# Lysten vs Stacks

The clearest difference is rating: Stacks at 5.0 against Lysten's 4.4. Stacks also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (daily vs every 2 months). Lysten's advantage is ratings volume (10 vs 2). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Lysten sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Stacks asks for nothing beyond the download.

Stacks holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Lysten has 10 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Lysten's written reviews are positive against 100% of Stacks's.

Lysten ships an update every 2 months, Stacks daily. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Lysten | Stacks |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.4 (10 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lysten-podcast-player/id1579212581/reviews) | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stacks-offline-reader/id6778920098/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **10** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Daily** |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Free** |
| Size | 44 MB | 7 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Ambi Studio AB](https://appshunter.io/developer/834012550) | [Richard Russell](https://appshunter.io/developer/6778920100) |

## What reviewers say

### Lysten

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lysten-podcast-player/id1579212581)

Easily discover and listen to podcasts with a privacy-focused player. Enjoy features like offline listening, interactive widgets, and seamless sharing with friends. Syncs via iCloud for a personal experience.

**Highlights:** Privacy-focused design, iCloud sync for progress, Offline episode downloads, Interactive widgets, Sleep timer, Adjustable playback speed, Spotlight search indexing

**Features:** Family Sharing, Siri integration, Vision Pro support, SharePlay

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lysten+ | $1.99 | per month |
| Lysten+ Yearly | $19.99 | per year |


### Stacks

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stacks-offline-reader/id6778920098)

A distraction-free reader for newsletters, blogs, and podcasts that downloads content for offline access. Enjoy your favorite content anywhere, even without an internet connection, with smart automatic downloads and a clean interface.

**Highlights:** Fully offline content access, Smart automatic downloading, Distraction-free reading interface, Built-in podcast player, Fast full-text search, Private by design, no account needed

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Lysten free?

Lysten is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Stacks free?

Stacks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Lysten or Stacks?

Stacks is rated higher. Lysten averages 4.4 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Stacks averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.

### Do Lysten or Stacks have ads?

Neither Lysten nor Stacks shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Lysten or Stacks?

Lysten ships an update every 2 months, and Stacks daily. Most recently, Lysten was updated on October 23, 2026 and Stacks on October 8, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*