Dharma Seed vs Elephant Journal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Elephant Journal
Explore mindful living through articles, videos, and podcasts on topics like meditation, relationships, and environmental tips. Engage with content, support authors, and join discussions to foster a sense of community and personal growth.
- Daily Front Page updates
- Browse articles by topic
- Comment and share content
- Heart articles to boost scores
- Follow favorite writers
- Receive notifications
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From Meditation to Relationships, Family to Environmental Tips, Yoga and Meditation to Travel and Recipes—we cover all the issues and topics that matter with a sense of humor and journalistic integrity—cutting through fads and making fun of spiritual materialism. Our app is simple: it’s not here to clutter your life, but to help open it up. Most apps we enjoy fill the gaps in our lives—whether in line or in a waiting room, or at a restaurant waiting for a friend or colleague to return. Elephant offers space and inspiration within this busyness, enabling us to return to our basic goodness with knowledge and empathy. Every day, check our Front Page for uplifted discussions and new articles, videos and podcasts. Then, your reading, hearting, sharing, and commenting directly increase the article's score, helping that author “win,” get paid by our mindful community, and get featured on our Front Page. FRONT PAGE: A clear scrollable display of our community’s favorite articles, timely issues, and editor’s picks. Scroll ’til you find something that inspires you. TOPICS: Browse articles by category (Yoga, Family, Green, Politics, Recipes…), bookmark those you love, and snooze the ones you don’t. NOTIFICATIONS: See if someone replies to your comment, get alerts from writers who you follow, and find our best new articles. SEARCH: Find that article or subject you’re curious about, and see other trending searches HEART: Tap the “heart” icon on your favorite articles to boost their score to help the issue get featured on our Front Page and increase the author’s chances of winning our weekly Ecosystem payout. COMMENT: Join the uplifted discussions happening on each story to increase the article’s score and create mindful community. SHARE: Share your favorite articles with your network, directly from the app. SUBSCRIBE: You can read two articles free, every day—if you want to read unlimited articles, and see fewer ads, you can subscribe for $3/month (billed annually at $36/year). You can cancel your renewal at any time from the Account Settings of your device at least 24 hours before your renewal date. Questions? Feedback? Confused? Contact our Support at: elephantjournal.com/support We respect your Privacy: elephantjournal.com/privacy Elephant’s Terms of Service: elephantjournal.com/terms-of-service/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Dharma Seed at none against Elephant Journal's 4. Elephant Journal's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.4) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 11 months). On price, review sentiment, ads 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. Elephant Journal sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Dharma Seed asks for nothing beyond the download.
Elephant Journal holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Elephant Journal has 14K ratings behind it against 80, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 85% of Dharma Seed's written reviews are positive against 84% of Elephant Journal's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Dharma Seed ships an update every 11 months, Elephant Journal every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Dharma Seed | Elephant Journal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (80 ratings) | 4.9 (14K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.3% of reviews — better | 83.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 80 | 14K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.1 | 26.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Dharma Seed Tape Library, Inc. | Elephant Journal |
Customer experience
Dharma Seed
Elephant Journal
User reviews
Dharma Seed
From 80 App Store ratingsWhat 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
Elephant Journal
From 14K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Nice app
- 🙏 Insightful and inspiring content
- 📚 Diverse range of topics
- 🤗 Thoughtful and engaging articles
- 💡 Valuable resource for personal growth
Room to improve
- 🔒 Restrictive reading limits
- 💰 Expensive subscription
- 🐛 Issues with cancelling subscription
- 🤔 Sudden change in content quality
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
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- 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 moreShow fewer
- 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
Elephant Journal
Reported bugs
3 issues- Subscription cancellation button not working
- Articles not loading properly
- Inconsistent reading limits
Requested features
4 requests- Add dark mode option
- Implement a 'read later' feature
- Improve navigation and article tracking
- Increase free article limits
In-app purchases
Dharma Seed
No in-app purchases
Elephant Journal
- Elephant Monthly$6.991 Month
- Elephant Subscription$35.991 Year
- Article Boost$2.99
- Big Article Boost$9.99
Questions
Is Dharma Seed free?
Is Elephant Journal free?
Which has better reviews, Dharma Seed or Elephant Journal?
Do Dharma Seed or Elephant Journal have ads?
Which is updated more often, Dharma Seed or Elephant Journal?
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