Comparison

Fathom vs Liminal

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

Head to head
About

Fathom

Explore great thinkers and philosophies with bite-sized lessons. Understand complex ideas with elegant visuals and build a daily habit of learning. Access over 50 learning paths on diverse philosophical topics.

Highlights
  • Daily philosophy habit building
  • Bite-sized lessons (under 2 minutes)
  • Elegant visual explanations
  • 50+ learning paths
  • Save and review insights
  • Set learning goals
Features
Read full description

Fathom is your guide to the world's most great thinkers and philosophies. - Build your foundational knowledge in one of humanity’s original disciplines. From Socrates to Descartes and from Buddhism to Existentialism take the time to truly understand how some of the world’s wisest people think. - Understand complex concepts quickly, with elegant visuals that clarify key ideas and help you stay focused. - Learn on your schedule. Knock out a lesson in two minutes or less, in bite-sized sessions designed to fit into your week no matter what life throws your way. - Set a learning goal and embark on a multi lesson learning paths into specific philosophies and philosophers - Actually refer back to wisdom when you need it most. Save and review the insights and visuals that matter most to you Explore our rapidly expanding catalog, featuring 50+ learning paths such as: -Buddhist Wisdom for Anxious Minds -Socrates and Plato -Aristotle -Hedonism, Cynicism, Stoicism -Utilitarianism and Kantian Ethics -Kant’s Epistemology -Kierkegaard -Feminist Philosophy and Perspectives on Power -Camus ...and much more! -- SUBSCRIPTION PRICING AND TERMS: Fathom offers an auto-renewing yearly subscription and an auto-renewing monthly subscription which allows you full access to all of the content in our catalog for as long as you maintain an active subscription. These prices are for United States customers. Pricing in other countries may vary and actual charges may be converted to your local currency depending on your country. Payment will be charged to the credit card connected to your iTunes account at the time of initial subscription purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current subscription period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period end date, and the cost of the renewal will be listed. You can manage your subscription and auto-renewal can be turned off by going to your Account Settings after the purchase. Read more about our Privacy Policy here: https://tinyurl.com/4a5p4z8b Read more about our Terms of Service here: https://tinyurl.com/xnmcrbvp

About

Liminal

Explore Western philosophy with a comprehensive, self-paced curriculum. Access lessons, philosopher profiles, key terms, and quizzes offline. Learn at your own pace with audio narration and interactive features.

Highlights
  • Comprehensive 4-year philosophy curriculum
  • 104 lessons and 48 philosopher profiles
  • Searchable glossary of 82 key terms
  • Interactive quizzes with explanations
  • Spaced-repetition flashcards
  • On-device audio narration
  • Offline access, no network required
Features
Read full description

Explore Western philosophy through 104 lessons arranged into 23 courses and four year-groupings. Start with philosophical questions and ancient thinkers, then move through medieval, early modern, modern and contemporary thought. Study at your own pace. START WITH 10 FREE LESSONS The first 10 lessons are free. One optional, non-subscription in-app purchase unlocks the remaining 94. The reference and practice features below are available without that purchase. FOLLOW A STRUCTURED PATH Year 1: Foundations and ancient philosophy. Year 2: Medieval and early modern philosophy, including a course on Islamic and Jewish thinkers. Year 3: Modern philosophy, from Kant to pragmatism. Year 4: Contemporary philosophy, including language, mind, ethics, political philosophy and science. READ, QUESTION AND REVIEW - 48 philosopher profiles and an 82-term glossary. - 23 practice quizzes with 319 questions and answer explanations. - 16 thought experiments and 10 branches to explore. - Spaced review of glossary terms. - Search across lessons, courses, profiles and glossary entries. - Bookmarks, personal notes and study-progress views. - Lesson read-aloud using your device's system voice. - Home Screen widgets for a daily philosophical idea, term and thinker. STUDY INTERPRETATIONS WITH REFERENCES Dedicated source cards, daily ideas and profile passages present Liminal's original paraphrases with citations. They are interpretations for study, not verbatim translations of the cited works. READ WITHOUT A CONNECTION Lesson and reference text is bundled for offline reading, subject to the lesson unlock. Buying, restoring, checking changed purchase access and opening external links may require a connection. Narration uses the voices available on your device.

Screenshots

Fathom4 screens
Liminal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Liminal at free against Fathom's subscription. Liminal also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (100% vs 69%). Fathom's advantage is ratings volume (508 vs 5). On price, rating, update cadence 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. Fathom sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Liminal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Fathom against 4.8 for Liminal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Fathom has 508 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 69% of Fathom's written reviews are positive against 100% of Liminal's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fathom ships an update weekly, Liminal every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Fathom versus Liminal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFathomLiminal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (508 ratings)4.8 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews69.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings508 — better5
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 11 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size191 MB5 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperPolywise, Inc.OMAR DANIEL GRAZIANO

Customer experience

Fathom

All ratings503 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral1.8%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews29 reviews
Positive69.0%
Neutral3.4%
Negative27.6%

Liminal

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Fathom

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Unexpected charges during free trial period
  • Potential issues with app functionality and compatibility

Requested features

3 requests
  • Option to customize or revisit philosopher selections
  • More information about the app's algorithm and learning progression
  • Ability to explore a wider range of philosophical perspectives

Liminal

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Fathom

Subscriptions8
  • Monthly Subscription$6.991 Month
  • Premium Monthly Subscription$12.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription (no trial)$49.991 Year
Show 5 more
  • Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Yearly Subscription (Premium)7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Yearly Access Premium No Trial$59.991 Year
  • Yearly Sub Premium No Trial$69.991 Year
  • Yearly Subscription Premium7 Days trial$69.991 Year
1 purchases

Liminal

One-time1
  • Liminal Full Access$9.99

Questions

Is Fathom free?
Fathom is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Liminal free?
Liminal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Fathom or Liminal?
Liminal is rated higher. Fathom averages 4.8 out of 5 from 508 ratings, while Liminal averages 4.8 from 5 ratings.
Do Fathom or Liminal have ads?
Fathom shows ads; Liminal does not.
Which is updated more often, Fathom or Liminal?
Fathom ships an update weekly, and Liminal every 11 days. Most recently, Fathom was updated on October 30, 2026 and Liminal on October 31, 2026.

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