Comparison

LDOCE vs Merriam

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

Head to head
About

LDOCE

This comprehensive English dictionary app offers an extensive vocabulary of over 230,000 words and phrases, with integrated thesaurus and collocations. It provides real-world examples, pronunciation guides, and grammar notes to enhance fluency and accuracy for advanced learners.

Highlights
  • 230,000+ words, phrases, and meanings
  • Integrated Thesaurus and Collocations Dictionary
  • 165,000+ real-world example sentences
  • Pronunciation files in UK & US accents
  • Grammar and warning notes
  • AI Teacher for ESL students
  • Flashcards and Word-of-the-Day
Features
Read full description

More features than any other dictionary app available! And the most "connected" dictionary app on iOS -plays nice with more third-party dictionaries and apps than anyone else. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - For Advanced Learners © Longman's flagship learner’s dictionary is now available as an iOS application. Improve your fluency in English with the most up-to-date learner's dictionary at your fingertips. Now with integrated Thesaurus and Collocations Dictionary. Dictionary details: ● 230,000 words, phrases, and meanings - more than any other learner's dictionary ● 165,000 examples based on real, natural English from the Longman Corpus Network show how English is really used ● 10,000 encyclopedic entries -people and places. ● 5,000 verb conjugation tables. ● graphics and videos to explain meanings at a glance. ● Clear definitions written using only 2,000 common words. ● Most frequent 3,000 words in spoken & written English, highlighted to show which are the most important to know ● Register Notes focus on the differences between spoken and written English. ● The Academic Word List is highlighted to help you improve your essays and presentations. ● Grammar and warning notes ensure that you avoid the most common errors. ● Integrated Collocations Dictionary. Over 80,000 collocations will improve your fluency. ● Integrated Thesaurus. Over 20,000 synonyms, antonyms, and related words will improve your vocabulary range. ● 86,000 pronunciation files —all headwords in both UK & US accents. PLUS ● another 86,000 recorded example sentences (via external links due to size) Over 20GB of audio online! Making this the largest resource of English available on ANY mobile platform! ________________________________________ Application Features: ● full contents of the print dictionary - PLUS additional collocations, synonyms & word histories ● complete front matter and additional resources ● unique three-way cross-referencing search ● real-time progressing look-up ● wildcard pattern searches -with * ? ● online search backup for rare words and slang ● spelling suggestion dictionary included ● hyperlinking directly to meanings & appendices ● example sentence search ● search on idioms and phrasal verbs ● search on synonym and "sign-post" meanings ● an "AI Teacher" for deeper explanations or help for ESL students in 98 languages ● Bookmarks with folders and editable notations ● Bookmark syncing across devices via iCloud ● automatic history listing ● Flashcards to test yourself ● Teacher's resources in PDF for printing or email ● "Word-of-the-Day" sets including TOEIC® & TOEFL® ● "Today" widget for finding new words ● "Share" extension​ to search inside other apps ● another extension​ to search from a second device or SplitView ● search from other applications via a public API ● iPad Pro multi-screen and Drag & Drop ● DarkMode & 3D Touch support ● OS-independent app localization ● Apple Intelligence & Siri support ● Dyslexic mode and VoiceOver support ● Supports iOS 12 through to iOS 27 ● iPhone, iPod, iPad and macOS support ● complete offline use ___________________ Social Media: ● supports Facebook, Twitter, Sina Weibo & Evernote posts. ● Full layout for definition emails and Evernote posts. ________________________________________ The ultimate learner's resource of the English language for use anywhere and anytime. Copyright: Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English © Pearson Education Limited 2009, 2011, 2015

About

Merriam

Access America's leading dictionary with over 15,000 extra entries for people and places. Enjoy offline access, voice search, and daily vocabulary builders. This app offers expert word guidance with a thesaurus and example sentences.

Highlights
  • Ad-free experience
  • 15,000+ premium entries
  • Offline dictionary access
  • Voice search functionality
  • Daily Word of the Day
  • Vocabulary-building word games
  • Integrated thesaurus
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Get America's most useful and respected dictionary, optimized for your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Continuously updated with the newest words and meanings, this is the premier iOS app for English language reference, education, and vocabulary building. Key Features: * No ads! * Premium Content: Over 15,000 additional entries covering people and places * Offline access: Complete access to definitions and synonyms whether or not you're connected * Voice Search: look up a word without having to spell it * Word of the Day: learn a new word every day * Word Games: fun, fast quizzes to test your vocabulary * Favorite Words and Search History: keep track of the words that are most important to you * Favorite Word Syncing Through iCloud: share your favorites between devices and on the Web * For Tablets: browse the entire dictionary with a scrolling index * Apple Watch Extension: see the Word of the Day and find watch-sized definitions with voice search Expert Word Guidance: * Integrated Thesaurus: more than 200,000 word choices with examples of their use * Example Sentences: understand how a word is used in context * Audio Pronunciations: voiced by real English speakers, not text-to-speech robots Terms of Use: https://www.merriam-webster.com/terms-of-use

Screenshots

LDOCE4 screens
Merriam4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Merriam at $9.99 against LDOCE's $24.99. Merriam also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (22K vs 369). LDOCE's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 5 months). On rating, ads, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

LDOCE costs $24.99 and Merriam $9.99 up front. LDOCE sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Merriam asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for LDOCE against 4.8 for Merriam. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Merriam has 22K ratings behind it against 369, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of LDOCE's written reviews are positive against 82% of Merriam's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

LDOCE ships an update every 6 weeks, Merriam every 5 months. Both last shipped on October 26, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
LDOCE versus Merriam: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLDOCEMerriam
Price$24.99$9.99 — better
Rating4.8 (369 ratings)4.8 (22K ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.9% of reviews82.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings36922K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank—#11 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size1.3 GB238 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperEnfour, Inc.Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Customer experience

LDOCE

All ratings369 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral3.0%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews350 reviews
Positive66.9%
Neutral10.6%
Negative22.6%

Merriam

All ratings22,135 ratings
Positive97.5%
Neutral1.2%
Negative1.2%
Written reviews517 reviews
Positive82.0%
Neutral6.2%
Negative11.8%

User reviews

LDOCE

From 369 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Comprehensive dictionary
  • 🔊 Good audio quality
  • 📚 Extensive example sentences
  • 🔖 Useful bookmark system
  • 🌐 Supports both US and UK pronunciations

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent malfunctions and bugs
  • 🚫 App not working after iOS updates
  • 🔍 Search issues (e.g., blank results)
  • 🤯 Frustrating customer support
  • 💾 Unreliable bookmarking and data loss

Merriam

From 22K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Clear and intuitive layout
  • 🚀 Convenient offline access
  • 🔍 Comprehensive word definitions
  • 🔠 Helpful thesaurus and word games
  • 🔊 Useful audio pronunciations

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app freezes and crashes
  • ⚠️ Missing words and incomplete definitions
  • 🔍 Lack of spell-check and word suggestions
  • 🔍 Limited search functionality
  • 🔀 Difficulty navigating back to previous words

Bugs and requests

LDOCE

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes after iOS 17 update
  • Search results always blank after update
  • Bookmarks deleted after updates
  • App not working on certain devices/iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add hotkey/shortcut to jump to search box
  • Integrate with iOS Shortcuts app
  • Improve thesaurus and word relationships
  • Add vocabulary training/quiz features
  • Allow importing/exporting of bookmarks

Merriam

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App freezes and crashes on launch
  • Audio pronunciations not working in some cases
  • Inconsistent performance across iOS versions
  • Syncing issues between devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved search with spell-check and suggestions
  • Ability to mark and review words
  • Integration with system search and Siri
  • Support for landscape mode and dark mode
  • Expanded word coverage and more detailed definitions

In-app purchases

3 purchases

LDOCE

One-time3
  • Example sentence search activationFree
  • Example Sounds download activation$0.99
  • Longman Activator Thesaurus$7.99
None

Merriam

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is LDOCE free?
LDOCE costs $24.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Merriam free?
Merriam costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, LDOCE or Merriam?
Merriam is rated higher. LDOCE averages 4.8 out of 5 from 369 ratings, while Merriam averages 4.8 from 22K ratings.
Do LDOCE or Merriam have ads?
Neither LDOCE nor Merriam shows ads.
Which is updated more often, LDOCE or Merriam?
LDOCE ships an update every 6 weeks, and Merriam every 5 months. Most recently, LDOCE was updated on October 26, 2026 and Merriam on October 26, 2026.

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