The Beyond vs Absorb
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Beyond
Explore a cosmic adventure through romance, piracy, and death in this interactive comic. Make choices that shape your unique story, with hundreds of possible paths. Features full audio accessibility for an immersive experience.
- Interactive storytelling
- Multiple branching paths
- Cosmic adventure themes
- Redesigned infinite scroll canvas
- Full audio accessibility (VoiceOver)
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THE BEYOND: an interactive comic by Jason Shiga Your death was a tragedy... your afterlife is a mystery. Unravel the secrets of death with the help of Xochitl, your guide. Can you find your way through the doors of the great library of the Beyond? THE BEYOND is not an ordinary comic. YOU make the choices that determine how the story unfolds. THE BEYOND splits off into hundreds of different adventures. - A cosmic adventure through romance, piracy, and death. - Completely redesigned by the author for an infinite scrollable canvas. - Full audio accessibility with VoiceOver; every panel and choice can be spoken.
Absorb
This app provides a streamlined mobile experience for listening to audiobooks and podcasts from your self-hosted media server. Enjoy features like offline playback, chapter navigation, and listening statistics. It's a free, open-source solution with no ads or data collection.
- Offline listening
- Chapter navigation
- Sleep timer
- Playback speed control
- Home screen widgets
- Listening statistics
- CarPlay support
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Absorb is a free, open source audiobook and podcast player built for Audiobookshelf, a self-hosted media server for your personal book library. Connect to your own Audiobookshelf server and enjoy your audiobook collection with a clean, polished mobile experience built specifically for iOS. Features: Stream or download books for offline listening Full playback controls with chapter navigation, sleep timer, and playback speed Home screen widgets for quick playback controls Listening stats and streaks to track your progress Bookmarks with notes Series tracking and discovery Light and dark mode CarPlay support And much more!!! Absorb is built by a solo developer and is completely free with no ads, no subscriptions, and no data collection. Your library stays between you and your server. Requires a self-hosted Audiobookshelf server. Visit audiobookshelf.org to learn more.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Absorb at Free against The Beyond's $3.99. Absorb also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 10 months) and ratings volume (181 vs 1). On rating, ads, in-app purchases 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
Absorb is free to download; The Beyond costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for The Beyond against 4.9 for Absorb. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Absorb has 181 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
The Beyond ships an update every 10 months, Absorb every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Beyond | Absorb |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.9 (181 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 97.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 181 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 65 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Zarfhome Software Consulting | Nathan Poulson |
Customer experience
The Beyond
Absorb
In-app purchases
The Beyond
No in-app purchases
Absorb
No in-app purchases
