Comparison

Dharma Seed vs Elephant Journal

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

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.

Highlights
  • Daily Front Page updates
  • Browse articles by topic
  • Comment and share content
  • Heart articles to boost scores
  • Follow favorite writers
  • Receive notifications
Features
Read full description

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

Dharma Seed4 screens
Elephant Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Dharma Seed versus Elephant Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDharma SeedElephant Journal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (80 ratings)4.9 (14K ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.3% of reviews — better83.7% of reviews
Number of ratings8014K — better
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.126.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB7 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperDharma Seed Tape Library, Inc.Elephant Journal

Customer experience

Dharma Seed

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

Elephant Journal

All ratings14,205 ratings
Positive97.5%
Neutral1.5%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews98 reviews
Positive83.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative13.3%

User reviews

Dharma Seed

From 80 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

Elephant Journal

From 14K App Store ratings

What 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
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

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

None

Dharma Seed

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Elephant Journal

Subscriptions2
  • Elephant Monthly$6.991 Month
  • Elephant Subscription$35.991 Year
One-time2
  • Article Boost$2.99
  • Big Article Boost$9.99

Questions

Is Dharma Seed free?
Dharma Seed is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Elephant Journal free?
Elephant Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Dharma Seed or Elephant Journal?
Elephant Journal is rated higher. Dharma Seed averages 4.4 out of 5 from 80 ratings, while Elephant Journal averages 4.9 from 14K ratings.
Do Dharma Seed or Elephant Journal have ads?
Neither Dharma Seed nor Elephant Journal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dharma Seed or Elephant Journal?
Dharma Seed ships an update every 11 months, and Elephant Journal every 3 weeks. Most recently, Dharma Seed was updated on October 26, 2026 and Elephant Journal on October 31, 2026.

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