Comparison

PARALLEL PLUS Bible vs Matthew Henry Bible Commentary

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

Head to head
About

PARALLEL PLUS Bible

Explore biblical texts with multiple translations side-by-side. Deepen your understanding with integrated Greek and Hebrew word studies, grammatical analysis, and translation tips. Search for verses using keywords across all versions.

Highlights
  • Parallel Bible versions (up to 8 columns)
  • Greek and Hebrew word studies
  • Lexical entries and word families
  • Verse-by-verse exegetical helps
  • Search for verses by keywords
  • Multiple language support
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

The PARALLEL PLUS® Bible-study app is for pastors, lay leaders, and others actively seeking a deeper understanding of the Scriptures. PARALLEL: up to 8 columns, 200+ versions. PLUS Greek and Hebrew word studies (verse lists, unabridged Thayer/BDB/Schleusner, word families). PLUS exegetic helps (parsings, translation tips). Free, install now. EXPERIENCE IT: As you read down the column in one version, when you encounter a verse you'd like to better understand, just move your eyes left-and-right to see how other versions express that verse in its context, and then continue reading the chapter. The idea is to introduce as little eye movement as possible, so you can get into the Scriptures and stay there for a while. BIBLICAL LANGUAGES: See Hebrew and Greek in parallel with other versions. Plus tap any word to lookup the corresponding Hebrew or Greek word and its occurrences. Plus tap any verse to lookup Hebrew or Greek details in a verse: phonetics, parsings, parts of speech, translation tips. GO DEEPER: Tap any word, then tap “word study” to see: verse lists, lexical entries, and word families. Tap any verse, then tap “verse study” to see verse-at-a-time helps: color-coded parts-of-speech, word forms, phonetics, syllables, and translation tips. It also helps you find familiar Bible verses, even when you only remember a few words; enter "God so loved" in the search box and see where that phrase occurs in every Bible version in your parallel Bible. PROTESTANT, CATHOLIC: This app automatically aligns verses—by verse content—and displays corresponding verse numbers when different. COMMENTARY FREE: The act of reading versions in parallel helps readers to understand more deeply. Even without commentary. We feel this is so important that we do not include commentary in our app. LANGUAGES: Biblical Hebrew and Greek plus English, French, German, Hindi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and about 50 others. ABOUT: TheBible.org is a US charitable organization (official name: The Bible Works). Its mission is helping ministers make known Christ; in support of that mission, it develops apps to help people experience more effective Scripture reading. Peter Coad leads his small team in this work. The organization's content partners include Biblica (NIV), Crossway (ESV), Lockman (NASB), and Bible League International. Parallel Plus® is a registered trademark of TheBible.org ©2026 TheBible.org. All rights reserved.

About

Matthew Henry Bible Commentary

Explore the complete Bible verse-by-verse with Matthew Henry's classic commentary, originally written in 1706. This exhaustive work offers practical and devotional insights, making it a valuable resource for understanding scripture.

Highlights
  • Complete Bible commentary
  • Verse-by-verse study
  • Practical and devotional insights
  • Historical religious text
  • Exhaustive explanation
Features
Read full description

Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible Originally written in 1706, Matthew Henry's six volume Complete Commentary provides an exhaustive look at every verse in the Bible. Matthew Henry's well-known six-volume Exposition of the Old and New Testaments (1708–1710) or Complete Commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the Bible. covering the whole of the Old Testament, and the Gospels and Acts in the New Testament. After the author's death, the work was finished (Romans through Revelation) by thirteen other nonconformist ministers, partly based upon notes taken by Henry's hearers, and edited by George Burder and John Hughes in 1811. Henry's commentaries are primarily exegetical, dealing with the scripture text as presented, with his prime intention being explanation, for practical and devotional purposes. While not being a work of textual research, for which Henry recommended Matthew Poole's Synopsis Criticorum, Henry's Exposition gives the result of a critical account of the original as of his time, with practical application. It was considered sensible and stylish, a commentary for devotional purposes. Famous evangelical Protestant preachers such as George Whitefield and Charles Spurgeon used and heartily commended the work, with Whitefield reading it through four times - the last time on his knees. Spurgeon stated, "Every minister ought to read it entirely and carefully through once at least." Henry's reputation rests upon his renowned commentary, An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments (1708-10, known also as Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible). He lived to complete it only as far as to the end of the Acts, but after his death other like-minded authors prepared the remainder from Henry's manuscripts. This work was long celebrated as the best English commentary for devotional purposes and the expanded edition was initially published in 1896. Instead of critical exposition, Henry focuses on practical suggestion, and his commentaries contains rich stores of truths.

Screenshots

PARALLEL PLUS Bible4 screens
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: PARALLEL PLUS Bible at none against Matthew Henry Bible Commentary's shown. PARALLEL PLUS Bible also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 6 months) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for PARALLEL PLUS Bible against 4.9 for Matthew Henry Bible Commentary. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14K and 11K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 98% of PARALLEL PLUS Bible's written reviews are positive against 91% of Matthew Henry Bible Commentary's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PARALLEL PLUS Bible ships an update monthly, Matthew Henry Bible Commentary every 6 months. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
PARALLEL PLUS Bible versus Matthew Henry Bible Commentary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPARALLEL PLUS BibleMatthew Henry Bible Commentary
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (14K ratings)4.9 (11K ratings)
Positive reviews98.1% of reviews — better90.6% of reviews
Number of ratings14K — better11K
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
Best chart rank#187 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.215.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size381 MB120 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperScripture NetworkOleg Shukalovich

Customer experience

PARALLEL PLUS Bible

All ratings14,428 ratings
Positive97.9%
Neutral1.1%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews412 reviews
Positive98.1%
Neutral0.5%
Negative1.5%

Matthew Henry Bible Commentary

All ratings10,685 ratings
Positive98.1%
Neutral1.1%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews235 reviews
Positive90.6%
Neutral4.3%
Negative5.1%

User reviews

PARALLEL PLUS Bible

From 14K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Convenient and powerful
  • 🚀 Excellent way to see what gets added/deleted from KJV
  • 👍 Well done
  • 👍 This Bible App Exceeded My Expectations
  • 👍 Wonderful and easy-to-use app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frustrated with issues when trying to change Bible versions

Matthew Henry Bible Commentary

From 11K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Timely, lasting commentary
  • 👍 Easy to use and understand
  • 👍 Handy to have Bible app
  • 👍 In-depth information
  • 👍 Key to understanding

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional navigation issues
  • 🔋 Ads can be distracting

Bugs and requests

PARALLEL PLUS Bible

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • Tried to change from NASB20 to NASB 95 and everything has gone haywire

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add the Passion translation as another choice
  • Allow highlighting individual words or sections of verses
  • Change the font color to black for better readability

Matthew Henry Bible Commentary

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional freezing or navigation issues
  • Typos and punctuation errors

Requested features

2 requests
  • Ability to bookmark specific verses or sentences
  • Night mode or dark theme option

In-app purchases

None

PARALLEL PLUS Bible

No in-app purchases

None

Matthew Henry Bible Commentary

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PARALLEL PLUS Bible free?
PARALLEL PLUS Bible is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Matthew Henry Bible Commentary free?
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PARALLEL PLUS Bible or Matthew Henry Bible Commentary?
PARALLEL PLUS Bible and Matthew Henry Bible Commentary are both rated 4.9 out of 5 on the App Store, from 14K and 11K ratings respectively.
Do PARALLEL PLUS Bible or Matthew Henry Bible Commentary have ads?
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary shows ads; PARALLEL PLUS Bible does not.
Which is updated more often, PARALLEL PLUS Bible or Matthew Henry Bible Commentary?
PARALLEL PLUS Bible ships an update monthly, and Matthew Henry Bible Commentary every 6 months. Most recently, PARALLEL PLUS Bible was updated on September 24, 2026 and Matthew Henry Bible Commentary on September 24, 2026.

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