Comparison

Dearly. vs The Gateway Project

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

Head to head
About

Dearly.

Features
Read full description

A simple and cozy way to note down birthdays of your dearly beloved and friends. Utilises the widgets system so that you can easily track birthdays without opening the app.

About

The Gateway Project

Features
Read full description

The Gateway generates binaural beats in real time. Pure sine wave synthesis on your device. Nothing pre-recorded. Nothing compressed. Every tone is built live from the exact carrier and beat differential frequencies Robert Monroe documented across three decades of consciousness research at The Monroe Institute. This is the precision Monroe wrote about. Not a playlist of guided meditations with binaural sounds mixed underneath. THE ENGINE Every frequency layer renders through one phase continuous oscillator. Carrier and beat frequencies hold to within a ten millionth of a hertz, with no waveform discontinuity and no amplitude drift across a 45 minute session. A pure binaural beat has no sound of its own in either ear. Audible beat mode mixes a little of each ear into the other so it arrives as a pulse you can hear. Off by default, because pure binaural is Monroe's method. SESSIONS Ten preset sessions covering four Monroe Focus Levels and six general brainwave states. Each Focus Level runs its full documented layer stack. Focus 10 carries four layers, Focus 12 eight, Focus 15 seven, Focus 21 six, at the carrier and beat frequencies the Monroe tables specify. An ambient library adds texture. Brown, pink, and white noise, rain, ocean, wind, cave, singing bowls, and a 432 Hz drone. THE PRACTICE SYSTEM Prep Mode runs before a session. Guided breathing, a Repository Box to set aside open loops, and an affirmation to state your intention. Seven Daily Tools work anywhere, no headphones. Short practices for sleep onset, recall, emotional release, energy, and body balance, each between 15 and 60 seconds. Four Companion Exercise Modules extend a session. Energy Bar Tool, Living Body Map, Resonant Energy Balloon, and the Focus 12 Clock Exercise. Research Mode turns each session into a structured record. Write a game plan going in, log what happened coming out, review the timeline by Focus Level and tool. Focus Levels open in sequence rather than all at once. Consistent work at Focus 10 opens Focus 12, and so on. WHAT IT IS NOT No ads. No banners, no interstitials, no rewarded video. No third party trackers and no analytics SDKs reporting your sessions to a data broker. THE SOURCES Content is grounded in two declassified U.S. government documents held in the CIA FOIA Reading Room. The 1983 U.S. Army report Analysis and Assessment of Gateway Process, and the 1977 Gateway Experience Intermediate Workbook from The Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences. PRICING Free forever. Focus 10 and Focus 12, all six general sessions, all seven Daily Tools, Prep Mode, Research Mode, and the full ambient library have no time limits and cost nothing. Premium adds Focus 15, Focus 21, the custom session builder, all Companion Modules, and iCloud sync. 4.99 per month or 39.99 per year. Cancel anytime in App Store settings. HEADPHONES Binaural beats work because your brain reconciles two slightly different tones, one in each ear. Mono playback collapses the effect. Use stereo headphones for binaural sessions. Daily Tools and breathwork are fine on speakers. ABOUT THE PRACTICE Focus 10 trains a state of mind awake and body asleep. Focus 12 opens expanded awareness. Focus 15 sits outside ordinary time. Focus 21 reaches the edge of consensus reality. The Gateway gives you the audio. The work is yours. The Gateway is a wellness and relaxation tool. It makes no medical claims. TRADEMARK NOTICE Hemi-Sync, The Monroe Institute, Gateway Experience, and the Focus 10, 12, 15, and 21 names are trademarks of The Monroe Institute. They appear here descriptively with full attribution. The Gateway is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Monroe Institute. CONTACT Bug reports and feedback to info@yost.group. Built by Yost Group LLC. Support: https://www.yost.group/apps/apps.html Marketing: https://www.yost.group/apps/gateway_app.html

Screenshots

Dearly.4 screens
The Gateway Project4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Dearly. at none against The Gateway Project's 2. Dearly. also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). The Gateway Project's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 21 months). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. The Gateway Project sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Dearly. asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dearly. ships an update every 21 months, The Gateway Project every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Dearly. versus The Gateway Project: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDearly.The Gateway Project
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 21 monthsEvery 3 weeks โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 โ€” better18.6
Further details โ€” not scored
Size44 MB6 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperJing LiaoRick Yost

In-app purchases

None

Dearly.

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

The Gateway Project

Subscriptions2
  • The Gateway Project$4.991 Month
  • The Gateway Project$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Dearly. free?
Dearly. is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Gateway Project free?
The Gateway Project is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Dearly. or The Gateway Project have ads?
Neither Dearly. nor The Gateway Project shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dearly. or The Gateway Project?
Dearly. ships an update every 21 months, and The Gateway Project every 3 weeks. Most recently, Dearly. was updated on October 11, 2026 and The Gateway Project on October 6, 2026.

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