Comparison

wikiHow vs Wikipedia

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

Head to head
About

wikiHow

Access over 150,000 step-by-step guides on virtually any topic. Learn new skills through articles, photos, illustrations, and videos. Includes a Survival Kit for offline emergency preparedness.

Highlights
  • 150,000+ how-to articles
  • Step-by-step instructions
  • Photos and illustrations
  • Helpful videos
  • Offline access
  • Survival Kit emergency guides
Features
Read full description

The wikiHow app gives you over 150,000 how-to guides right in the palm of your hand. Learn how to do anything from wikiHow, the world’s leading how-to guide. Read or watch step-by-step instructions on every imaginable topic. Become the DIY master of anything, instantly. With the wikiHow for iPhone app you can: *Search over 150,000 articles on wikiHow *Bookmark articles to read and use later, even while offline *View step-by-step photos and illustrations in retina display to help you learn how to do anything *Watch helpful videos that accompany many articles *Read wikiHow’s featured articles of the day *Browse random articles for your entertainment Also in the wikiHow app you’ll find the Survival Kit, a collection of emergency situation guides every person should have stored on their devices. Emergency guides to do CPR, provide first aid, or perform the Heimlich maneuver could save a life. The app even contains guides to land an airplane in an emergency or escape from a bear. All Survival Kit articles are stored for offline use so you won’t need internet service to access them. How useful is the wikiHow app? This is what others are saying: “Indispensable” – MacWorld “Always helpful” – USA Today “Arguably the best how-to guide to everything” – Appolicious

About

Wikipedia

Access the world's largest free knowledge base with over 60 million articles in nearly 300 languages. Explore trending topics, save articles for offline reading, and customize your reading experience with various themes and text sizes. Contribute to the community by editing articles and participating in discussions.

Highlights
  • Ad-free and free knowledge access
  • 60+ million articles in 300+ languages
  • Personalized trending news feed
  • Offline article saving
  • Customizable reading themes and text size
  • Map-based location discovery
  • Article discussion and contribution tools
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

The official Wikipedia app for iOS helps you explore the world’s largest free knowledge project — ad-free and free of charge, forever. With 60+ million articles in nearly 300 languages, your favorite encyclopedia is always at your fingertips. Why you’ll love this app Free, open, and ad-free Wikipedia is written and verified by volunteers worldwide, supported by the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation. No ads, no tracking — just knowledge you can trust. Search smarter, discover more Find the information you need without distraction. Search across 300 languages, explore trending and breaking news through a personalized feed. Add knowledge to your Home Screen Use widgets for quick access to trending articles, featured content, or the “Picture of the Day,” right from your Home Screen. Read your way Choose from light, sepia, dark, or pure black themes. Adjust text size and image dimming for comfortable reading anytime, anywhere. Explore nearby places Learn about landmarks and locations near you — or places you dream of visiting — through map-based article discovery. Stay connected offline Save articles to custom reading lists and access them offline — perfect for travel or learning without internet access. Share and continue seamlessly Share articles and images with friends, or use Handoff to keep reading across your Apple devices. Get insights into your activity See your own reading and contribution activity on Wikipedia with personalized insights that help you understand and celebrate how you use engage with Wikipedia. Stay organized with tabs Open multiple articles in tabs and switch between them with ease, just like in a browser. Compare topics, keep your place, and dive deeper without losing track. Join the conversation Read and reply to article discussion pages, and get notifications when discussions you follow are updated. Contribute on the go Manage your Watchlist to help keep Wikipedia accurate and up to date. Additional Information Feedback: In the app, go to Settings → Send app feedback. Contribute to translations: https://translatewiki.net/wiki/Translating:WikimediaMobile Source code: https://github.com/wikimedia/apps-ios-wikipedia Privacy Policy: https://m.wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_policy Terms of Use: https://m.wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Terms_of_Use About the Wikimedia Foundation: https://wikimediafoundation.org/

Screenshots

wikiHow3 screens
Wikipedia4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Wikipedia at every 2 weeks against wikiHow's every 3 months. Wikipedia also leads on ratings volume (6.3K vs 414) and rating (4.3 vs 4.1). wikiHow's advantage is review sentiment (68% vs 55%) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 17.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Wikipedia holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Wikipedia has 6.3K ratings behind it against 414, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 68% of wikiHow's written reviews are positive against 55% of Wikipedia's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

wikiHow ships an update every 3 months, Wikipedia every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
wikiHow versus Wikipedia: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterwikiHowWikipedia
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (414 ratings)4.3 (6.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.0% of reviews — better54.6% of reviews
Number of ratings4146.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank—#41 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS9.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB251 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperwikiHow, Inc.Wikimedia Foundation

Customer experience

wikiHow

All ratings414 ratings
Positive75.1%
Neutral8.5%
Negative16.4%
Written reviews306 reviews
Positive68.0%
Neutral12.1%
Negative19.9%

Wikipedia

All ratings6,259 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral4.5%
Negative13.1%
Written reviews890 reviews
Positive54.6%
Neutral11.3%
Negative34.0%

User reviews

wikiHow

From 414 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Helpful
  • 🔒 Useful
  • 👍 Convenient
  • 👍 Informative
  • 👍 Awesome

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Search issues
  • 🐛 Crashes
  • 🐛 Bugs
  • 🔋 High battery usage
  • 🌐 Only in English

Wikipedia

From 6.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Vast information repository
  • 👍 Customizable reading experience
  • 🚀 Convenient offline access
  • 👍 Reliable and trustworthy content
  • 👍 Excellent app design and UI

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and freezes
  • 🔋 High data usage and battery drain
  • 🔒 Concerns about political bias and censorship
  • 🔒 Unreliable editing process and information accuracy

Bugs and requests

wikiHow

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Search bar disappearing
  • Bookmarks not saving
  • Crashes on certain articles

Requested features

6 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Bookmark management
  • Categories/browsing
  • Multilingual support
  • Account creation
Show 1 more
  • Download/offline access

Wikipedia

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Unresponsive save button
  • Duplicate saved articles issue
  • Broken search functionality
  • Landscape mode rendering problems
  • Syncing issues with offline content

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add tabs for multi-article browsing
  • Implement a forward navigation button
  • Improve saved articles management
  • Integrate text-to-speech functionality
  • Provide more granular content filtering options

In-app purchases

None

wikiHow

No in-app purchases

None

Wikipedia

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is wikiHow free?
wikiHow is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Wikipedia free?
Wikipedia is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, wikiHow or Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is rated higher. wikiHow averages 4.1 out of 5 from 414 ratings, while Wikipedia averages 4.3 from 6.3K ratings.
Do wikiHow or Wikipedia have ads?
Neither wikiHow nor Wikipedia shows ads.
Which is updated more often, wikiHow or Wikipedia?
wikiHow ships an update every 3 months, and Wikipedia every 2 weeks. Most recently, wikiHow was updated on September 22, 2026 and Wikipedia on September 24, 2026.

Other comparisons