Wikipedia vs Wiki Search
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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/
Wiki Search
Access and search the full text of Wikipedia and its sister projects. This app allows for more comprehensive keyword searches and displays multiple articles simultaneously, offering a unique experience compared to the web version.
- Full text search of Wikipedia
- Searches sister projects (Wiktionary, Wikisource, etc.)
- Displays multiple articles
- Bookmark articles
- View search history
- Random article display
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WikiSearch makes it easy to search and browse Wikipedia and other Wikimedia services. Choose a service and language to quickly access knowledge from around the world. Save interesting pages as bookmarks and easily return to previously viewed pages through your browsing history. Key features: • Search Wikipedia and other Wikimedia services • Search articles in a wide range of languages • Browse concise search-result summaries • Read pages in the built-in browser • Translate and share the page you are viewing • Open pages in an external browser • Manage bookmarks and browsing history • Reorder, back up, and restore bookmarks • Discover new pages with random search • Customize search-result, bookmark, and history limits • Dark Mode support From everyday research to unexpected discoveries, WikiSearch brings the vast world of Wikimedia knowledge closer to you.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Wiki Search at 4.8 against Wikipedia's 4.3. Wikipedia's advantage is ratings volume (6.3K vs 8) and chart position (#40 vs unranked). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Wiki Search holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Wikipedia has 6.3K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 55% of Wikipedia's written reviews are positive against 50% of Wiki Search'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 weeks. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Wikipedia | Wiki Search |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (6.3K ratings) | 4.8 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 54.6% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6.3K — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #40 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 251 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Wikimedia Foundation | KAZUYUKI TAJIMA |
Customer experience
Wikipedia
Wiki Search
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
Wiki Search
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Wikipedia
No in-app purchases
Wiki Search
No in-app purchases









