Comparison

Elytra vs Monocle for Reddit

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

Head to head
About

Elytra

A privacy-focused RSS reader for iOS and macOS that offers native article rendering, advanced search, and cross-device synchronization. It strips tracking scripts and provides customizable appearance options for a clean reading experience.

Highlights
  • Privacy-focused design
  • Native article and image rendering
  • Cross-device synchronization
  • Search within articles
  • Customizable appearance
  • Mute filters
  • Widgets
Features
Read full description

Elytra is a private RSS reader for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Follow the news sites and blogs you choose, read them in a clean native reader with every tracker stripped out, and keep everything in sync across your devices. Elytra is a paid app: every new account starts with a 14-day free trial, after which you can subscribe or buy a one-time lifetime licence. WHY ELYTRA PRIVATE BY DESIGN: Your account is created automatically. There is no email, no password and no personal information. A random account ID and anonymous crash reports are the only data Elytra uses, and only to sync your feeds and keep the app stable. NO TRACKING: Elytra removes tracking scripts and tracking pixels from every article, so what you read stays between you and your device. NATIVE READER: Articles are rendered with native iOS text and image views, not a web view. That means Dynamic Type, VoiceOver, text selection across paragraphs, syntax-highlighted code blocks and fast scrolling on long articles. SYNC: Your feeds, folders, read state and bookmarks sync across iPhone, iPad and Mac through Elytra's own service. The Mac app is a separate download on the Mac App Store. PUSH NOTIFICATIONS: Get real-time alerts from blogs that support the WebSub protocol, and near real-time local notifications from the ones that do not. FULL-TEXT ARTICLES: When a feed only ships a summary, Elytra can fetch the full article for you. SEARCH: Search for a feed, then an article, then a phrase inside the article. Elytra was the first RSS reader to search within articles. MUTE FILTERS: Hide topics, spoilers and keywords you do not want in your timeline. OPML: Import your subscriptions from another reader, and export them at any time. OFFLINE BOOKMARKS: Bookmarked articles are stored on your device, so you can read them without a connection. FEED FORMATS: RSS, Atom and JSON Feed are all supported. IMAGE LOADING: Choose when images load to save mobile data, or load them on demand. APPEARANCE: Light and dark themes, a choice of serif and sans-serif fonts, and support for custom fonts installed on your device. LINKED HEADERS: When an author links section headers, Elytra lets you share a link straight to that section. WIDGETS: Four widgets bring your favourite feeds and latest updates to your Home Screen and Lock Screen. ——— Elytra uses its own sync service and cannot connect to Feedly, Inoreader, iCloud or other RSS syncing services. ——— Terms: https://elytra.app/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://elytra.app/privacy/

About

Monocle for Reddit

Browse and interact with Reddit content in a fast, lightweight, and customizable way. Create personalized feeds, enjoy a powerful media player, and manage multiple accounts with advanced posting and messaging features.

Highlights
  • Customizable Smart Feeds
  • Fast media player with Picture-in-Picture and AirPlay
  • Multi-account support
  • Full Markdown composer
  • Multi-window support
  • Dark Mode support
  • Low Data Mode
Features
Read full description

Monocle offers a comprehensive experience browsing and interacting with Reddit. It is lightweight, fast and aims to make content consumption easy. With Smart Feeds you can create your own customized feeds by selecting topics, setting the sort order and adding a variety of filters. You chose what you want to see. And of course you can also post in your favorite topics, engage in discussions and message your friends. Features: - Switch back and forth between multiple topics without losing your scroll position - Customize content feeds by creating Smart Feeds that can also be shared with others - Super fast media player for showing images, videos and GIFs (full-screen mode available) - Video and GIF scrubbing, Picture-in-Picture, AirPlay®, and more! - Full Dark Mode support - Extensive Contextual Menus integration - Multi window support - view multiple topics and post simultaneously or side by side with you favorite apps! - Share and save images, videos and GIFs - Search for any topics or posts - Search for posts in topics - Full Markdown rendering with tappable links - Today widget showing currently trending posts - Low Data Mode support and much more! If you purchase Monocle Pro you also get the following features: - Add one or more Reddit accounts - Fast and easy account switching - Subscribe to your favorite topics - Full Markdown composer for posting, commenting and messaging - Post text, links, images, GIF (selected videos are automatically converted to GIFs) and drawings made directly on the device - Submit replies to posts and comments - Edit your posts and comments - Upvote/downvote posts and comments - Save posts and comments to read later - Message inbox - Message other users Privacy Policy: https://bastian.codes/privacy-policy/monocle Terms And Conditions: https://bastian.codes/terms-and-conditions/monocle

Screenshots

Elytra4 screens
Monocle for Reddit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Monocle for Reddit at freemium against Elytra's subscription. Monocle for Reddit also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). Elytra's advantage is review sentiment (44% vs 20%). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Elytra sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Monocle for Reddit sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.7 for Elytra against 3.7 for Monocle for Reddit. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 14 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 44% of Elytra's written reviews are positive against 20% of Monocle for Reddit's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Elytra ships an update fortnightly, Monocle for Reddit every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Elytra versus Monocle for Reddit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElytraMonocle for Reddit
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (9 ratings)3.7 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews44.4% of reviews — better20.0% of reviews
Number of ratings914 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size56 MB4 MB
Age rating12++17
DeveloperNikhil NigadeBastian Kohlbauer

Customer experience

Elytra

All ratings9 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive44.4%
Neutral2.2%
Negative53.3%

Monocle for Reddit

All ratings14 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral7.1%
Negative21.4%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive20.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative70.0%

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Elytra

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$10.491 Year
Show 1 more
  • Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$20.001 Year
One-time5
  • Free TrialFree
  • 1 Month Subscription$0.99
  • 3 Months Subscription$2.99
Show 2 more
  • 1 Year Subscription$12.99
  • Lifetime Subscription$54.99
1 purchases

Monocle for Reddit

One-time1
  • Monocle Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Elytra free?
Elytra is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Monocle for Reddit free?
Monocle for Reddit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Elytra or Monocle for Reddit?
Elytra and Monocle for Reddit are both rated 3.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 9 and 14 ratings respectively.
Do Elytra or Monocle for Reddit have ads?
Neither Elytra nor Monocle for Reddit shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Elytra or Monocle for Reddit?
Elytra ships an update fortnightly, and Monocle for Reddit every 2 weeks. Most recently, Elytra was updated on September 23, 2026 and Monocle for Reddit on September 10, 2026.

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