First Things vs Pelican+
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
First Things
Access insightful articles and essays on religion, public life, and philosophy. Explore diverse perspectives on contemporary issues from a leading research institute. Stay informed with curated content designed to foster informed public discourse.
- Articles on religion and public life
- Essays on philosophy and society
- Diverse perspectives
- Informed public discourse
- Interreligious and nonpartisan content
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First Things is published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life, an interreligious, nonpartisan research and education institute whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society. First Things Pricing: • Subscription 1 Month - USD 2.99* • Subscription 1 Year - USD 24.99* * For non-US app stores, the equivalent currency charges will apply. Please note: App subscriptions do not include access to subscription-only content on our website. Additional Subscription Information: • Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. • No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. Privacy Policy - https://firstthings.com/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use - https://www.backlight.co/legal/mazsystems-outputs-terms • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable.
Pelican+
A faith-safe digital sanctuary for Traditional Catholic families, offering a personalized content library with e-books, audiobooks, and podcasts. It supports Catholic creators and provides trusted media for prayer, learning, and devotion, free from secular ads.
- Personalized content library
- Cross-device progress syncing
- E-book highlighting and note-taking
- Premium podcasts, video blogs, ebooks, audiobooks, articles
- Content for prayer, learning, and devotion
- Films, documentaries, and children's programming (coming soon)
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Pelican+ is a faith-safe digital sanctuary for Traditional Catholic families. Subscribe to get access to account-based features such as a personalized content library, picking up where you left off across devices, and e-book highlighting and note-taking as well as premium media such as podcasts, video blogs, ebooks, audiobooks, and articles to inspire prayer, learning, and devotion. Rooted in Sacred Tradition and free from secular ads or distractions, Pelican+ supports Catholic creators while providing content families can trust. With films, documentaries, and children’s programming coming soon, Pelican+ is growing into the most complete Catholic media experience—bringing beauty, reverence, and truth to your daily life. Terms of service: https://app.pelicanplus.com/legal/terms-of-service Privacy policy: https://app.pelicanplus.com/legal/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pelican+ at 85% against First Things's 39%. Pelican+ also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.9 vs 4.6). First Things's advantage is ratings volume (362 vs 32). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. First Things sells 33 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Pelican+ sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Pelican+ holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: First Things has 362 ratings behind it against 32, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 39% of First Things's written reviews are positive against 85% of Pelican+'s.
First Things ships an update every 4 months, Pelican+ every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | First Things | Pelican+ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (362 ratings) | 4.9 (32 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 39.5% of reviews | 84.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 362 — better | 32 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 33 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | THE INSTITUTE ON RELIGION & PUBLIC LIFE INC | Pious Pelican Media, LLC |
Customer experience
First Things
Pelican+
Bugs and requests
First Things
Reported bugs
19 issues- Login methods not working
- App not updating editions
- Preview pane interferes with reading
- Cuts off bottom of page, black bar on top
- Cannot minimize horizontal scrolling
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- Cannot log in with subscription
- App is nonfunctional after update
- Lost all saved items after update
- App is unusable after update
- Unreadable on iPhone, text size issues
- Not optimized for small screens
- App hides content
- App crashes on startup
- Zoom gets stuck, app freezes
- App freezes when using zoom
- New sash remains after reading
- Swiping pages in landscape mode causes freezing
- App crashes when opening in Newsstand
- App freezes when using zoom
Requested features
19 requests- Allow login with digital subscription username/password
- Fix login methods
- Make table of contents hyperlinked
- Include a Contents menu to see articles before buying
- Fix preview pane issue
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- Allow saving and bookmarking articles
- Improve app navigation
- Allow interaction with text
- Fix app to utilize full screen of newer iPhones
- Make text readable size on iPhone
- Optimize for small screens
- Improve app interface
- Fix zoom issues
- Fix app freezing
- Fix 'new' sash issue
- Allow access to digital subscription on iPad
- Make app professional with links in table of contents/menu
- Allow offline reading of purchased editions
- Fix app to display library of issues
Pelican+
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
First Things
- First Things$2.991 Month
- First Things$24.991 Year
- June/July 2011$0.99
- August/September 2011$0.99
- May 2011$0.99
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- November 2011$0.99
- February 2012$0.99
- March 2012$0.99
- April 2012$0.99
- August/September 2016$4.99
- First Things Feed 48$4.99
- First Things Feed 49$4.99
- First Things Feed 50$4.99
- First Things Feed 51$4.99
- First Things Feed 52$4.99
- First Things Feed 77$4.99
- First Things Feed 76$4.99
- First Things Feed 72$4.99
- First Things Feed 69$4.99
- First Things Feed 67$4.99
- First Things Feed 66$4.99
- First Things Feed 65$4.99
- First Things Feed 54$4.99
- First Things Feed 64$4.99
- First Things Feed 63$4.99
- First Things Feed 62$4.99
- First Things Feed 61$4.99
- First Things Feed 60$4.99
- First Things Feed 59$4.99
- First Things Feed 58$4.99
- First Things Feed 57$4.99
- First Things Feed 56$4.99
- First Things Feed 55$4.99
Pelican+
- Monthly Basic Subscription7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Premium Monthly$19.991 Month
- Basic Yearly7 Days trial$99.991 Year
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- Premium Yearly$199.991 Year
Questions
Is First Things free?
Is Pelican+ free?
Which has better reviews, First Things or Pelican+?
Do First Things or Pelican+ have ads?
Which is updated more often, First Things or Pelican+?
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