Comparison

Plague Inc. vs Virus Evolution

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

Head to head
About

Plague Inc.

A strategic simulation game where you evolve a deadly pathogen to infect the world and end humanity. Adapt your plague against global defenses and master different disease types to achieve victory. It's a high-stakes battle of strategy against the entire planet.

Highlights
  • Evolve deadly global plagues
  • Adapt against human defenses
  • Master 12 disease types
  • Infect 50+ countries
  • Hundreds of traits to evolve
  • Daily Diseases and Outbreak Mode
Features
Read full description

Can you infect the world? Plague Inc. is a unique mix of high strategy and terrifyingly realistic simulation. Your pathogen has just infected 'Patient Zero'. Now you must bring about the end of human history by evolving a deadly, global Plague whilst adapting against everything humanity can do to defend itself. Brilliantly executed with innovative gameplay and built from the ground up for iPhone & iPad, Plague Inc. evolves the strategy genre and pushes mobile gaming (and you) to new levels. It’s You vs. the world - only the strongest can survive! ◈◈◈ #1 top game globally with well over a billion games played ◈◈◈ Plague Inc. is a global hit with over a million 5 star ratings and features in newspapers such as The Economist, New York Post, Boston Herald, The Guardian and London Metro! The developer of Plague Inc. was invited to speak at the CDC in Atlanta about the disease models inside the game! ▶ “The game creates a compelling world that engages the public on serious public health topics” – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ▶ "Plague Inc: The Cure encapsulates the complexities of a global pandemic response and highlights how crucial international collaboration is needed to address such a threat.” – Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations ▶ “Best Tablet Game” - New York Daily News ▶ “Plague Inc. will snag your attention in all the right ways and keep it there” - Touch Arcade ▶ “No denying Plague Inc.'s high-level of quality” - Modojo ▶ “Plague Inc. should not be as much fun as it is” – London Metro ▶ “Will leave you hoping to destroy the world, all in the name of a bit of fun” – Pocket Lint ▶ “Plague Inc.'s gameplay is infectious” - Slide to Play ▶ Winner – “Overall Game of the Year” – Pocket Gamer ▶ “Killing billions has never been so fun” – IGN ◈◈◈ Features: ● Stunning retina graphics with a highly polished interface (Contagion guaranteed) ● Highly detailed, hyper-realistic world with advanced AI (Outbreak management) ● Comprehensive in-game help and tutorial system (I am Legendarily helpful) ● 12 different disease types with radically different strategies to master (12 Monkeys?) ● Full Save/Load functionality (28 Saves Later!) ● 50+ countries to infect, hundreds of traits to evolve and thousands of world events to adapt to (Pandemic evolved) ● Full game support for scoreboards and achievements ● Expansion updates add the mind controlling Neurax Worm, the zombie producing Necroa Virus, Speed Runs and real life Scenarios! ● Can you save the world? Take control and stop a deadly global plague in our biggest expansion yet! ● Take on Daily Diseases, earn powerful upgrades and compete against the world in Outbreak Mode! Localised in English, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, French, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Russian. (more coming soon) P.S. Give yourself a pat on the back if you got all the themed literature references! Special sale price to celebrate being one of the most popular paid iPhone games ever! ◈◈◈ Like Plague Inc. on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PlagueInc Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NdemicCreations

About

Virus Evolution

Unleash a deadly pathogen and strategically spread a global pandemic. Your goal is to conquer humanity by increasing infection rates and decreasing survival rates. Become the ultimate threat and achieve world domination.

Highlights
  • Spread the virus
  • Start a pandemic
  • Conquer the world
  • Strategic gameplay
  • Increase infection rates
Features
Read full description

Global victory is yours to take! You’ve just invented the perfect plague and now it’s time to put it to the test. Create a world pandemic as you drive the epic war against humanity! Strategy is key as you work to increase the surge in case numbers and watch the survival rate fall. Fight to conquer it all as you become the deadliest threat this universe has ever seen! Life will never be the same again! Virus Evolution 3D Features: - Spread the virus - Start a pandemic - Conquer the world!

Screenshots

Plague Inc.4 screens
Virus Evolution4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Virus Evolution at Free against Plague Inc.'s $0.99. Virus Evolution also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). Plague Inc.'s advantage is review sentiment (76% vs 32%) and ads (none vs shown). On in-app purchases, monetization model 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

Virus Evolution is free to download; Plague Inc. costs $0.99 up front. Plague Inc. sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Virus Evolution sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Plague Inc. holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Plague Inc. has 167K ratings behind it against 866, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Plague Inc.'s written reviews are positive against 32% of Virus Evolution's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Plague Inc. ships an update every 2 months, Virus Evolution monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Plague Inc. versus Virus Evolution: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlague Inc.Virus Evolution
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (167K ratings) — better4.6 (866 ratings)
Positive reviews76.1% of reviews — better32.4% of reviews
Number of ratings167K — better866
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#2 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.3 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size124 MB245 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperNdemic CreationsKwalee Ltd

Customer experience

Plague Inc.

All ratings166,807 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral2.0%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews1,332 reviews
Positive76.1%
Neutral5.1%
Negative18.8%

Virus Evolution

All ratings866 ratings
Positive90.8%
Neutral4.4%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews37 reviews
Positive32.4%
Neutral13.5%
Negative54.1%

User reviews

Plague Inc.

From 167K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Addictive gameplay
  • 🤔 Challenging and thought-provoking
  • 👍 Realistic disease simulation
  • 💡 Unique scenarios and special disease types
  • 🎨 Immersive graphics and audio

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases
  • 🕰️ Slow progression without paying
  • 🐛 Inconsistent game mechanics
  • 🤖 Unrealistic cure development
  • 🤔 Lack of multiplayer mode

Virus Evolution

From 866 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ❤️ Love the game
  • 🎉 Enjoyable to play

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Game freezes/crashes
  • 🚫 Broken/glitched features
  • 🔍 Limited geographical coverage
  • 📺 Too many ads

Bugs and requests

Plague Inc.

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to restore purchased content
  • Glitches with certain disease types
  • Inconsistent DNA point rewards
  • Sudden difficulty spikes on normal mode

Requested features

5 requests
  • Multiplayer mode (player vs player)
  • More realistic cure distribution and development
  • Ability to customize game scenarios
  • Expanded free content without paywall
  • Improved progression for free-to-play users

Virus Evolution

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Game freezes after infecting USA
  • Unable to progress past USA
  • Upgrading/tapping issues

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add support for more countries
  • Fix game freezing/crashing issues
  • Improve geographical coverage

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Plague Inc.

One-time10
  • Unlock Virus$0.99
  • Neurax Worm Expansion Pack$1.99
  • Necroa Virus Expansion Pack$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Simian Flu Expansion Pack$1.99
  • Shadow Plague Expansion Pack$1.99
  • Unlock 7 Standard Plagues$2.99
  • Scenario Pack$2.99
  • Unlock All Genes$7.99
  • Unlock Cheats$9.99
  • Plague Pack$12.99
9 purchases

Virus Evolution

One-time9
  • 100 Lab Points$1.99
  • Remove Ads$2.99
  • 255 Lab Points$4.99
Show 6 more
  • Remove Ads Pack$7.99
  • Double Profits Forever$9.99
  • 1100 Lab Points$19.99
  • Remove Ads VIP$19.99
  • 2700 Lab Points$49.99
  • 5500 Lab Points$99.99

Questions

Is Plague Inc. free?
Plague Inc. costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Virus Evolution free?
Virus Evolution is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Plague Inc. or Virus Evolution?
Plague Inc. is rated higher. Plague Inc. averages 4.8 out of 5 from 167K ratings, while Virus Evolution averages 4.6 from 866 ratings.
Do Plague Inc. or Virus Evolution have ads?
Virus Evolution shows ads; Plague Inc. does not.
Which is updated more often, Plague Inc. or Virus Evolution?
Plague Inc. ships an update every 2 months, and Virus Evolution monthly. Most recently, Plague Inc. was updated on September 24, 2026 and Virus Evolution on September 23, 2026.

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