Stanford Mobile vs Y Combinator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Stanford Mobile
Access essential Stanford University information, including campus maps, dining options, events, and news. It also functions as a digital extension of your Stanford ID card.
- Campus dining information
- Upcoming events listings
- Featured news stories
- Campus and shuttle maps
- Digital Stanford ID card
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Stanford Mobile is the official mobile app of Stanford University, where Stanford students, staff, faculty, alumni, parents, and friends connect to essential information on The Farm. The app allows you to explore campus dining options, upcoming events, featured news stories, campus and shuttle maps, public arts and location-based self-guided tours, and more at your fingertips. Mobile ID acts as the digital version of your physical Stanford ID, mirroring all your physical card’s information. Stanford Unlock (formerly Mobile Key), powered by HID and Apple Wallet, allows you to access card readers for buildings and elevators across campus, pay with Cardinal Dollars, and access Cardinal Print, gyms, and libraries.
Y Combinator
Access Y Combinator's extensive library of startup content, including YouTube videos, podcasts, and essays. It also serves as a mobile client for Hacker News, offering the latest startup news for founders and programmers. Additional features are available for YC-funded founders.
- Organized YC YouTube videos
- Startup School content
- On-the-go podcast listening
- Hacker News mobile client
- YC founder-only knowledge base
- Access Bookface feed and messages
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The Y Combinator App is your home for all things YC. It organizes all of YC's YouTube videos, podcasts, and essays. It's also a mobile client for Hacker News, the best startup news source for programmers and technical founders. For founders who have been funded by YC, it has additional features. For everyone: - Organizes all of YC's YouTube videos - the world's best content on startups - All of the content from Startup School - Listen to YC podcasts on the go - Read Hacker News - the best news source for programmers and technical founders For YC founders: - Access the Bookface feed - Access Bookface messages - Read the YC founder-only knowledge base
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Y Combinator at 4.3 against Stanford Mobile's 3.4. Y Combinator also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 6 weeks). Stanford Mobile's advantage is review sentiment (60% vs 50%). On price, ratings volume, 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.
Y Combinator holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 35 and 26 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 60% of Stanford Mobile's written reviews are positive against 50% of Y Combinator's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Stanford Mobile ships an update every 6 weeks, Y Combinator every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Stanford Mobile | Y Combinator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (35 ratings) | 4.3 (26 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 60.0% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 35 — better | 26 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 120 MB | 84 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stanford University | Y Combinator |
Customer experience
Stanford Mobile
Y Combinator
In-app purchases
Stanford Mobile
No in-app purchases
Y Combinator
No in-app purchases
