Comparison

Inspirations from Hazelden vs 12 Steps Guide

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

Head to head
About

Inspirations from Hazelden

Daily readings and meditations to support your recovery journey. Access wisdom from popular recovery books, reflect on universal themes, and receive daily reminders. Share messages of encouragement and find comfort and insight.

Highlights
  • Daily readings
  • Bookmarking favorites
  • Searchable content
  • Daily notifications
  • Share readings
  • Light/dark mode
Features
Read full description

Messages of encouragement from Hazelden Publishing’s best-selling books and apps! ‘Inspirations’ is a collection of daily readings to inspire and encourage you on your recovery journey. You’ll find wisdom and advice from beloved recovery mainstays like ‘Twenty-Four Hours a Day,’ ‘The Language of Letting Go,’ ‘Touchstones,’ and ‘The Little Red Book,’ as well as newer titles like ‘Leave No One Behind,’ ‘Tending Dandelions,’ and ‘The 12 Step Prayer Book.’ A different excerpt will be featured each day to read, reflect on, and carry with you wherever you go. Certain readings in this app may address specific populations, but the themes are universal. Whether you are recovering from an addiction to alcohol, other drugs, overeating, codependency, spending, or something else, you will find words of help, comfort, support, and insight. Themes of the readings include spirituality, the Twelve Steps, forgiveness, compromise, reflection, facing fears, sponsors/sponsorship, confidence, powerlessness, and many others. Handy reference lists of the Twelve Steps of AA and the Twelve Traditions of AA are also included. Choose a time for a daily notification reminding you to read, reflect, and meditate on that day’s reading and on your recovery. Open the app anytime you need to refocus. Share the readings with others by text or email. No subscription is required. Features: PRESS the “Today” button to access today’s reading. SWIPE forward or back to easily access more daily readings. SHARE the readings with friends by email or text. BOOKMARK your favorite readings (press the star in the upper right-hand corner) and easily return to them (press the star in the bottom toolbar). SEARCH all readings by keyword. RECEIVE a notification every day to remind you to read the daily message. JUMP to a specific reading using the “Contents” button. SET your font size using your device settings. CHOOSE between light or dark mode.

About

12 Steps Guide

This app provides a comprehensive guide to the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, featuring audiobooks of key recovery tapes and literature. It includes prayers, readings, a sobriety calculator, and the complete Big Book text for a structured recovery journey.

Highlights
  • 12-step program guide
  • Audiobooks of recovery tapes
  • Complete Big Book text
  • Sobriety calculator
  • Included prayers and readings
  • AA literature
Features
Read full description

Work the Twelve Steps one day at a time, with a practical guide to every Step and Tradition, the Big Book and over 90 hours of recovery audio, in one calm, easy-to-read app. THE STEPS AND TRADITIONS - A guide to each of the Twelve Steps, with an introduction and a conclusion, written from personal experience in plain language - A guide to each of the Twelve Traditions - See how far you've read: a quiet percentage while you read, and a tick when you finish THE BIG BOOK - Every chapter, from the Doctor's Opinion to A Vision for You - Personal stories from the first and second editions - Printed page numbers, so you can follow along in a meeting - A clean list of chapters and stories with a tick for each one you've read, and "Continue reading" to pick up where you left off PRAYERS AND READINGS - The Serenity Prayer, the Third, Seventh and Eleventh Step prayers and more - How It Works, the Promises, the Preamble, Just for Today, On Awakening and other readings - Sobriety tips, including how to find a sponsor, and a link to the day's Daily Reflection RECOVERY AUDIO - 138 recordings in 11 albums: Big Book studies, speaker tapes and meditation bells, including Joe and Charlie, Chuck C., Sandy B., Clarence S. and Father Martin - Read along with the transcript of the Joe and Charlie and Big Book recordings - Choose your playback speed, from 0.75× to 2× - Keeps playing with the screen locked, with controls on the lock screen - Premium: download recordings and listen offline YOUR RECOVERY - Count your days from your recovery date. It stays on your phone. - Optional hourly reminders between the times you choose, each with a thought for the hour COMFORTABLE TO READ - Choose your text size; the app also follows your iPhone's text size - Light and dark themes, or follow your iPhone's setting - Designed for iPad too, with readings beside their list FREE, WITH A PREMIUM OPTION Reading and listening are free and supported by adverts. Premium removes the adverts and lets you download recordings for offline listening. Premium is an annual subscription with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when the trial ends, and the subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it in your Apple Account's subscription settings. No account is needed. Your recovery date and your reading stay on your device. Terms of use: https://ibyteapps.com/apps/12-step-guide/terms Privacy policy: https://ibyteapps.com/apps/12-step-guide/privacy 12 Step Guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Alcoholics Anonymous or A.A. World Services, Inc.

Screenshots

Inspirations from Hazelden4 screens
12 Steps Guide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Inspirations from Hazelden at none against 12 Steps Guide's 4. Inspirations from Hazelden also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). 12 Steps Guide's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 10 months). 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. 12 Steps Guide sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per year. Inspirations from Hazelden asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Inspirations from Hazelden against 4.8 for 12 Steps Guide. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.8K and 3.3K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 96% of Inspirations from Hazelden's written reviews are positive against 92% of 12 Steps Guide's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Inspirations from Hazelden ships an update every 10 months, 12 Steps Guide every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Inspirations from Hazelden versus 12 Steps Guide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInspirations from Hazelden12 Steps Guide
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (2.8K ratings) — better4.8 (3.3K ratings)
Positive reviews95.6% of reviews — better92.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2.8K3.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB35 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperBookMobileTushar Bhagat

Customer experience

Inspirations from Hazelden

All ratings2,770 ratings
Positive98.4%
Neutral1.0%
Negative0.6%
Written reviews90 reviews
Positive95.6%
Neutral3.3%
Negative1.1%

12 Steps Guide

All ratings3,299 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral2.0%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews251 reviews
Positive92.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative4.0%

User reviews

Inspirations from Hazelden

From 2.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Great way to explore Hazelden's publications
  • 👍 Super helpful in guiding the day, covers all 12 steps
  • 👍 Amazing selections, easy to save and share
  • 👍 Inspirational and motivating
  • 👍 Part of daily self-care routine

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashing issues
  • 🐛 Boots user out of the app constantly

12 Steps Guide

From 3.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great recovery resource
  • 🚀 Convenient and easy to use
  • 💡 Comprehensive AA literature in one place
  • 🙏 Helpful prayers and daily reflections

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Ads still present after paid upgrade
  • 🤔 Lack of dark mode option
  • 💤 Difficulty retaining information from reading

Bugs and requests

Inspirations from Hazelden

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App crashing
  • Same reading displayed every day

Requested features

2 requests
  • Daily notifications and reminders
  • Ability to copy/paste readings into other apps

12 Steps Guide

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Daily reflections page not working
  • App crashes on older devices

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add sobriety tracker
  • Include 12 & 12 book content
  • Improve bookmarking and page saving

In-app purchases

None

Inspirations from Hazelden

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

12 Steps Guide

Subscriptions1
  • Annual Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time3
  • Donate$2.99
  • Donate$4.99
  • Donate$9.99

Questions

Is Inspirations from Hazelden free?
Inspirations from Hazelden is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is 12 Steps Guide free?
12 Steps Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Inspirations from Hazelden or 12 Steps Guide?
Inspirations from Hazelden is rated higher. Inspirations from Hazelden averages 4.9 out of 5 from 2.8K ratings, while 12 Steps Guide averages 4.8 from 3.3K ratings.
Do Inspirations from Hazelden or 12 Steps Guide have ads?
Neither Inspirations from Hazelden nor 12 Steps Guide shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Inspirations from Hazelden or 12 Steps Guide?
Inspirations from Hazelden ships an update every 10 months, and 12 Steps Guide every 3 months. Most recently, Inspirations from Hazelden was updated on October 30, 2026 and 12 Steps Guide on October 29, 2026.

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