Comparison

12 Steps Guide vs Kinship

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

Kinship

This app offers a supportive community and tools for individuals seeking to overcome addiction. It provides a sobriety tracker, peer support, sober events, and resources to manage cravings and celebrate progress.

Highlights
  • Sobriety day tracker
  • Peer support and community feed
  • Craving management tools
  • Sober group finder
  • Sober event listings
  • Financial savings tracker
Read full description

Getting sober is hard. Doing it alone is harder. Kinship is a recovery community that travels with you, whatever you are leaving behind: alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, opioids, gambling, social media, and more. Track your days, lean on people who understand, and reach a companion the moment a craving hits. One day at a time. COUNT THE DAYS THAT COUNT Your sobriety clock stays front and center, with milestones to reach and a reason you wrote yourself waiting for the hard moments. No streaks to shame you, no red, no grading. Nothing you have already built gets erased, and signing in with your number on a new phone brings all of it back. TALK IT THROUGH WITH KIN Kin is a companion for right now, here when a craving hits and no one else picks up. Private, judgment-free, any hour. It helps you ride out the urge instead of facing it alone. A COMMUNITY THAT GETS IT Share the wins and the hard days in a feed built for recovery, not performance. Real check-ins from people on the same road. No noise, no judgment. FIND YOUR PEOPLE Join sober groups built around exactly what you are facing, public or private. Smaller circles where everyone is working on the same thing. SOMETHING TO DO, SOBER Find sober events near you or online, from morning hikes to game nights, or host your own. Every gathering is meant to be alcohol and substance free. SEE WHAT YOU HAVE RECLAIMED Watch the money you have saved add up by the day, with a look at where you will be months from now. TOOLS FOR THE HARD MOMENTS Build a Playbook of plans that work for you, yours to read anytime. Log an urge and ride it out, sign a Quit Contract you can keep, and earn badges for the things that actually matter: urges beaten, days shown up, money reclaimed. SAFETY, ALWAYS Crisis support and reach-out tools are one tap away, and never behind a paywall. BUILT TO BE PRIVATE You are private by default. Others only ever see your handle and a general area, never your real name or exact address. On a private account, no one can see who you follow. Your recovery notes stay yours, and we never sell your information. KINSHIP PLUS Kinship is free to start, and the essentials stay free: your clock, the community, groups, events, crisis support, and Kin. Every new member gets 90 days of Kinship Plus, with no payment and nothing to cancel. Plus adds the smarter Kin that remembers your story, Risk Radar check-ins before the hard moments, a Sunday Letter written for your week, Your People, new Playbook plans, and deeper urge insights. Keep it monthly or yearly, or unlock Kinship Plus forever with a one-time purchase. Your comeback starts today. Kinship Plus is available as an auto-renewing subscription, monthly or yearly, or as a one-time purchase that never renews. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://trykinship.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://trykinship.app/privacy

Screenshots

12 Steps Guide4 screens
Kinship4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Kinship at freemium against 12 Steps Guide's subscription. Kinship also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months). 12 Steps Guide's advantage is ratings volume (3.3K vs 7) and device support (3 vs 1). 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. 12 Steps Guide sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per year and Kinship sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Kinship 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 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 92% of 12 Steps Guide's written reviews are positive against 100% of Kinship's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

12 Steps Guide ships an update every 3 months, Kinship every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
12 Steps Guide versus Kinship: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter12 Steps GuideKinship
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (3.3K ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews92.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.3K — better7
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB26 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperTushar BhagatDarin Nguyen

Customer experience

12 Steps Guide

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

Kinship

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
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

Kinship

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
3 purchases

Kinship

Subscriptions2
  • Kinship Plus (Monthly)$4.991 Month
  • Kinship Plus (Yearly)$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Kinship Plus (Lifetime)$79.99

Questions

Is 12 Steps Guide free?
12 Steps Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Kinship free?
Kinship is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, 12 Steps Guide or Kinship?
Kinship is rated higher. 12 Steps Guide averages 4.8 out of 5 from 3.3K ratings, while Kinship averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do 12 Steps Guide or Kinship have ads?
Neither 12 Steps Guide nor Kinship shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 12 Steps Guide or Kinship?
12 Steps Guide ships an update every 3 months, and Kinship every 5 days. Most recently, 12 Steps Guide was updated on October 29, 2026 and Kinship on October 24, 2026.

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