TED Talks vs Academia.edu
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TED Talks
Access thousands of inspiring and informative videos on a wide range of topics. Get personalized recommendations, watch with subtitles in over 100 languages, and download content for offline viewing. Stay curious and informed with this educational resource.
- Personalized recommendations
- Subtitles in over 100 languages
- Browse by topic or curator picks
- Stream to Apple TV with AirPlay
- Download videos for offline viewing
- Watchlist for later
- Surprise Me! feature
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Get personalized recommendations that match your unique interests, or browse TED’s library of thousands of inspiring, informative, transformational videos for free. Features on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch: ・Sign in to get personalized recommendations and sync videos across all your devices ・Watch videos with subtitles in over 100 languages ・Check out the newest and trending videos, browse by topic, or select from our curators’ picks ・Stream videos to your Apple TV with AirPlay ・Download videos to watch offline ・Add talks your list to watch later ・Toggle between dark mode or light modes ・Get instant inspiration with the “Surprise Me!” feature Get the TED app to stay curious, informed and inspired.
Academia.edu
Access a vast library of open-access research papers on your mobile device. Discover new studies, track mentions and readership of your work, and connect with fellow scholars. Explore millions of academic papers on diverse topics.
- Discover and read research
- Save research papers
- Track mentions and readership
- Search scholarly topics
- Connect with scholars
- View colleague activity
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Get the world’s largest open access library in your pocket with the Academia mobile app. Use the app to: - Discover, read and save new research - See who has mentioned you in their work. - See who is reading you papers and profiles. - Search for scholarly research on thousands of topics. - Find and connect with like-minded scholars - See what friends and colleagues are working on Academia.edu has over 23 million academic papers to explore from by millions of researchers around the world. Download the app to access your Academia.edu account whenever and wherever your curiosity strikes. __ Academia.edu Terms of Use: https://www.academia.edu/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: TED Talks at none against Academia.edu's 3. Academia.edu's advantage is review sentiment (74% vs 44%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). On price, ratings volume, 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. Academia.edu sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. TED Talks asks for nothing beyond the download.
Academia.edu holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10K and 17K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 44% of TED Talks's written reviews are positive against 74% of Academia.edu's.
TED Talks ships an update fortnightly, Academia.edu every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TED Talks | Academia.edu |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (10K ratings) | 4.8 (17K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 43.7% of reviews | 73.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 10K | 17K — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 165 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TED Conferences LLC | Academia.edu |
Customer experience
TED Talks
Academia.edu
User reviews
TED Talks
From 10K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great content
- 👍 Inspiring and thought-provoking
- 📚 Variety of topics
- 🎧 Convenient for listening on the go
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and unstable
- 🔍 Poor search functionality
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🔇 Audio/video playback issues
- 📥 Download feature not working as expected
Academia.edu
From 17K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Helpful for research and learning
- 📚 Comprehensive academic resources
- 🔍 Useful for finding relevant papers
- 🌐 Connects researchers globally
- 💡 Innovative academic platform
Room to improve
- 💰 Sudden price increase for Premium
- 🔍 Unintuitive search and navigation
- 🔒 Sign-in issues and frequent log-outs
- 📤 Unwanted notifications and emails
- 🔍 Difficult to access full papers without subscription
Bugs and requests
TED Talks
Reported bugs
5 issues- App crashes frequently
- Videos fail to load or play
- Saved talks disappear from user's list
- Syncing issues with user accounts
- Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to create and manage playlists
- Implement background audio playback
- Improve Chromecast support
- Add more customization options (e.g., video playback speed, dark mode)
- Enhance discoverability of new and relevant content
Academia.edu
Reported bugs
3 issues- PDF files not loading properly
- Crashing and freezing issues
- Inconsistent behavior across platforms
Requested features
5 requests- Landscape mode support
- Improved search and filtering options
- Ability to bookmark and organize papers
- Better integration with other research tools
- More transparent pricing and subscription options
In-app purchases
TED Talks
No in-app purchases
Academia.edu
- Academia Premium - Monthly$9.991 Month
- Academia Premium - Annual$98.991 Year
- Academia Premium - Annual7 Days trial$98.991 Year
