# Shortify vs Essence

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.

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.

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.

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

## The numbers

| Metric | Shortify | Essence |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.4 (34 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shortify-summarize-anything/id1670824156/reviews)** | [4.2 (30 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/essence-text-summary/id6449463299/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **34** | 30 |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 5 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Size | 15 MB | 25 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [The Openly Operated Company](https://appshunter.io/developer/1670824158) | [Dopefin Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1429704004) |

## What reviewers say

### Shortify

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shortify-summarize-anything/id1670824156)

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

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 100 Free Shorts - Signup Bonus | Free | one-time |
| 10 Shorts | $0.99 | one-time |
| Handcrafted Lux Icon - Mint | $4.99 | one-time |
| 100 Shorts | $4.99 | one-time |
| 1000 Shorts | $9.99 | one-time |
| 10000 Shorts | $49.99 | one-time |


### Essence

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/essence-text-summary/id6449463299)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Weekly Essence Premium | $3.99 | per 7 days |
| Monthly Essence Premium | $12.99 | per month |
| Yearly Essence Premium | $49.99 | per year |


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