Comparison

Universalis vs Divine Mercy

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

Head to head
About

Universalis

This app provides the Liturgy of the Hours and Mass readings for every day, along with additional spiritual content. It offers offline access, customizable display options, and optional spoken audio. It's designed for daily prayer and spiritual enrichment.

Highlights
  • Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office)
  • Daily Mass readings and prayers
  • Offline access
  • Customizable display (fonts, themes)
  • Spiritual reading and commentaries
  • Optional spoken audio add-on
Features
Read full description

Universalis is a missal and a breviary, and more besides. It gives you the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) and the Mass for every day; plus valuable additional material. Tens of thousands of people use Universalis daily. Come and join them! • Single purchase: the app lasts for ever. It does not need a subscription to make it work. • No Internet needed: everything you need is already built in. • No cleverness needed: each day, Universalis works out exactly what you need to see. • View any date: past, present and future. • Use your own local calendar: USA, Canada, Singapore, Ireland, and every diocese in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. • Easy to read and use: a choice of fonts; big or small type; dark or light theme; page-turning or scrolling. • Optional add-on: spoken audio read by real human beings (this needs a subscription: see below). • Latin if you want it: by itself or alongside the English. • Help and support: tips and instructions are included; or press “Contact Us” to send us a message, and we will reply. EXTRA MATERIAL • The “About Today” page tells you what saints are being celebrated today, worldwide. It includes reflections, biographies and illustrations. • “Mass Today” gives you the Order of Mass and today’s readings and prayers, all in one page. Bishops have been known to use it to say Mass from their iPads! • “Spiritual Reading” gathers the patristic and hagiographic readings for all the saints and feasts of the day. • “The Rosary” has a verse of Scripture for every Hail Mary of every Mystery. Spoken audio is included. • Daily Books takes selected spiritual classics and presents them in daily instalments to focus and enrich your prayer life. • Commentaries on the day’s Mass readings from a leading biblical scholar. And more – Home Screen widgets; liturgical events for your iOS calendar; daily email service; copy and paste into other apps; reminders and alarms; Mass readings on your Apple Watch. LITURGY OF THE HOURS (Divine Office) The complete official Liturgy of the Hours of the Catholic Church, as used worldwide. Morning (Lauds), daytime (Terce, Sext and None), evening (Vespers), night (Compline) and the deeply reflective Office of Readings. Do as many or as few of them as you like. • The psalms and canticles match the official English and American books. Scripture readings – United States: RSV. Elsewhere: Jerusalem Bible (with RSV as an optional add-on). READINGS AT MASS The exact prayers and readings at Mass for each day. • England, Wales, Scotland: the official ESV version. • United States: the official NAB version. • Elsewhere: Jerusalem Bible readings and Grail psalms, as used at Mass in most of the English-speaking world. OPTIONAL ADD-ON AUDIO (in-app purchase required) Just press the button and listen! If you want to see what you are hearing, the text is highlighted to follow the sound. After an initial download, no Internet is required. Works with CarPlay too. • Spoken English Liturgy of the Hours: every Hour of every day of every year. Monthly or annual subscription. • Spoken English Mass Readings: First and Second Reading and the Gospel. Jerusalem Bible translation only. Monthly or annual subscription. (You can listen to a sample before subscribing. Following App Store rules, subscriptions renew automatically but you can cancel auto-renewal at any time.) • Sung Latin Compline (Night Prayer): by the boys of the Schola Cantorum of the London Oratory School. Single purchase. -- Privacy policy and terms of service: universalis.com/n-ios-privacy.htm

About

Divine Mercy

Explore the message and devotion of Divine Mercy with this comprehensive app. Access daily meditations, interactive prayers like the Chaplet and Way of the Cross, and hundreds of quotes from St. Faustina's Diary. Receive configurable prayer reminders and engage with novenas to deepen your faith.

Highlights
  • Interactive Chaplet of Divine Mercy
  • Daily meditations from St. Faustina's Diary
  • Configurable prayer reminders
  • Quotes from St. Faustina's Diary
  • Interactive novenas
  • Interactive Way of the Cross
Features
Read full description

The message of The Divine Mercy is simple. It is that God loves us – all of us. And, He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy. From the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, promoters of the authentic Divine Mercy message since 1941, this free app offers the complete message and devotion in an easy to navigate format. • Interactive Chaplet of Divine Mercy with multiple audio voices. • Daily meditations from the Diary of St. Faustina. • Configurable prayer reminders. • Hundreds of quotes from the Diary of St. Faustina organized by themes. • Interactive novenas to The Divine Mercy, St. Faustina, and St. John Paul II. • Interactive Way of the Cross. Discover why the message of Divine Mercy is the largest grassroots movement in the history of the Catholic Church. "There is nothing that man needs more than Divine Mercy." – St. John Paul II "Devotion to Divine Mercy is not a secondary devotion, but an integral dimension of a Christian's faith and prayer." – Pope Benedict XVI

Screenshots

Universalis4 screens
Divine Mercy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Divine Mercy at Free against Universalis's $9.99. Divine Mercy also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 11). Universalis's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.2) and review sentiment (95% vs 67%). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Divine Mercy is free to download; Universalis costs $9.99 up front. Universalis sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Divine Mercy asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Universalis holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Universalis has 9.7K ratings behind it against 397, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of Universalis's written reviews are positive against 67% of Divine Mercy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Universalis ships an update every 3 weeks, Divine Mercy every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Universalis versus Divine Mercy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUniversalisDivine Mercy
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (9.7K ratings) — better4.2 (397 ratings)
Positive reviews94.6% of reviews — better67.3% of reviews
Number of ratings9.7K — better397
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#4 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB39 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperUniversalis PublishingMarian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception

Customer experience

Universalis

All ratings9,680 ratings
Positive98.5%
Neutral0.6%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews649 reviews
Positive94.6%
Neutral2.9%
Negative2.5%

Divine Mercy

All ratings397 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral6.8%
Negative15.4%
Written reviews156 reviews
Positive67.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative24.4%

User reviews

Universalis

From 9.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🙏 Wonderful Catholic app
  • 🙌 Great app for Catholic devotions
  • 📚 This is a wonderful app for the laity
  • 🙏 Excellent resource for Mass and Liturgy of the Hours
  • 🌟 Comprehensive and easy to use

Room to improve

  • 🤔 Hymns selection could be improved
  • 🤔 Navigation can be confusing
  • 🤔 Kenyan version text does not match book
  • 🤔 Difficult to navigate, missing menu buttons

Divine Mercy

From 397 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Better now
  • 👍 My go to audio
  • 👍 Perfect
  • 👍 I Love the Divine Mercy App!
  • 👍 Great App!!!!

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Audio on new version
  • 🔊 Voice
  • 🔊 Older Voice was perfect!
  • 🔊 Prefer the old voice
  • 🔊 If it ain't broke why fix it

Bugs and requests

Universalis

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Gospel readings sometimes incorrect
  • App crashes when trying to change hymns or readings

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add Salesian saints and young saints
  • Include NAB translation for US users
  • Add option for 1962 liturgical calendar
  • Improve hymn selection, especially for seasons
  • Implement more inclusive language in prayers

Divine Mercy

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Notifications broken with most recent update
  • Stops in the middle of the Chaplet
  • Crashes
  • App doesn't work right now after 5 years
  • Chaplet recitation too slow

Requested features

7 requests
  • Move purgatory board and intention for the day on main landing page
  • Adding a widget to IPhone where I don't need To open the app to see what today's intention is for quick and easy reference when in prayer
  • Option for Fr Gaitely's voice back
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard
Show 2 more
  • Alarm capability within the app
  • Speed control on the auto chaplet

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Universalis

Subscriptions6
  • Daily Mass Readings1 Month trial$1.991 Month
  • Daytime Hours1 Month trial$2.991 Month
  • All Hours1 Month trial$2.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Daily Mass Readings1 Month trial$19.991 Year
  • Daytime Hours1 Month trial$29.991 Year
  • All Hours1 Month trial$29.991 Year
One-time4
  • Add-on translation: RSV Hours$1.99
  • Sung Latin Compline$3.99
  • Revelations of Divine Love$5.99
Show 1 more
  • Journey into Light$5.99
None

Divine Mercy

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Universalis free?
Universalis costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Divine Mercy free?
Divine Mercy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Universalis or Divine Mercy?
Universalis is rated higher. Universalis averages 4.9 out of 5 from 9.7K ratings, while Divine Mercy averages 4.2 from 397 ratings.
Do Universalis or Divine Mercy have ads?
Neither Universalis nor Divine Mercy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Universalis or Divine Mercy?
Universalis ships an update every 3 weeks, and Divine Mercy every 2 months. Most recently, Universalis was updated on October 21, 2026 and Divine Mercy on October 15, 2026.

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