12 Steps Companion vs AA 12 Step Toolkit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
12 Steps Companion
This app provides a modernized digital version of the Big Book for Alcoholics Anonymous members. It features a sobriety calculator, notes, contact database, and a powerful search function to aid in recovery.
- Modernized Big Book reader
- Dark mode and adjustable font size
- Enhanced sobriety calculator with widgets
- AA contacts database with integrated maps
- Powerful search and concordance tool
- Collection of prayers and promises
- Note-taking and sharing capabilities
Read full descriptionHide full description
First developed in 2008, 12 Steps Companion was the world’s first recovery app. It is a reader, sobriety tracker, and recovery toolkit. The reader covers the first 164 pages of Alcoholics Anonymous, plus more than 60 personal stories, the original forewords, and the appendices from the First and Second Editions. Dark mode, highlighting, adjustable type, a concordance search, and a built-in dictionary are included. Also available: 12 Steps Speakers, for talks recorded by members around the world. KEY FEATURES UNIVERSAL • Built for iPhone and iPad • Cloud-themed design and a quiet, discrete home-screen icon SOBRIETY CALCULATOR & WIDGETS • Sobriety length on the launch screen • Home-screen widgets with years, months, days, and hours THE READER • Dark mode • Highlight and unhighlight text • Adjustable font size • Full-screen reading in portrait or landscape • First 164 pages, plus 60+ stories from the 1st and 2nd editions • Original forewords and appendices • Page numbers and quick page jump • Tap any word to define it • Collapsible index • Return to a bookmark from any note SEARCH • Full concordance • Results highlighted in place PRAYERS & PROMISES • Morning and night prayers • Prayers from the Twelve Steps • Prayer of St. Francis • Promises collected from the text NOTES • Highlight a passage and attach a note • Share via Messages, Mail, and other apps • App attribution is added when you share CONTACTS • U.S. central offices, areas, districts, and answering services • Tap to call, email, or open a website • Maps and directions • Add your own contacts SUPPORT Questions or feedback: www.deanhuff.com Only stories from the 1st and 2nd editions are included • This app is available to U.S. customers only Not affiliated with AA World Services, Inc. Alcoholics Anonymous and The Big Book are registered trademarks of AA World Services, Inc. Please support A.A. by purchasing a printed copy from your local central office.
AA 12 Step Toolkit
This app provides a comprehensive set of tools for individuals in recovery, offering guidance, inventories, readings, and practical utilities based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. It includes features for sponsorship, step work, sobriety tracking, and personal reflections, all within a secure and easy-to-use interface.
- In-app sponsorship with messaging
- Full Big Book text and step guides
- Sobriety time calculator and statistics
- Moral inventory and daily practice tools
- Readings and prayers
- Gratitude lists and personal notes
- PIN, Face ID, and Touch ID security
Read full descriptionHide full description
12 Step Toolkit – Everything AA Members Need for Daily Recovery 12 Step Toolkit is a complete set of recovery tools designed to support your journey—day by day, step by step. Built around the principles found in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, this app combines guidance, inventories, readings, and practical utilities to help you stay connected to your programme. Whether you are new to recovery or continuing your journey, 12 Step Toolkit keeps everything you need in one secure, easy-to-use place. KEY FEATURES IN-APP SPONSORSHIP • Connect with thousands of sponsors and sponsees worldwide • Find a sponsor • Add sponsees • Secure, instant in-app messaging BIG BOOK & STEP WORK • Full 164 pages of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous • 70+ additional stories from early editions • Step-by-step guides on how to work all 12 Steps • Dedicated sections for completing your own step work RECOVERY CALCULATOR • Track your clean or sober time with detailed statistics, averages, and milestones INVENTORIES & DAILY PRACTICES • Comprehensive Step 4 moral inventory • Step 10 spot-check tool • Interactive “On Awakening” inventory • Nightly review with reminders • Hourly mindfulness and consciousness reminders READINGS & PRAYERS Readings included: • AA Preamble • How It Works • The 12 Traditions • Promises (pp. 83–84) • Just For Today • On Awakening • On Retiring • A Vision For You Prayers included: • Serenity Prayer (standard and extended) • 3rd Step Prayer • 7th Step Prayer • 11th Step Prayer • The Lord’s Prayer GRATITUDE, NOTES & SHARING • Create gratitude lists • Write personal notes and reflections • Share inventories, lists, and notes using standard iOS sharing tools PRIVACY & SECURITY • PIN lock • Face ID and Touch ID support • Local-only storage for your step work, inventories, and notes WORK ALL 12 STEPS – RIGHT INSIDE THE APP Step 1: Track your sobriety time with accurate calculations Step 2: Reflect and acknowledge acceptance Step 3: Record your decision and milestone Step 4: Complete a detailed moral inventory Step 5: Share your Step 4 with a sponsor or trusted person Steps 6 & 7: Record readiness and willingness for change Step 8: Build your amends list Step 9: Track your amends as you make them Step 10: Maintain daily awareness with spot-check inventories Step 11: Complete your nightly review Step 12: Continue carrying the message Everything is guided, organised, and easy to update. SUBSCRIPTION PRICING & TERMS • Annual subscription: $39.99/year • Quarterly subscription: $15.99 • Subscriptions provide unlimited, ad-free access to all premium features • One-time purchases are available for enhanced in-app connections Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage your subscription in Account Settings. Any unused portion of a free trial, if offered, is forfeited when a subscription is purchased. Terms of Use: https://www.12steptoolkit.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.12steptoolkit.com/privacy IMPORTANT NOTICE This app is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Alcoholics Anonymous, AAWS, or any other 12-Step fellowship. “A.A.” and “Alcoholics Anonymous” are trademarks of A
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: AA 12 Step Toolkit at Free against 12 Steps Companion's $2.99. AA 12 Step Toolkit also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (3.6K vs 144). 12 Steps Companion's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and chart position (#5 vs unranked). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and device support 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
AA 12 Step Toolkit is free to download; 12 Steps Companion costs $2.99 up front. AA 12 Step Toolkit sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per 7 days. 12 Steps Companion asks for nothing beyond the download.
AA 12 Step Toolkit holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AA 12 Step Toolkit has 3.6K ratings behind it against 144, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of 12 Steps Companion's written reviews are positive against 63% of AA 12 Step Toolkit's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | 12 Steps Companion | AA 12 Step Toolkit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (144 ratings) | 4.8 (3.6K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 70.8% of reviews — better | 63.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 144 | 3.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid — better | Subscription |
| Best chart rank | #5 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 49 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Dean Huff | Tushar Bhagat |
Customer experience
12 Steps Companion
AA 12 Step Toolkit
User reviews
12 Steps Companion
From 144 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use and navigate
- 📚 Comprehensive AA literature
- 📱 Convenient mobile access
- ✨ Sobriety calculator included
- 🔍 Effective search feature (when working)
Room to improve
- 🐛 Search feature often crashes app
- outdated content (older editions)
- 📚 Missing specific stories/prayers
- 🐛 Data loss after reinstallation/updates
- 🐛 Sobriety calculator inaccuracies
AA 12 Step Toolkit
From 3.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💡 Helpful for recovery
- 👍 Great reference tool
- 🚀 Integral part of recovery
- 👍 Useful for journaling and working steps
Room to improve
- 🐛 Technical issues (app crashes/closes)
- 💰 Expensive subscription
- 🔍 Too many ads/intrusive ads
- 🐛 App not working/crashing
Bugs and requests
12 Steps Companion
Reported bugs
17 issues- Search feature kicks user off the app
- App crashes after using search feature
- Lost bookmarks after deleting and reinstalling
- Lost all data after deleting and reinstalling
- Sobriety counter is off by a day or more
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- Page numbers do not correspond to the printed Big Book
- Table of contents does not list page numbers
- Highlighting a passage sometimes deletes it
- App not working in newer iOS versions
- Sobriety date changes by mistake when changing time zones
- Notes do not save or travel between devices
- Text resizing not working
- Calculator not calculating correctly
- App does not save sobriety date on new installations
- Search by page number not working
- Typographical errors in the text
- Incorrect wording in the 5th Tradition
Requested features
27 requests- Add newer editions of AA literature
- Include specific missing stories (e.g., acceptance prayer, resentment prayer, Dr. Paul's story, Acceptance is the Answer)
- Update preamble and conference-approved material
- Include the 12x12 text
- Add the AA World Service Manual
Show 22 moreShow fewer
- Add the Concepts
- Add push notifications for morning/evening prompts
- Add page numbers to the index
- Make page numbers match the printed Big Book
- Allow text resizing/font adjustment
- Improve notes functionality (saving, syncing, visibility)
- Add different highlight colors
- Allow notes within the text (e.g., word definitions)
- Add the Preface and Forewords from newer editions
- Update the app for current OS versions
- Allow annotation of text with notes
- Enable multitasking feature or disable splash screen
- Add contacts for areas, intergroups, and hotlines
- Include other appendices, specifically the Traditions appendix
- Add Dr. Paul's story from the third edition
- Add the 12x12 book
- Add the 24 book
- Improve the sobriety calculator accuracy and appearance
- Allow multiple, named bookmarks
- Add highlighting feature
- Landscape book reading
- Central office contacts linked to apps
AA 12 Step Toolkit
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes when trying to add sobriety date
- Hourly reminders not working properly
- Login/sync issues
Requested features
3 requests- Ability to change time zone
- Improve sharing/connectivity features
- Reduce ads/make free version more usable
In-app purchases
12 Steps Companion
No in-app purchases
AA 12 Step Toolkit
- Weekly Subscription$1.497 Days
- Quarterly$9.993 Months
- Quarterly Subscription$15.993 Months
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Annual$19.991 Year
- Annual Subscription7 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Annual Subscription$39.991 Year
- 3 Months Sponsee Upgrade$9.99
- 3 Months Unlock For 1 Sponsee$15.99
- 1 Year Unlock For 1 Sponsee$39.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Lifetime Access$99.99
Questions
Is 12 Steps Companion free?
Is AA 12 Step Toolkit free?
Which has better reviews, 12 Steps Companion or AA 12 Step Toolkit?
Do 12 Steps Companion or AA 12 Step Toolkit have ads?
Which is updated more often, 12 Steps Companion or AA 12 Step Toolkit?
Other comparisons















