# Sofa vs Researchist

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Sofa at 18.0 against Researchist's 27.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Sofa sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Researchist sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $39.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Sofa ships an update weekly, Researchist fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Sofa | Researchist |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (3.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sofa-downtime-organizer/id1276554886/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **3.1K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 60.1% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Size | 250 MB | 113 MB |
| Requires iOS | **18.0** | 27.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro** | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Astrio, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/917474095) | [Essayist Software Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1537845386) |

## What reviewers say

### Sofa

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sofa-downtime-organizer/id1276554886)

Organize all aspects of your downtime, from tracking media progress to planning trips. Create custom lists for books, movies, games, and more, with integrated podcast playback and event planning tools.

**Highlights:** Organize with unlimited lists and groups, Track progress for shows, books, and games, Integrated podcast player, Event planner for trips and tasks, Logbook and stats dashboard, Customizable lists and smart filters

**Features:** Family Sharing, Siri integration, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Super Sofa Monthly | $5.99 | per month |
| Family Monthly Subscription | $5.99 | per month |
| Super Sofa Yearly | $49.99 | per year |
| Family Yearly Subscription | $49.99 | per year |
| Dark Blizzard | $0.99 | one-time |
| Cozy Cabin | $0.99 | one-time |
| Gingerbread | $0.99 | one-time |
| Ugly Sweater | $0.99 | one-time |
| North Pole | $0.99 | one-time |
| Super Sofa Lifetime | $249.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Visually appealing and user-friendly
- 🚀 Efficient way to organize media
- 💡 Helpful for ADHD users to stay organized
- 🌟 Great for compulsive list makers
- 🔍 Useful search and metadata lookup features

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and data loss issues
- 🔍 Limited search and metadata quality
- 📁 Lack of manual sorting and customization options
- 🔔 Annoying review prompts

**Reported bugs**

- Inconsistent sync and data loss across devices
- Search not working for some media types
- Crashes when trying to add custom items to lists
- Review prompts not working properly

**Requested features**

- Add ability to add notes, ratings, and reminders for media
- Integrate with streaming services to track availability
- Allow custom categories and manual list reordering
- Implement share/import functionality from other apps
- Provide a one-time purchase option instead of subscription


### Researchist

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/researchist-pdf-reader/id6749282472)

**Features:** Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Researchist Pro (Yearly) | $39.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Sofa free?

Sofa is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Researchist free?

Researchist is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Sofa or Researchist have ads?

Neither Sofa nor Researchist shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Sofa or Researchist?

Sofa ships an update weekly, and Researchist fortnightly. Most recently, Sofa was updated on November 11, 2026 and Researchist on November 8, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*