ECL vs Ignatius Press
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ECL
This app offers practical strategies and information for leaders of faith formation programs. It provides guidance on recruiting, training, and forming catechists, developing vision, and managing administrative tasks. Access essential wisdom and resources directly from a comprehensive series of books.
- Strategies for faith formation leaders
- Recruiting and training catechists
- Developing program vision
- Administrative task management
- Printable resources
- Focus on pastoral issues
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The Effective Catechetical Leader Series provides information, strategies, and approaches to ensure success for leaders of parish faith formation programs. These books include practical instruction and printable resources. They describe best practices for recruiting, training, and forming catechists; developing a vision for faith formation; forming an advisory board; planning and calendaring; networking with colleagues; selecting high-quality resources; handling administrative aspects of the ministry; and identifying the various groups you serve and how best to work with them. The ECL app puts wisdom and practical help at your fingertips. Drawn directly from the six books of the new Effective Catechetical Leader Series, ECL provides an opportunity for catechetical leaders to “check-in” and focus on specific pastoral issues and to identify go-to strategies for meeting the challenges of serving as an effective catechetical leader. For more resources, visit www.loyolapress.com/ECL.
Ignatius Press
Access a vast library of Catholic eBooks, audiobooks, and films. Enjoy free weekly podcasts and monthly content offers. Purchase digital titles from the website to read, listen, or watch within the app.
- Vast eBook library
- Over 100 audiobooks
- Catholic films and documentaries
- Weekly podcasts
- Monthly free content offers
- Shop on Ignatius.com
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Now you can easily read or listen to wonderful books and stream faithful Catholic films, all in the same place! Add titles to your library by shopping on Ignatius.com and then dive into them on the app. KEY FEATURES – Free Content: Enjoy our weekly podcasts and monthly offers of free access to some of our audiobooks, eBooks, and video content. – Over 1,000 eBooks: Experience our vast library of fiction books, as well as books on ethics, theology, social issues, history, inspirational topics, prayers, saints and sainthood, apologetics, and much more. – Over 100 Audiobooks from our best-selling authors: Get lost in novels from Michael O’Brien and Fiorella DeMaria, as well as a vast array of titles from Pope Benedict XVI, Peter Kreeft, Jesuit Fr.. Robert Spitzer, Abigail Favale, George Weigel, Fr. Michael Schmitz, Cardinal Robert Sarah, G.K. Chesterton, and many more. – Catholic movies and documentaries: Enjoy streaming rentals and streaming purchases from the extensive Ignatius library of high-quality films. Download the Ignatius Press app today and create a free account. No subscription. No credit card. No catch. Enjoy the free content or purchase digital content on Ignatius.com to read, listen, or watch on the app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ECL at 5.0 against Ignatius Press's 4.1. ECL also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.1). Ignatius Press's advantage is ratings volume (15 vs 3). On price, update cadence, 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.
ECL holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ignatius Press has 15 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
ECL ships an update every 6 months, Ignatius Press every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ECL | Ignatius Press |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | 4.1 (15 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 40.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 15 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 5 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 49 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Loyola Press | Ignatius + Lighthouse Partnership |
Customer experience
ECL
Ignatius Press
In-app purchases
ECL
No in-app purchases
Ignatius Press
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ECL free?
Is Ignatius Press free?
Which has better reviews, ECL or Ignatius Press?
Do ECL or Ignatius Press have ads?
Which is updated more often, ECL or Ignatius Press?
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