Comparison

Dharma Seed vs SRF/YSS

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

Head to head
About

Dharma Seed

Access a vast library of dharma talks and guided meditations. Stream content, download for offline listening, and search by keyword or teacher. Support teachers through donations.

Highlights
  • Stream dharma talks and guided meditations
  • Download talks for offline playback
  • Search talks by keyword and teacher
  • Browse recent talks
  • View previously played talks
  • Support teachers via donations
Read full description

Features: • Stream dharma talks and guided meditations • Download your favorite dharma talks for offline playback • Search talk titles and descriptions by keyword • Browse the most recent talks • Find talks by specific teachers • Search a teacher's talks by keyword • View talks you have previously played • View teacher information • Support teachers with your donations Limitations: • Access to talks using a “retreat code” is not supported. Teachers offer their talks via Dharma Seed with the kind intention of dana, or generosity. These teachings are held to be priceless and made available to anyone who is interested, regardless of financial means. It is our deep wish and the wish of the teachers who offer teachings here that this continue. We also want our meditation teachers and Dharma Seed to thrive and continue their good work! To learn how you can offer support, please go to About - Donate in the app, or visit: https://dharmaseed.org/donate We hope you enjoy the app.

About

SRF/YSS

Explore spiritual teachings and guided meditations based on Paramahansa Yogananda's wisdom. Access digital lessons, audio recordings, and live online meditations to cultivate peace, joy, and a balanced spiritual life.

Highlights
  • Guided meditations
  • Live online meditations
  • Digital SRF/YSS Lessons
  • Audio recordings of Paramahansa Yogananda
  • Video instruction in Energization Exercises
  • SRF/YSS News and Events
Read full description

Experience a life-transforming awakening of the peace, joy, and wisdom of the soul through the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi. The SRF/YSS app is for everyone—whether you are brand new to the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda or have been immersing yourself in this great teacher’s wisdom for decades. It is also for anyone who wants to learn more about meditation, the science of Kriya Yoga, and practical ways to live a spiritually balanced life. Featuring: - Guided Meditations on Peace, Living Fearlessly, God as Light, Expansion of Consciousness, and more — with customizable meditation times from 15 to 45 minutes - Free access to live online meditations - SRF/YSS News and Event Information For those who are students of the SRF/YSS Lessons, the app includes the digital versions of your Lessons along with a rich variety of multimedia content to help you apply the SRF/YSS Kriya Yoga teachings in your daily life. Including: - Audio recordings of Paramahansa Yogananda - Guided meditations and visualizations led by SRF/YSS monastics - Classes on the SRF/YSS meditation techniques - Step-by-step video instruction in the SRF/YSS Energization Exercises If you are an SRF or YSS Lessons student, please use your verified account information to access the Lessons in the app. About SRF/YSS Self-Realization Fellowship and Yogoda Satsanga Society of India are an invitation to the spiritual seeker to journey together on a life-transforming discovery of the soul. This journey embraces the “how-to-live” teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, which embody the highest techniques for realizing who we truly are and show how to bring lasting peace, joy, and love into our lives and into the world. The goal of SRF and YSS is to offer not just a course of philosophical study, but the actual transmission of sacred knowledge through the living words of one of the great spiritual masters of the modern era. Yogoda Satsanga Society of India was founded in 1917 by Paramahansa Yogananda. Self-Realization Fellowship was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920, to spread the teachings of Kriya Yoga worldwide.

Screenshots

Dharma Seed4 screens
SRF/YSS4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SRF/YSS at 4.8 against Dharma Seed's 4.4. SRF/YSS also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 11 months) and ratings volume (392 vs 77). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

SRF/YSS holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SRF/YSS has 392 ratings behind it against 77, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 85% of Dharma Seed's written reviews are positive against 83% of SRF/YSS's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dharma Seed ships an update every 11 months, SRF/YSS every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Dharma Seed versus SRF/YSS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDharma SeedSRF/YSS
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (77 ratings)4.8 (392 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.3% of reviews — better82.8% of reviews
Number of ratings77392 — better
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.114.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB70 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperDharma Seed Tape Library, Inc.Self-Realization Fellowship Church Apps

Customer experience

Dharma Seed

All ratings71 ratings
Positive84.5%
Neutral4.2%
Negative11.3%
Written reviews75 reviews
Positive85.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative8.0%

SRF/YSS

All ratings386 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral1.3%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews116 reviews
Positive82.8%
Neutral6.0%
Negative11.2%

User reviews

Dharma Seed

From 77 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📚 Vast library of talks
  • 💎 Invaluable resource
  • 🙏 Grateful for free content
  • ✨ Wonderful app
  • 💡 Easy to use interface

Room to improve

  • 🐌 Clunky and antiquated interface
  • 🤔 Lacking modern features
  • 📉 No longer opens
  • 🚫 App not loading
  • 🪲 Faulty tech

SRF/YSS

From 392 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Convenient access to lessons
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 🌟 Exceptional content quality
  • 🌍 Global accessibility
  • 🔍 Helpful search and navigation

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and login issues
  • 📱 Limited functionality on mobile devices
  • 🔒 Restrictive access controls
  • 🔋 Requires constant internet connection

Bugs and requests

Dharma Seed

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Never completes install
  • Stalls at 90%
  • Unable to complete app download
  • No longer opens on iPhone
  • App isn't opening at all
Show 7 more
  • Loading bar stalls halfway
  • Great talks, rubbish app
  • App started interrupting itself with network connection error
  • Trouble loading lately
  • Only two talks on history list after update
  • Latest update frequently cuts out sound
  • Can't access older talks due to iOS 7 update

Requested features

22 requests
  • Add a favorite/like button for talks
  • Support for playlists
  • Follow authors/teachers
  • Transcripts
  • Ability to download talks
Show 17 more
  • Access private talks using retreat codes
  • Listen later feature
  • Playlist tab with '+' symbol
  • Ability to reorder playlists
  • View all talks for a retreat
  • Default talks for beginners
  • Direct ways to contribute dana
  • Privacy policy display
  • Offline mode
  • Dark mode
  • 15-second rewind feature
  • Save/favorite meditations for offline listening
  • History tab for listened talks
  • Android version
  • Caching or downloading to phone
  • Rating system for talks
  • Wishlist/later section

SRF/YSS

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Incompatibility with latest iOS updates
  • Unreliable login and authentication
  • Broken lesson access for some users

Requested features

5 requests
  • Offline mode for lessons
  • Landscape mode support
  • Customizable highlighting and note-taking
  • Integrated dictionary
  • Widgets with inspirational content

In-app purchases

None

Dharma Seed

No in-app purchases

None

SRF/YSS

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Dharma Seed free?
Dharma Seed is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SRF/YSS free?
SRF/YSS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Dharma Seed or SRF/YSS?
SRF/YSS is rated higher. Dharma Seed averages 4.4 out of 5 from 77 ratings, while SRF/YSS averages 4.8 from 392 ratings.
Do Dharma Seed or SRF/YSS have ads?
Neither Dharma Seed nor SRF/YSS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dharma Seed or SRF/YSS?
Dharma Seed ships an update every 11 months, and SRF/YSS every 2 months. Most recently, Dharma Seed was updated on September 19, 2026 and SRF/YSS on September 23, 2026.

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