Comparison

12 Steps Guide vs Pacific Shores

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

Head to head
About

12 Steps Guide

This app provides a comprehensive guide to the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, featuring audiobooks of key recovery tapes and literature. It includes prayers, readings, a sobriety calculator, and the complete Big Book text for a structured recovery journey.

Highlights
  • 12-step program guide
  • Audiobooks of recovery tapes
  • Complete Big Book text
  • Sobriety calculator
  • Included prayers and readings
  • AA literature
Features
Read full description

Work the Twelve Steps one day at a time, with a practical guide to every Step and Tradition, the Big Book and over 90 hours of recovery audio, in one calm, easy-to-read app. THE STEPS AND TRADITIONS - A guide to each of the Twelve Steps, with an introduction and a conclusion, written from personal experience in plain language - A guide to each of the Twelve Traditions - See how far you've read: a quiet percentage while you read, and a tick when you finish THE BIG BOOK - Every chapter, from the Doctor's Opinion to A Vision for You - Personal stories from the first and second editions - Printed page numbers, so you can follow along in a meeting - A clean list of chapters and stories with a tick for each one you've read, and "Continue reading" to pick up where you left off PRAYERS AND READINGS - The Serenity Prayer, the Third, Seventh and Eleventh Step prayers and more - How It Works, the Promises, the Preamble, Just for Today, On Awakening and other readings - Sobriety tips, including how to find a sponsor, and a link to the day's Daily Reflection RECOVERY AUDIO - 138 recordings in 11 albums: Big Book studies, speaker tapes and meditation bells, including Joe and Charlie, Chuck C., Sandy B., Clarence S. and Father Martin - Read along with the transcript of the Joe and Charlie and Big Book recordings - Choose your playback speed, from 0.75× to 2× - Keeps playing with the screen locked, with controls on the lock screen - Premium: download recordings and listen offline YOUR RECOVERY - Count your days from your recovery date. It stays on your phone. - Optional hourly reminders between the times you choose, each with a thought for the hour COMFORTABLE TO READ - Choose your text size; the app also follows your iPhone's text size - Light and dark themes, or follow your iPhone's setting - Designed for iPad too, with readings beside their list FREE, WITH A PREMIUM OPTION Reading and listening are free and supported by adverts. Premium removes the adverts and lets you download recordings for offline listening. Premium is an annual subscription with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when the trial ends, and the subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it in your Apple Account's subscription settings. No account is needed. Your recovery date and your reading stay on your device. Terms of use: https://ibyteapps.com/apps/12-step-guide/terms Privacy policy: https://ibyteapps.com/apps/12-step-guide/privacy 12 Step Guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Alcoholics Anonymous or A.A. World Services, Inc.

About

Pacific Shores

This program offers a 90-day online treatment to help individuals overcome addiction by retraining their brain. It uses proven techniques and an experiential approach with daily lessons and actionable steps for staying sober.

Highlights
  • 90-day online treatment
  • Brain retraining techniques
  • Experiential approach
  • Daily lessons
  • Actionable sobriety steps
Features
Read full description

A 90 day program designed to retrain the brain in order to work through your addiction. Utilizing proven techniques, an experiential approach, with a daily lesson and actionable steps of exactly what to do to stay sober.

Screenshots

12 Steps Guide4 screens
Pacific Shores4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pacific Shores at none against 12 Steps Guide's 4. Pacific Shores also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). 12 Steps Guide's advantage is ratings volume (3.3K vs 2). On price, rating, ads 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

Both are free to download. 12 Steps Guide sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per year. Pacific Shores asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pacific Shores holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: 12 Steps Guide has 3.3K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

12 Steps Guide ships an update every 3 months, Pacific Shores monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
12 Steps Guide versus Pacific Shores: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter12 Steps GuidePacific Shores
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (3.3K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews92.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3.3K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB73 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperTushar BhagatMark Manderson

Customer experience

12 Steps Guide

All ratings3,299 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral2.0%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews251 reviews
Positive92.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative4.0%

Pacific Shores

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

12 Steps Guide

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Daily reflections page not working
  • App crashes on older devices

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add sobriety tracker
  • Include 12 & 12 book content
  • Improve bookmarking and page saving

Pacific Shores

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

12 Steps Guide

Subscriptions1
  • Annual Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time3
  • Donate$2.99
  • Donate$4.99
  • Donate$9.99
None

Pacific Shores

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is 12 Steps Guide free?
12 Steps Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pacific Shores free?
Pacific Shores is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, 12 Steps Guide or Pacific Shores?
Pacific Shores is rated higher. 12 Steps Guide averages 4.8 out of 5 from 3.3K ratings, while Pacific Shores averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do 12 Steps Guide or Pacific Shores have ads?
Neither 12 Steps Guide nor Pacific Shores shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 12 Steps Guide or Pacific Shores?
12 Steps Guide ships an update every 3 months, and Pacific Shores monthly. Most recently, 12 Steps Guide was updated on November 2, 2026 and Pacific Shores on November 3, 2026.

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