Comparison

Ministry Journal vs Epistle

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

Head to head
About

Ministry Journal

Organize your ministry activities with this field service assistant. Track call notes, field service hours, and schedule appointments. Set and monitor personal ministry goals with visual progress tracking.

Highlights
  • Track call notes and contact details
  • Schedule appointment reminders
  • Color-coded calendar events
  • Set and track ministry goals
  • View calls on a map
  • Monthly field service reports
Features
Read full description

Ministry Journal is an application designed for Jehovah’s Witnesses to organize their ministry. It allows users to keep track of call notes and maintain records of their field service activity. Reports View your monthly field service report at a glance Manually update your total number of Bible Studies. Automatically carry forward part hours to the following month. Calendar Schedule appointment reminders for bible studies or return visits. Add alerts to your events to be displayed in the notification Center. Hours, visits, and events color coded for monthly overview. Calls Keep track of your call's contact details, visit notes, placements, and video showings. Pin priority calls to the top of your list. View your calls on a map and your location relative to them. Progress Set monthly and yearly goals for your ministry and track your progress. Visually see how you are doing on your time Review service years as a whole Ministry Journal requires a monthly or yearly subscription for all access that begins at startup. This is to ensure the cost can be covered to maintain this app on the App Store and support future development and improvements. We appreciate all who support the hard work and dedication in developing an app to help publishers and pioneers in their ministry! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Epistle

This app facilitates communication and financial support for missionaries. It allows for easy sharing of ministry updates with photos and videos, automatically sending them to ministry partners who can respond with engagement. It simplifies the process of connecting with supporters and managing ministry outreach.

Highlights
  • Share ministry updates with photos and video
  • Automatic update distribution to partners
  • Ministry partner engagement (likes, prayers, comments)
  • Manage ministry sites
  • Connect with ministry partners
  • Automated email platform
Features
Read full description

Epistle is used by thousands of missionaries to stay connected and funded. It has never been easier to share ministry updates with photos and video. No more hassle with email templates, scheduling, etc. Epistle sends your updates to ministry partners, automatically, using our world-class email platform and gives them the opportunity to respond with likes, prayers and comments. Both missionaries and ministry partners love Epistle: "The greatest thing I could do for my ministry partners." "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Do the two week trial." Supporter: "I feel confident I'm investing well." With paid Epistle subscription you can manage your Epistle site, send updates, and connect with ministry partners. Ministry partners can access Epistle sites to read and respond to your updates without payment. Terms of Use: https://www.epistle.org/terms-of-use/

Screenshots

Ministry Journal4 screens
Epistle4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Epistle at free with in-app purchases against Ministry Journal's subscription. Epistle also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and review sentiment (100% vs 83%). Ministry Journal's advantage is ratings volume (29 vs 9). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Ministry Journal sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Epistle sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Epistle holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 29 and 9 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Ministry Journal's written reviews are positive against 100% of Epistle's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ministry Journal ships an update every 2 weeks, Epistle every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and August 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Ministry Journal versus Epistle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMinistry JournalEpistle
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (29 ratings)5.0 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings29 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB50 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMaurice BrownEpistle LLC

Customer experience

Ministry Journal

All ratings29 ratings
Positive93.1%
Neutral3.4%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%

Epistle

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Ministry Journal

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly1 Month trial$0.991 Month
  • Yearly1 Month trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$14.99
5 purchases

Epistle

Subscriptions5
  • One Epistle Site$17.991 Month
  • Two Epistle Sites$39.991 Month
  • Three Epistle Sites$59.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Four Epistle Sites$79.991 Month
  • Five Epistle Sites$89.991 Month

Questions

Is Ministry Journal free?
Ministry Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Epistle free?
Epistle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ministry Journal or Epistle?
Epistle is rated higher. Ministry Journal averages 4.7 out of 5 from 29 ratings, while Epistle averages 5.0 from 9 ratings.
Do Ministry Journal or Epistle have ads?
Neither Ministry Journal nor Epistle shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ministry Journal or Epistle?
Ministry Journal ships an update every 2 weeks, and Epistle every 3 weeks. Most recently, Ministry Journal was updated on September 9, 2026 and Epistle on August 24, 2026.

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