ORB Participant vs OptClass
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ORB Participant
Track your progress for The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award. Log activities, manage your sections, and submit them to your Assessor and Award Leader for completion, all from your mobile device.
- Manage Award progress
- Set up activities
- Create progress logs
- Submit Award sections
- Assessor and Leader approval
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This application was developed by The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation as a simple and fast tool to assist Award participants in completing their Award, anytime anywhere. The participant is able to manage their Award progress using the App. They can set up activities, create logs for their progress and also send their Award sections to their Assessor and Award Leader for completion. Your Award must be using the latest version of the Online Record Book system (sometimes known as "ORB Next Generation") and have a valid participant login to the system in order to be able to use this App.
OptClass
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OptClass: schedules, attendance, sessions, and student management. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Use : https://www.optserv.ai/terms Privacy Policy : https://www.optserv.ai/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: OptClass at every 2 days against ORB Participant's every 4 months. ORB Participant's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ORB Participant ships an update every 4 months, OptClass every 2 days. Both last shipped on September 13, 2026.
| Parameter | ORB Participant | OptClass |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (67 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 31.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 67 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 43 MB | 51 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation | Round Bytes |
Bugs and requests
ORB Participant
Reported bugs
18 issues- Hours not accumulating correctly - logs multiple hours as single hour
- Progress bar not increasing when adding logs
- Network error messages appearing despite valid connection
- App crashes when entering journey observations
- App crashes when editing and resubmitting assessments
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- Login logout issues preventing re-access
- Payment details field not accepting input during registration
- Award leader change not persisting after switching schools
- Confirmation buttons not scaling properly on mobile screens
- Photo/link attachment not saving on iPhone
- Copy-paste functionality only adding partial text
- Long text input being deleted when submitting
- Cannot delete additional activities even without logs
- Approval emails not being received by assessors
- Assessments getting stuck in 'waiting for approval' state
- App not loading after login despite successful authentication
- Persistent notification bubble that won't disappear
- Inconsistent hour calculations across activities
Requested features
17 requests- Ability to edit activities and submissions after approval
- Resend assessment/approval functionality
- Message/comment system between users and leaders
- View approved evidence and journey details after submission
- Edit activity names if misspelled
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- Support for 5-minute time intervals instead of 15-minute
- Delete authorized awards option
- Change major activity selection
- Upload photos from files instead of gallery only
- Edit overview and plan sections of adventurous journey
- Clearer information about hour reset timing
- Include Duke of Ed information within the app
- Support for sub-submissions in log details
- Resend assessment button on mobile app (exists on website)
- Larger description text box with line break support
- Countdown percentage for remaining award completion
- Remove persistent notification badges
OptClass
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ORB Participant
No in-app purchases
OptClass
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ORB Participant free?
Is OptClass free?
Do ORB Participant or OptClass have ads?
Which is updated more often, ORB Participant or OptClass?
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