Comparison

Sermon Maker vs StrataRead

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

Head to head
About

Sermon Maker

This app helps religious leaders create, organize, and manage sermons and devotionals. It offers features like word counts, project organization, and customizable text colors. The app syncs content across Apple devices via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Sermon and devotional creation
  • Content organization and management
  • iCloud synchronization across devices
  • Word count for sections and documents
  • Customizable text colors
  • Light and Dark Mode support
Features
Read full description

Sermon Maker is an application designed to help pastors, teachers, and church leaders create, organize, and manage sermons and devotionals. The app is compatible with iPhone devices running iOS 16.0 or later, iPads running iPadOS 16.0 or later, and Macs running macOS 13 Ventura or later. The macOS version is built with Mac Catalyst and is compatible with both Apple Silicon and Intel-based Macs (through Rosetta when required). Sermon Maker integrates with iCloud, allowing users to securely save and synchronize their content across all compatible devices using CloudKit private and public databases, as well as iCloud Sharing. The application is available in English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, and Portuguese. It supports both Light Mode and Dark Mode and allows users to customize the color of text in various sections, including sermons and devotionals. Additional features include word counts for individual sections and complete documents, project organization tools, and many other productivity features designed specifically for ministry preparation. The primary purpose of Sermon Maker is to provide consistency and structure in sermon and devotional preparation. The app was intentionally designed to help users follow a unified framework, making it easier to maintain clear organization, consistency, and a standardized flow across all sermons and devotionals.

About

StrataRead

Features
Read full description

StrataRead is a research library and PDF reader for people who read closely, collect evidence, and write with sources. Bring your papers, books, and reports into an organized workspace. Search your library, highlight important passages, capture notes, and carry your research into your writing without losing its connection to the original source. READ AND ANNOTATE • Read PDFs with native rendering, zooming, and navigation. • Highlight passages with color-coded annotations. • Attach notes to the text you are reading. • Review source information, notes, and extracts in the Inspector. FIND INFORMATION ACROSS YOUR LIBRARY • Search indexed PDF text as well as bibliographic metadata. • Narrow searches by fields such as author, title, and year. • Use quoted phrases and search-field autocomplete. • Filter notes and extracts to focus on passages matching your search. • Find and open sources through Spotlight and supported Siri and Shortcuts actions. KEEP YOUR RESEARCH ORGANIZED • Browse your sources in Library and return to recent reading. • Organize sources with projects, keywords, and reading status. • Explore projects, keywords, and source groups through the Library Map. • On iPad, sort table columns and preview notes and extracts without opening each PDF. • On iPhone, use a streamlined reading workspace with essential controls within reach. CAPTURE AND REUSE YOUR NOTES • Collect highlighted text and notes as source-linked extracts. • Clean up common PDF text issues, including broken lines and hyphenation. • Export notes and extracts as structured Markdown with citation information. • Create a separate Markdown file for each source. • Bring your research into StrataWrite, Obsidian, and other writing or knowledge-management tools. BUILD BETTER REFERENCES • Find bibliographic information using DOI, title, author, or ISBN. • Manage details for journal articles, books, edited volumes, chapters, theses, dissertations, reports, and webpages. • Copy formatted citations in supported styles, including APA and Chicago. • Identify records with missing metadata and PDFs needing attention. • Find open-access replacement PDFs when available. KEEP YOUR LIBRARY WITH YOU • Synchronize library records, notes, and PDFs through iCloud. • Keep downloaded PDFs available for offline reading. • Share PDFs and export your notes when it is time to collaborate or write. PRIVACY AND CONTROL Your PDFs and notes remain in your library, with iCloud synchronization available across your devices. Full-text search indexes stay on your device. Metadata lookups use online bibliographic services. StrataRead contains no advertising, tracking, or developer analytics. Privacy & AI settings explain how the app handles your information. Built for researchers, students, educators, and anyone who wants to turn careful reading into useful, well-organized knowledge.

Screenshots

Sermon Maker4 screens
StrataRead4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: StrataRead at none against Sermon Maker's 3. Sermon Maker's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 weeks) and price ($4.99 vs $9.99). On ads and device support 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

Sermon Maker costs $4.99 and StrataRead $9.99 up front. Sermon Maker sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. StrataRead asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sermon Maker ships an update every 2 days, StrataRead every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Sermon Maker versus StrataRead: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSermon MakerStrataRead
Price$4.99 — better$9.99
Rating3.3 (7 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings7 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB22 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRonald SteinvorthStance Hurst

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Sermon Maker

One-time3
  • Donation$0.99
  • Donation$9.99
  • Donation$99.99
None

StrataRead

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sermon Maker free?
Sermon Maker costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is StrataRead free?
StrataRead costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Sermon Maker or StrataRead have ads?
Neither Sermon Maker nor StrataRead shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sermon Maker or StrataRead?
Sermon Maker ships an update every 2 days, and StrataRead every 3 weeks. Most recently, Sermon Maker was updated on November 3, 2026 and StrataRead on October 30, 2026.

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