Comparison

Wikipedia vs Wayback Machine

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

Head to head
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/

About

Wayback Machine

Preserve web pages and tweets for the future. Share content directly to the app to archive it, ensuring links remain accessible for decades. Easily share archived URLs across various platforms.

Highlights
  • Archive web pages
  • Archive tweets
  • Share content to archive
  • Generate shareable URLs
  • Long-term preservation
Features
Read full description

Archive Web pages and Tweets to the Wayback Machine! To archive Web pages or Tweets simply "Share" them to this app. From Safari - select the "Share" icon at the bottom of the screen then select this "Wayback Machine" app. From the Twitter app - select the "v" icon at top-right of Tweets, select "Share Tweets via..." then select this "Wayback Machine" app. But first you must add this app to your iOS device's "Share" feature by selecting the Share icon (the up-pointing arrow at the bottom of Safari) then selecting the "..." (More) button and finally adding this app. After you have archived your web pages or Tweets you can confidently share their Wayback Machine URLs via Twitter, Facebook, Email, etc. knowing they will be there for decades to come. Please send bug reports, questions and suggestions to info@archive.org

Screenshots

Wikipedia4 screens
Wayback Machine4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Wikipedia at 4.3 against Wayback Machine's 2.2. Wikipedia also leads on review sentiment (55% vs 16%) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). Wayback Machine's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 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 2.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Wikipedia has 6.3K ratings behind it against 279, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of Wikipedia's written reviews are positive against 16% of Wayback Machine's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Wikipedia ships an update every 2 weeks, Wayback Machine every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Wikipedia versus Wayback Machine: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWikipediaWayback Machine
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (6.3K ratings) — better2.2 (279 ratings)
Positive reviews54.6% of reviews — better15.8% of reviews
Number of ratings6.3K — better279
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#42 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size251 MB15 MB
Age rating9+17+
DeveloperWikimedia FoundationInternet Archive

Customer experience

Wikipedia

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

Wayback Machine

All ratings279 ratings
Positive24.7%
Neutral7.9%
Negative67.4%
Written reviews196 reviews
Positive15.8%
Neutral8.2%
Negative76.0%

User reviews

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

Wayback Machine

From 279 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and reliable archiving
  • 📚 Vast collection of archived content
  • 🔒 Secure and trustworthy platform

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🔍 Unintuitive and difficult to navigate
  • 🔑 Login and account issues
  • 💻 Poor mobile optimization

Bugs and requests

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

Wayback Machine

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login and account creation problems
  • Archiving failures and errors
  • Crashes and freezes when loading content
  • Unresponsive UI elements

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add search functionality
  • Improve back/close navigation
  • Implement offline content access
  • Integrate with other apps and browsers

In-app purchases

None

Wikipedia

No in-app purchases

None

Wayback Machine

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Wikipedia free?
Wikipedia is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Wayback Machine free?
Wayback Machine is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Wikipedia or Wayback Machine?
Wikipedia is rated higher. Wikipedia averages 4.3 out of 5 from 6.3K ratings, while Wayback Machine averages 2.2 from 279 ratings.
Do Wikipedia or Wayback Machine have ads?
Neither Wikipedia nor Wayback Machine shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Wikipedia or Wayback Machine?
Wikipedia ships an update every 2 weeks, and Wayback Machine every 2 months. Most recently, Wikipedia was updated on September 24, 2026 and Wayback Machine on September 23, 2026.

Other comparisons