LOC Collections vs Open Access Helper
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
LOC Collections
Access and explore millions of digitized items from the world's largest library. Discover iconic photos, historic maps, books, films, and manuscripts. Save, share, and zoom in on details within the vast digital archives.
- Access millions of digitized items
- Explore photos, maps, books, and films
- Search and browse collections
- Save and share favorites
- Zoom in for detailed image exploration
- Read historic books and newspapers
- Watch early films
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Explore the Library of Congress digital collections. The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. Use LOC Collections to access iconic photos, historic maps, books, films, newspapers, manuscripts and sound recordings. Search and browse millions of items. Save and share your favorites. Zoom in to explore images in detail. Read books. Search historic newspapers. Watch early films from Thomas Edison and other pioneers. Explore the papers of U.S. presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and more). View iconic photos and maps documenting the Civil War. View letters, diaries and notes in the papers of Rosa Parks, Mary Church Terrell, Susan B. Anthony and other changemakers.
Open Access Helper
Easily find legal, free versions of paywalled scientific articles using trusted APIs. Seamlessly connect to university library proxies like EZProxy and OpenAthens. This open-source tool respects your privacy and makes research more accessible.
- Find legal, free scholarly articles
- Access paywalled research
- Integrates with unpaywall.org and core.ac.uk
- Seamless EZProxy/OpenAthens connection
- Indicates version type (Published, Accepted, Submitted)
- Open-source and privacy-respecting
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Open Access Helper: Effortless Access to Scholarly Articles Unlock Open Access Easily find legal, free-to-read versions of paywalled scientific articles. Open Access Helper uses the trusted APIs from unpaywall.org and other sources to locate open access copies, making research more accessible for students, researchers, and curious minds. How It Works When you view a research article, the extension detects its DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and checks for an available open access version. Simply click the Open Access Helper badge to access the document! As you hover over the badge, it will indicate whether you’ll be accessing the “Published Version,” “Accepted Version,” or “Submitted Version.” EZProxy or OpenAthens Made Simple If your university library uses EZProxy or OpenAthens for off-campus access, this extension makes it seamless to connect. Just set your institution’s domain (e.g., harvard.edu), and with one click, you can proxy the current page through your library’s server. 100% Legal and Privacy-Respecting Every link provided leads to officially open-access or legally archived copies of research articles. Plus, Open Access Helper doesn’t collect personal data—just anonymous usage stats to improve functionality. Open Source & Developer-Friendly This is a passion project—check out the code, share feedback, or report bugs. Your contributions and ideas are always welcome! Get started today—make research easier and more accessible with Open Access Helper!
Screenshots
Verdict
LOC Collections and Open Access Helper both sit at 3.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 50% of Open Access Helper's written reviews are positive against 27% of LOC Collections's. Open Access Helper also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). LOC Collections's advantage is ratings volume (35 vs 4) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.6). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.9 for LOC Collections against 4.0 for Open Access Helper. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LOC Collections has 35 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 27% of LOC Collections's written reviews are positive against 50% of Open Access Helper's.
LOC Collections ships an update every 2 months, Open Access Helper monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | LOC Collections | Open Access Helper |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (35 ratings) | 4.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 27.3% of reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 35 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Library Of Congress | Claus Wolf |
Customer experience
LOC Collections
Open Access Helper
In-app purchases
LOC Collections
No in-app purchases
Open Access Helper
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is LOC Collections free?
Is Open Access Helper free?
Which has better reviews, LOC Collections or Open Access Helper?
Do LOC Collections or Open Access Helper have ads?
Which is updated more often, LOC Collections or Open Access Helper?
Other comparisons
