Comparison

Opera Now vs The Big Issue UK

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

Head to head
About

Opera Now

This app offers in-depth coverage of the opera world, featuring profiles of artists, companies, and behind-the-scenes insights. Explore diverse cultural influences on opera through articles, reviews, and opinion pieces from global writers. It aims to deepen readers' passion and knowledge of this art form.

Highlights
  • Profiles of opera companies, singers, directors, and designers
  • In-depth features on cultural influences
  • Reviews and opinion pages from global critics
  • Searchable archive and current issues
  • Offline reading of synced back issues
  • Page linking to external websites and contacts
  • Social media sharing
Features
Read full description

Opera Now captures the drama, colour and vitality of one of the most powerful of all the performing arts. In our print and digital issues, we showcase the creative spirit of opera, both on stage and behind the scenes, with profiles of opera companies, singers, directors and designers. Our in-depth features reflect how diverse cultural elements have influenced opera, including travel, history, literature, art, architecture, politics and philosophy. Our lively reviews and opinion pages are a platform for writers and critics drawn from all over the world. Our aim is to inspire our opera-loving readers to broaden their knowledge and deepen their passion for this fascinating and stimulating artform. During your subscription you can sync back issues to your device. These will remain in place if your subscription expires, unless your device removes them (for example when running low on disk space). Re-downloading issues requires a current subscription. • Swipe or tap the page edges to flip to next/previous page. • Use the animated thumbnail view to flick through the pages. • Pinch or double-tap pages to zoom. • Switch between single or double-page view. • Search the current issue or the archive. • Tap any page links to web sites, email addresses, phone numbers or maps. • Tap contents-page links to jump to a particular article. • Sync back issues to your device for offline reading (requires wi-fi). • Network connection required otherwise. • Bookmark favourite pages or search results to read later. • Social Media sharing feature allowing you to share pages with friends. • If your institution has a magazine subscription, you can access it directly from within your registered IP range. Subscribers will receive new issues automatically. Subscriptions are available within the app at the following prices: Monthly £5.49 Annual £26.99 In addition, please note the following standard features of auto-renewable subscriptions: • Your payment will be charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. • Subscriptions will renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • Your account will be charged £5.49 (monthly renewal) or £26.99 (annual renewal) for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. • You can manage your subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Apple Account Settings after purchase. You can find our privacy policy here: https://exacteditions.com/about/privacy and our terms of service here: https://exacteditions.com/about/tos

About

The Big Issue UK

Access a weekly news and entertainment magazine with a social justice focus. Explore inspiring community stories and vendor updates. Support a mission to help vulnerable people in the UK.

Highlights
  • Award-winning weekly publication
  • Big Community channel with inspiring stories
  • Vendor updates and news
  • Save favorite articles
  • Offline reading
  • Night mode and adjustable text size
  • Share stories via social media
Features
Read full description

The Big Issue is Britain’s only news and entertainment weekly magazine with a social justice focus and a commitment to prevent homelessness, poverty and provide a means for society’s most marginalised to earn a living. Engaging and thought-provoking we take an irreverent look at life, culture and politics challenging orthodoxy through righteous columnists, critics and award-winning features. The Big Issue app provides access to our award-winning weekly publication PLUS our new Big Community channel which provides uplifting and inspiring stories about people and businesses coming together to support the most vulnerable in society. The Big Issue exists to create opportunity for the most vulnerable and marginalised people in the UK to improve their lives. In 2020, the world has changed significantly, and life has not returned to normal, our vendors need your support more than ever and our mission is more important and more challenging than it has been in our 29-year history. Every purchase goes towards supporting The Big Issue’s mission to help the most vulnerable people in the UK to improve their lives. App Features - The Big Issue app is free which gives access to our Big Community channel. - Read each magazine every Monday, before it goes on general sale - Stay plugged into our Big Community channel – live story feed, curated to provide positive and inspiring stories of people working together in the teeth of adversity - Big Issue vendor update – fascinating daily news on how our network of vendors are coping at this time - Fully optimised for your iPad and iPhone - Save your favourite articles to the Saved Articles section - Choose the number of issues saved on your device to save on memory - Easy reading with our night mode and adjustable text size - Download the edition and read offline at your leisure - Share your favourite stories with family and friends through Twitter and Facebook Terms of Use: https://www.bigissue.com/terms-of-use/

Screenshots

Opera Now4 screens
The Big Issue UK4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: The Big Issue UK at free with in-app purchases against Opera Now's subscription. The Big Issue UK also leads on update cadence (every 7 months vs every 42 months) and ratings volume (22 vs 1). 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. Opera Now sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and The Big Issue UK sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $33.99 per 3 months. 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 — 5.0 for Opera Now against 5.0 for The Big Issue UK. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Big Issue UK has 22 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Opera Now ships an update every 42 months, The Big Issue UK every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Opera Now versus The Big Issue UK: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpera NowThe Big Issue UK
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (22 ratings)
Positive reviews—66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings122 — better
Update frequencyEvery 42 monthsEvery 7 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB19 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperMA Business & LeisureThe Big Issue Group Ltd

Customer experience

Opera Now

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

The Big Issue UK

All ratings22 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Opera Now

Subscriptions2
  • Opera Now$5.991 Month
  • Opera Now$29.991 Year
14 purchases

The Big Issue UK

Subscriptions2
  • 3-month Subscription$33.993 Months
  • 12-month Subscription$134.991 Year
One-time12
  • Issue#1418$2.99
  • Issue#1421$2.99
  • Issue#1422$2.99
Show 9 more
  • Issue#1423$2.99
  • Issue#1426$2.99
  • Issue#1435$2.99
  • Issue#1447$2.99
  • Issue#1517$2.99
  • Issue#1593$3.99
  • Issue#1610$3.99
  • Issue#1658$3.99
  • Issue#1619$3.99

Questions

Is Opera Now free?
Opera Now is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Big Issue UK free?
The Big Issue UK is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Opera Now or The Big Issue UK?
Opera Now and The Big Issue UK are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 22 ratings respectively.
Do Opera Now or The Big Issue UK have ads?
Neither Opera Now nor The Big Issue UK shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Opera Now or The Big Issue UK?
Opera Now ships an update every 42 months, and The Big Issue UK every 7 months. Most recently, Opera Now was updated on October 26, 2026 and The Big Issue UK on October 29, 2026.

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