theCHIVE vs R2
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
theCHIVE
Discover a daily stream of amusing photos and videos curated for lighthearted entertainment. This app offers a unique blend of humor, visually appealing content, and heartwarming stories, providing a happy escape from daily life without politics or news.
- Daily dose of amusing photos and videos
- Mix of humor, hotness, and humanity
- Happy escape content
- No politics or snarky humor
- No news, purely entertainment
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theCHIVE App is the most-downloaded humor app in iOS history. The content variety is a unique mix of Humor, Hotness, and Humanity. No long-winded articles, just your daily dose of the most amusing photos and videos the internet has to offer. - Content curated to be a happy escape - No politics or snarky humor - A little cleavage never hurt anybody - No news! We're here to entertain not inform For more information and to access our Terms of Use, please visit http://www.chivemediagroup.com/legal/terms/
R2
Experience Reddit with enhanced browsing features. Enjoy large image previews and faster GIF loading through cloud transcoding, optimizing data usage.
- Browse any subreddit
- Large image previews
- Faster GIF loading
- Cloud transcoding for GIFs
- Optimized data usage
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R2 is how people will browse Reddit in the future. • Browse any subreddit • Large image previews • Faster gif loading — GIFs are transcoded to MP4 in the cloud and sent to your device using much less data
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: theCHIVE at 4.6 against R2's 4.0. theCHIVE also leads on update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (168K vs 6). R2's advantage is review sentiment (57% vs 21%) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). On price 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
Both are free to download. theCHIVE sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. R2 asks for nothing beyond the download.
theCHIVE holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: theCHIVE has 168K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 21% of theCHIVE's written reviews are positive against 57% of R2's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
theCHIVE ships an update every 4 weeks, R2 every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | theCHIVE | R2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (168K ratings) — better | 4.0 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 21.0% of reviews | 57.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 168K — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 45 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Chive Media Group, LLC | James Parrott |
Customer experience
theCHIVE
R2
Bugs and requests
theCHIVE
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes and freezes
- Redirects to App Store or other sites
- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
Requested features
3 requests- Reduce ads or offer ad-free option
- Improve app stability and performance
- Restore previous app functionality
R2
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
theCHIVE
- Support$4.991 Month
- Monthly$6.991 Month
- Yearly$69.991 Year
R2
No in-app purchases
