Shakespeare vs Memorize Texts
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shakespeare
Access the complete works of Shakespeare, including plays, sonnets, and poems. Features include a powerful search, integrated glossary, note-taking, and customization options for a rich reading experience.
- Complete works of Shakespeare
- Powerful search and concordance
- Integrated glossary with definitions
- Add and share personal notes
- Customizable reading experience
- Scene breakdowns and character descriptions
- Modern translations and lexicons
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“It’s really great!” —Kenneth Branagh, actor and director “I can't remember a time it wasn't on my iPhone. So feature rich!" —Stephen Fry, actor and writer “‘The app’s the thing.’ Hamlet was almost right. Great to see Shakespeare Pro superplaying with Shakespeare’s plays.” —David Crystal, linguist and author of Shakespeare's Words “The Shakespeare Pro app is simply terrific and filled with loads of wonderful information!” —Ken Ludwig, Tony and Olivier Award Winning Playwright Shakespeare Pro® includes the complete works of Shakespeare (41 plays, 154 sonnets and 6 poems, including apocrypha) and search the concordance to find the exact word or phrase you’re looking for (with “relaxed” searching to find words close to your search term). Shakespeare Pro is packed with these impressive features: ••• QUALITY TEXTS are a top priority and our team spent years compiling and editing the best references available. In the updated editions, the text is even more clear and each individual character is uniquely identified. ••• FIRST FOLIOS AND QUARTOS in original spelling show the works as they were originally published in Shakespeare’s time. ••• AN INTEGRATED GLOSSARY, based on the bestselling lexicon by David & Ben Crystal, Shakespeare’s Words™ is included. Simply tapping on a word will display its definition in context (not just a general definition). ••• ADD YOUR OWN NOTES AND SHARE THEM with your students, classmates, friends, and colleagues. Organize your notes into notebooks for use in the classroom, theatre, or just to remember key facts. Then share them via email or AirDrop. ••• POWER SEARCH THE WORKS by customizing multiple parameters like gender, genre, work, language, line form, soliloquies, and more. ••• CUSTOMIZE YOUR READING EXPERIENCE by choosing from a variety of color themes, change the font family and size, display long or short character names, jump around to different scenes, and view line numbers (*read the note below about line numbering). ••• BOOKMARK YOUR FAVORITE PARTS in addition to remembering the last page you viewed. Even copy/paste that great line. ••• DETAILED SCENE BREAKDOWNS give you an overview of the scenes within each play, their locations, and the characters present in each. ••• CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS help you better understand the actions and motivations of every character—all 1,155 of them. ••• MODERN TRANSLATIONS and lexicons to help you better understand Elizabethan English (extra add-ons). ••• GET THE FACTS by reading up on Shakespeare’s life, view data and chronology about his works, and an overview of scansion terminology or rhetoric. Character Arc Visualizers show individual character arcs or allow for comparison of multiple characters. ••• SHAKE YOUR DEVICE for Shakespeare himself to display a random memorable quote or insult. Or get a new random quote every day. ••• BROWSE THE GALLERY of famous Shakespeare portraits. ••• TEACHER CURRICULUM makes it easy for teachers to introduce students to Shakespeare's works. ••• COMPLETE APOCRYPHA is the most comprehensive breakdown of 14 plays Shakespeare may have had a hand in. ••• BARDFIND™ is the easiest way to find a Shakespeare theatre or venue anywhere in the world. These are just a few highlights of the great things in Shakespeare Pro. If you’re a student, professor, actor, or just plain love the Bard, this must-have app ensures you have the complete works at your fingertips. Like the new features? Having trouble and need support? Let us know at support@playshakespeare.com or at http://support.playshakespeare.com.
Memorize Texts
This app helps you memorize texts, scripts, lyrics, and poems quickly. It uses gradual word or line hiding techniques to build your recall. Import your content and choose from various learning methods to master any text.
- Gradual word/line hiding
- 10+ memorization methods
- Import PDF, TXT, RTF, HTML
- Auto-scroll text
- Temporary reveal of hidden words
- Actor-specific line focus
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Fastest way to memorize texts, lines & lyrics: hide words or lines step by step until you know them by heart. Used by hundreds of thousands! ▶ HOW IT WORKS • Import or paste your text • Choose a memorization method • Read it aloud, then hide a few words • Repeat and increase the difficulty step by step • Continue until you can recite the full text from memory ▶ WHY IT WORKS • Your brain only has to memorize a small part at a time • The difficulty increases gradually • It helps you stay focused and practice actively You'll learn texts in minutes, rather than hours. ▶ FEATURES • 10+ memorization methods • Learn by hiding words, lines, first letters, and more • Actors: practice only your own lines • Import PDF, TXT, RTF, and HTML files • Auto-scroll your text while you practice • Long press to temporarily reveal hidden words • Long press "Reveal" to reset the text ▶ GREAT FOR • Actors & comedians: lines and scripts • Singers: lyrics • Public speakers: speeches • Students: lessons, presentations, and poems • Anyone who wants to memorize texts faster Are you ready to learn texts by heart faster? ▶ MADE BY A SOLO DEVELOPER Feel free to send your questions, suggestions, or feature requests from inside the app. I read and answer them myself! Kevin Privacy Policy & Terms of Use: https://www.cosmictaps.com/memocoach/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Shakespeare at 4.8 against Memorize Texts's 4.6. On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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
Both are free to download. Shakespeare sells 27 one-off in-app purchases and Memorize Texts sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Shakespeare holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.5K and 2.6K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 74% of Shakespeare's written reviews are positive against 80% of Memorize Texts's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Shakespeare ships an update every 3 weeks, Memorize Texts every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shakespeare | Memorize Texts |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (3.5K ratings) — better | 4.6 (2.6K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 74.0% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.5K — better | 2.6K |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 416 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | PlayShakespeare.com | Cosmic Taps SL |
Customer experience
Shakespeare
Memorize Texts
User reviews
Shakespeare
From 3.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Best app out there
- 👍 Excellent app
- 👍 Terrific app for Shakespeare lovers
- 👍 Remarkable level of detail and care
- 👍 Invaluable for actors and students
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes, buggy, unstable
- 💰 Nickel-and-diming for features
- 💰 Upgrade to pro is misleading
- 💰 Constant nagging to upgrade
- 🤔 Abbreviated character names
Memorize Texts
From 2.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Helpful for memorizing lines and scripts
- 🚀 Efficient memorization methods
- 💡 Customizable hiding/revealing of text
- 👍 User-friendly interface
- 👍 Great for learning poetry, verses, and presentations
Room to improve
- 💰 Many features locked behind premium paywall
- 🔒 Lack of automatic syncing between devices
- 🐛 Issues with PDF/text import and formatting
- 🔒 Confusing subscription model and pricing
Bugs and requests
Shakespeare
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes on launch or opening plays
- Scrolling and UI issues
- Incompatible with latest iOS versions
Requested features
5 requests- Add modern translations
- Include line numbers
- Improve search and navigation
- Add more content like sonnets
- Sync purchases across devices
Memorize Texts
Reported bugs
3 issues- Freezing and crashing issues
- Inconsistent behavior when adding/removing texts
- Incompatibility with non-Latin scripts
Requested features
5 requests- Add AI voice to read partner lines
- Automatically detect and highlight user's lines
- Option to randomize hidden words instead of sequential
- Ability to change font and text formatting
- Integrate spaced repetition and review scheduling
In-app purchases
Shakespeare
- Modern Translation (AYLI)$1.99
- Modern Translation (Sonnets)$1.99
- Modern Translation (AWEW)$1.99
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- Modern Translation(Coriolanus)$1.99
- Modern Translation (CoE)$1.99
- Modern Translation (WT)$1.99
- Modern Translation (Othello)$1.99
- Modern Translation (Much Ado)$1.99
- Modern Translation (LLL)$1.99
- Modern Translation (Hamlet)$2.99
- Modern Translation (Macbeth)$2.99
- Modern Translation (R&J)$2.99
- Modern Translation (King Lear)$2.99
- Glossary by Alexander Dyce$3.99
- Glossary by C. T. Onions$3.99
- Schmidt's Lexicon$3.99
- Glossary by C. T. Onions$4.99
- All Apocrypha$7.99
- Course: Intro to Shakespeare$9.99
- All Apocrypha$9.99
- All Lexicons$9.99
- Course Shakespeare for Kids$9.99
- Upgrade to Shakespeare Pro$12.99
- All Lexicons$12.99
- Modern Translation (All Works)$14.99
- Modern Translation (All Works)$19.99
- Shakespeare Ultimate$59.99
Memorize Texts
- MemoCoach Premium$5.997 Days
- MemoCoach Premium4 variants$8.991 Month
- MemoCoach Premium2 variants$19.991 Year
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- MemoCoach Premium3 Days trial$19.991 Year
- MemoCoach Premium3 Days trial2 variants$39.991 Year
- MemoCoach Premium$8.99
- MemoCoach Premium$19.99
- MemoCoach Premium$39.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- MemoCoach Premium$59.99
Questions
Is Shakespeare free?
Is Memorize Texts free?
Which has better reviews, Shakespeare or Memorize Texts?
Do Shakespeare or Memorize Texts have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shakespeare or Memorize Texts?
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