The Catholic Thing vs SPI Catholic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Catholic Thing
This app provides a platform for thoughtful Catholic commentary and discussion. It serves as a forum for intelligent perspectives on faith and culture. Access insightful articles and engage with a community of Catholic thinkers.
- Intelligent Catholic commentary
- Forum for discussion
- Faith and culture perspectives
- Insightful articles
- Community engagement
Read full descriptionHide full description
The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary.
SPI Catholic
This app fosters a devoted community of missionary disciples and stewards of creation, guided by Catholic teachings. It focuses on hospitality, prayer, formation, and service to live out the discipleship and stewardship way of life.
- Missionary disciple community
- Stewardship of creation
- Four Pillars: Hospitality, Prayer, Formation, Service
- Catholic teachings and scripture
- Faith-based community building
Read full descriptionHide full description
Our mission is to build a fervent community of intentional and dedicated missionary disciples of the Risen Lord and steadfast stewards of God’s creation who seek to become saints. Accordingly, the community of Catholic faithful in this diocese is committed to the discipleship and stewardship way of life as commanded by Christ Our Savior and as revealed by Sacred Scripture and Tradition. To further this mission, the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois is committed to implementing the Four Pillars of Discipleship and Stewardship, namely: Hospitality, Prayer, Formation, and Service
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: SPI Catholic at 5.0 against The Catholic Thing's 4.3. The Catholic Thing's advantage is ratings volume (23 vs 2) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SPI Catholic holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Catholic Thing has 23 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
The Catholic Thing ships an update every 9 months, SPI Catholic every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Catholic Thing | SPI Catholic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (23 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 23 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 6 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Slynet Communications, Inc | The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois Trustee Corporation |
Customer experience
The Catholic Thing
SPI Catholic
In-app purchases
The Catholic Thing
No in-app purchases
SPI Catholic
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Catholic Thing free?
Is SPI Catholic free?
Which has better reviews, The Catholic Thing or SPI Catholic?
Do The Catholic Thing or SPI Catholic have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Catholic Thing or SPI Catholic?
Other comparisons
