: http://www.droidhang.com/privacyen.html Contact us: Email: idleheroes.feedback@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IdleHeroes Twitter: https://twitter.com/IdleHeroes

About

Darkest AFK

Embark on a dark fantasy adventure in this idle RPG. Summon and upgrade heroes, battle through dungeons, and explore a vast world with effortless auto-combat. Unravel mysteries and become the hero this grim world needs.

Highlights
  • Summon and upgrade heroes
  • Auto-battles, even offline
  • Explore dungeons and ruins
  • Collect loot and gear
  • Epic story and boss fights
  • Multiple hero classes
Features
Read full description

Greetings, Hero! Welcome to Darkest AFK — a dark fantasy Idle RPG filled with magic, dungeons and epic battles. Summon heroes, form your team and fight through endless auto-battles, even when you're offline! • Collect and upgrade heroes Knights, Paladins, Archers and Mages — each with unique skills and powerful equipment. Build the ultimate squad! • Explore a vast world Travel through cursed forests, ancient ruins and dark dungeons. Face PvE challenges, conquer levels and prepare for brutal boss fights. • Enjoy effortless auto-combat Tap to unleash special attacks or let your team battle automatically. Perfect for both casual players and experienced RPG fans. • Discover an epic story Unravel mysteries hidden in a grim world full of secrets, monsters and ancient evil. • Play your way Level up, collect loot, enhance your gear and become the hero this world needs. Darkest AFK is free to play with optional in-app purchases. The game supports English, Español, Français, Русский, Deutsch and Italiano. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darkestafk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darkestafk Discord: https://discord.gg/ksfpxCYbnA About subscriptions: The “Heroic subscription” gives you access to the following privileges within a particular period of time: - Hero Exp earned in IDLE is increased by 25% - Hero Exp earned in the Mines of Abyss is increased by 25% The “Golden subscription” gives you access to the following privileges within a particular period of time: - Basic gold earned in IDLE is increased by 25% - Gold earned in the Mines of Abyss is increased by 25% Each subscription costs $ 0.99 per week and is automatically renewed when the initial subscription term expires. (Price may vary depending on your location.) The Subscription cycle is 1 week. Purchasing the Subscription requires the same methods of payment used to make any kind of purchase in the app. How to cancel the Subscription: to cancel or modify your Subscription, you need to open your account page in the app store and change the corresponding settings. Subscription Renewal: at the end of the cycle, the Subscription will automatically be renewed for one more cycle. User Agreement: https://darkestafk.com/terms Privacy Statement: https://darkestafk.com/policy

Screenshots

Idle Heroes4 screens
Darkest AFK4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Darkest AFK at every 10 days against Idle Heroes's every 2 months. Idle Heroes's advantage is ratings volume (107K vs 2.7K) and chart position (#101 vs unranked). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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

Both are free to download. Idle Heroes sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days and Darkest AFK sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Idle Heroes against 4.7 for Darkest AFK. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Idle Heroes has 107K ratings behind it against 2.7K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of Idle Heroes's written reviews are positive against 69% of Darkest AFK's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Idle Heroes ships an update every 2 months, Darkest AFK every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Idle Heroes versus Darkest AFK: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIdle HeroesDarkest AFK
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (107K ratings) — better4.7 (2.7K ratings)
Positive reviews72.6% of reviews — better68.8% of reviews
Number of ratings107K — better2.7K
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#101 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size714 MB337 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperDHGames LimitedAlice Games FZE

Customer experience

Idle Heroes

All ratings106,585 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral1.6%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews2,394 reviews
Positive72.6%
Neutral5.8%
Negative21.6%

Darkest AFK

All ratings2,655 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral2.1%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews445 reviews
Positive68.8%
Neutral6.3%
Negative24.9%

User reviews

Idle Heroes

From 107K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast progression for new players
  • 👍 Enjoyable gameplay and character collection
  • 🕰️ Idle/passive progression when away from the game
  • 💎 Generous free currency rewards

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases and pay-to-win mechanics
  • 🕰️ Slow progression for free-to-play players
  • 🐛 Bugs, crashes, and server issues
  • 💬 Toxic or spammy chat environment

Darkest AFK

From 2.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun game
  • 🚀 Smooth gameplay
  • 💡 Darkest Dungeon-inspired art style
  • 🕰️ Good for passing time
  • 💰 Accessible for F2P players

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Progression gated behind paywalls
  • 🐛 Bugs and save issues
  • 🕰️ Slow progression without spending
  • 💰 Heavily monetized
  • 🕹️ Repetitive and lacking content

Bugs and requests

Idle Heroes

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Disappearing/lost in-game items and progress
  • Infinite loading screens and connection issues
  • Unresponsive or confusing UI elements

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved customer support and account recovery
  • More F2P-friendly progression and event design
  • Global chat or better guild communication features
  • Increased hero/gear storage and inventory management

Darkest AFK

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Save data resets
  • Crashes and performance issues
  • Unreliable in-app purchases

Requested features

5 requests
  • More character variety
  • Improved PvP and social features
  • Ability to replay earlier levels
  • Better balance between resources and upgrades
  • Clan/guild system

In-app purchases

11 purchases

Idle Heroes

Subscriptions1
  • Consecutive Weekly Privilege7 Days trial$0.997 Days
One-time10
  • event package 1$4.99
  • value package m1$4.99
  • best value package 2$4.99
Show 7 more
  • carnival package$9.99
  • event package 2$9.99
  • best value package 1$14.99
  • event package 3$19.99
  • event package 4$29.99
  • event package 5$49.99
  • event package 7$99.99
12 purchases

Darkest AFK

Subscriptions2
  • Extra Gold$0.997 Days
  • Heroic Subscription$0.997 Days
One-time10
  • Nano Pack$0.99
  • Micro Pack$1.99
  • Mini Pack$2.99
Show 7 more
  • Monthly Card$4.99
  • Major Pack$6.99
  • Big Pack$9.99
  • Lux Monthly Card$14.99
  • Mega Pack$19.99
  • Mega Gems Pack$19.99
  • Giga Pack$24.99

Questions

Is Idle Heroes free?
Idle Heroes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Darkest AFK free?
Darkest AFK is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Idle Heroes or Darkest AFK?
Idle Heroes is rated higher. Idle Heroes averages 4.8 out of 5 from 107K ratings, while Darkest AFK averages 4.7 from 2.7K ratings.
Do Idle Heroes or Darkest AFK have ads?
Neither Idle Heroes nor Darkest AFK shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Idle Heroes or Darkest AFK?
Idle Heroes ships an update every 2 months, and Darkest AFK every 10 days. Most recently, Idle Heroes was updated on September 24, 2026 and Darkest AFK on September 22, 2026.

Other comparisons