Comparison

Shortify vs Essence

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

Head to head
About

Shortify

This app condenses lengthy content like YouTube videos, articles, and documents into concise summaries. It integrates with your existing apps, saving you valuable time by quickly extracting the core information from any source.

Highlights
  • Summarize YouTube videos
  • Condense articles and blogs
  • Process PDFs and documents
  • Integrates with all apps
  • Shareable summaries
  • Track time saved
Read full description

~ Look, we'll keep this short: Shortify™ summarizes anything, including Youtube, articles, PDFs, blogs, documents, and more. It works in all your favorite apps. ~ Why? Because it saves you a bunch of time, and your time is super valuable. ~ Examples? • 15 min Youtube videos from friends ("you gotta watch this!") • Clearing out your backlog of 500 tabs ("I’ll read this one day") • Blog posts/thinkpieces that have a bit too much history • Sites/apps that are too cluttered (skips the ads/plugins) • Getting the gist of an article before committing to reading it ~ How? Open your favorite app or site, tap the Share button, and tap Shortify. ~ What else? You can get an even shorter summary. You can share your Shorts. You can see your stats, like time saved. ~ Pricing? You get 100 Shorts for free, then you pay for what you use. With 1000 Shorts at a reading speed of 238 wpm (Brysbaert 2019), you’ll get about 72 hours of your life back for the cost of 2 coffees. ~ Privacy? We don't collect any personal data. We don't use third-party trackers, ads, or any of those invasive things. There's no account signup, so there's nothing to delete. ~ I got other questions? johnny@shortifyapp.com

About

Essence

This app uses AI to intelligently extract the core ideas from various text formats, including articles, PDFs, and documents. It offers customizable summary lengths and versatile formats, making it ideal for students and professionals to quickly grasp essential information and boost productivity.

Highlights
  • Adaptive AI summarization
  • Customizable summary lengths
  • Supports various file formats (web, PDF, DOCX)
  • Share summaries
  • Night mode
  • Bookmark articles
Features
Read full description

Essence: Dive Deeper, Faster The Power of Summarization, Now in Your Pocket. Feel overwhelmed by lengthy articles, dense lectures, or extensive reports? Welcome to Essence, where every word matters and no detail is too small to be included. Why Essence? * Adaptive AI Technology: Our advanced AI doesn't just cut corners; it intelligently extracts the heart of any text, presenting you with the core ideas and themes. * Customizable Lengths: Whether you're in for a quick glance or a detailed overview, choose from paragraph summaries, page-length digests, expansive insights, or crisp idea lists. * Versatile Formats: Web articles, PDFs, DOCX, plain texts — our app adapts to any format, ensuring you never miss the essence. * Perfect for Students: Turn endless lecture notes into concise recaps, ensuring you grasp the core of every lesson. * Boost Productivity: Ideal for professionals on-the-move. Get the gist of lengthy reports or meetings in moments, and stay ahead of the curve. Additional Features: - Share Summaries with Friends - Night Mode for Comfortable Reading - Bookmark & Save Articles for Later Join the thousands who've reclaimed their time, improved their understanding, and accelerated their learning. Dive deeper into knowledge, with Essence. Your Essence Premium will automatically renew each week, month or year (depending on the type of your subscription), and you will be charged corresponding amount of money through your iTunes account within 24-hours prior to the end of the current monthly or annual cycle. You can turn off auto-renew at any time from your iTunes account settings up until 24-hours before the end of the current period, but refunds will not be provided for any unused portion of the term. (iOS Settings > iTunes & App Stores > Apple ID > View Apple ID > Subscriptions > Manage) Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Shortify4 screens
Essence4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Essence at 100% against Shortify's 67%. Shortify's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months) and rating (4.4 vs 4.2). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Shortify sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Essence sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Shortify holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 34 and 30 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of Shortify's written reviews are positive against 100% of Essence's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shortify ships an update weekly, Essence every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on July 8, 2026 and August 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Shortify versus Essence: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShortifyEssence
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (34 ratings) — better4.2 (30 ratings)
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings34 — better30
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Openly Operated CompanyDopefin Limited

Customer experience

Shortify

All ratings34 ratings
Positive88.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.8%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Essence

All ratings30 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Shortify

One-time6
  • 100 Free Shorts - Signup BonusFree
  • 10 Shorts$0.99
  • Handcrafted Lux Icon - Mint$4.99
Show 3 more
  • 100 Shorts$4.99
  • 1000 Shorts$9.99
  • 10000 Shorts$49.99
3 purchases

Essence

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Essence Premium3 Days trial$3.997 Days
  • Monthly Essence Premium3 Days trial$12.991 Month
  • Yearly Essence Premium3 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Shortify free?
Shortify is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Essence free?
Essence is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Shortify or Essence?
Shortify is rated higher. Shortify averages 4.4 out of 5 from 34 ratings, while Essence averages 4.2 from 30 ratings.
Do Shortify or Essence have ads?
Neither Shortify nor Essence shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shortify or Essence?
Shortify ships an update weekly, and Essence every 5 months. Most recently, Shortify was updated on July 8, 2026 and Essence on August 12, 2026.

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