Comparison

SRF/YSS vs Soul33

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

Head to head
About

SRF/YSS

Explore spiritual teachings and guided meditations based on Paramahansa Yogananda's wisdom. Access digital lessons, audio recordings, and live online meditations to cultivate peace, joy, and a balanced spiritual life.

Highlights
  • Guided meditations
  • Live online meditations
  • Digital SRF/YSS Lessons
  • Audio recordings of Paramahansa Yogananda
  • Video instruction in Energization Exercises
  • SRF/YSS News and Events
Read full description

Experience a life-transforming awakening of the peace, joy, and wisdom of the soul through the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi. The SRF/YSS app is for everyone—whether you are brand new to the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda or have been immersing yourself in this great teacher’s wisdom for decades. It is also for anyone who wants to learn more about meditation, the science of Kriya Yoga, and practical ways to live a spiritually balanced life. Featuring: - Guided Meditations on Peace, Living Fearlessly, God as Light, Expansion of Consciousness, and more — with customizable meditation times from 15 to 45 minutes - Free access to live online meditations - SRF/YSS News and Event Information For those who are students of the SRF/YSS Lessons, the app includes the digital versions of your Lessons along with a rich variety of multimedia content to help you apply the SRF/YSS Kriya Yoga teachings in your daily life. Including: - Audio recordings of Paramahansa Yogananda - Guided meditations and visualizations led by SRF/YSS monastics - Classes on the SRF/YSS meditation techniques - Step-by-step video instruction in the SRF/YSS Energization Exercises If you are an SRF or YSS Lessons student, please use your verified account information to access the Lessons in the app. About SRF/YSS Self-Realization Fellowship and Yogoda Satsanga Society of India are an invitation to the spiritual seeker to journey together on a life-transforming discovery of the soul. This journey embraces the “how-to-live” teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, which embody the highest techniques for realizing who we truly are and show how to bring lasting peace, joy, and love into our lives and into the world. The goal of SRF and YSS is to offer not just a course of philosophical study, but the actual transmission of sacred knowledge through the living words of one of the great spiritual masters of the modern era. Yogoda Satsanga Society of India was founded in 1917 by Paramahansa Yogananda. Self-Realization Fellowship was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920, to spread the teachings of Kriya Yoga worldwide.

About

Soul33

Receive 24/7 spiritual guidance and support on your soul journey. Access guided meditations, intuition teachings, and learn to harness spiritual energy for healing and manifestation. Connect with a community of like-minded seekers and track your moods with lunar phases.

Highlights
  • Guided meditations added weekly
  • Intuition awakening teachings
  • Spiritual energy harnessing
  • Mood tracking with moon phases
  • Quarterly Spiritual Health Magazine
  • Group chat with like-minded seekers
Features
Read full description

Acclaimed International healer, Gaia Chinniah has created The Beacon by Soul 33. Gaia has an extensive wait list and wanted to create an app where you can receive her support 24/7. This is your spiritual guidance app to support you on your soul journey. This app will help you understand what life is about and get you through the hard times. You'll find guided meditations created by Gaia which are added to each week, teachings to awaken your intuition, elaborations on what the spiritual energy is for you to harness and manifest what you want and work with the universal energies for your healing. You also have access to the quarterly magazine Spiritual Health Magazine (SHM) which features articles from some of the best seekers and truth tellers in the world. In the app you have the capacity to enter and monitor your feelings and moods with the phases of the moon. This app is like having your spiritual healer with you at all times. You can request topics and meditations that you want and have support as your spiritual journey unfolds. Group chat allows you to network with other like minded seekers and Gaia will answer your questions. You can now have your spiritual healer in your pocket and have soul healing at your finger tips!

Screenshots

SRF/YSS4 screens
Soul334 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: SRF/YSS at free against Soul33's freemium. SRF/YSS also leads on ratings volume (392 vs 14). Soul33's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (92% vs 83%). On price, rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for SRF/YSS against 4.8 for Soul33. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SRF/YSS has 392 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of SRF/YSS's written reviews are positive against 92% of Soul33's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SRF/YSS ships an update every 2 months, Soul33 fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
SRF/YSS versus Soul33: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSRF/YSSSoul33
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (392 ratings) — better4.8 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews82.8% of reviews91.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings392 — better14
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size70 MB82 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperSelf-Realization Fellowship Church AppsGaia Chinniah Consultancy Ltd

Customer experience

SRF/YSS

All ratings386 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral1.3%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews116 reviews
Positive82.8%
Neutral6.0%
Negative11.2%

Soul33

All ratings14 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive91.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.3%

Bugs and requests

SRF/YSS

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Incompatibility with latest iOS updates
  • Unreliable login and authentication
  • Broken lesson access for some users

Requested features

5 requests
  • Offline mode for lessons
  • Landscape mode support
  • Customizable highlighting and note-taking
  • Integrated dictionary
  • Widgets with inspirational content

Soul33

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

SRF/YSS

No in-app purchases

None

Soul33

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SRF/YSS free?
SRF/YSS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Soul33 free?
Soul33 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SRF/YSS or Soul33?
SRF/YSS is rated higher. SRF/YSS averages 4.8 out of 5 from 392 ratings, while Soul33 averages 4.8 from 14 ratings.
Do SRF/YSS or Soul33 have ads?
Neither SRF/YSS nor Soul33 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SRF/YSS or Soul33?
SRF/YSS ships an update every 2 months, and Soul33 fortnightly. Most recently, SRF/YSS was updated on September 23, 2026 and Soul33 on September 12, 2026.

Other comparisons