Portyl vs ChapterWalks
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Portyl
Experience historical sites brought to life with advanced XR and 3D graphics. Walk through ancient cities and witness daily life, citizens, and even animals as they once were. Explore meticulously recreated environments with expert historical consultation.
- Advanced XR high-resolution 3D recreations
- Fully animated creatures and characters
- 18 languages supported
- Full audio support with narration
- Integrated map with navigation
- On-site and off-site XR experiences
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The Portyl app uses state of the art Extended Reality (XR) combined with incredible 3D graphics to recreate historical sites the way they looked thousands of years ago. The magic of Portyl is how precise it places the reconstructed sites over the top of the current ruins enabling tourists to walk around and experience history through their phone/tablet screen. In Rome, for instance, you not only see the reconstructions, but also the citizens, soldiers, war elephants, chariots – the daily life and spectacle that was ancient Rome. For historical accuracy, all portal venues are created under the consultation of prominent Roman Historians and Archeologists. PORTYL FEATURES: • Advanced XR high-resolution 3D recreations • Fully animated creatures and characters • 19 languages currently supported (more languages every month!) • Full Audio support including sound effects and spoken narration • Integrated Map with navigation HOW TO USE PORTYL: • Getting started with Portyl is easy! • After installing the app, tap any location thumbnail and choose a TOUR PASS. Some experiences, such as Largo Argentina, can even be explored for free when you’re off-site. • Before heading out, download the venues you want to explore from the TOURS page. We recommend using Wi-Fi whenever possible. • Use the map to find your way to a Portyl location. Not on-site? No problem - you can still explore the XR recreation from your home, office or hotel. • When you arrive at a supported venue, Portyl will let you know that a Live Experience is available. The location will appear as a large thumbnail on the Live Tours page. • Tap the thumbnail and follow the on-screen instructions. Simply point your device toward the site from wherever you are standing. Portyl’s KAIROS ENGINE will identify your location and the direction you’re facing, usually within just a few seconds. • If KAIROS needs another view, Portyl will simply ask you to point your device in a different direction. • Then you’re ready to STEP INTO THE PAST! MINIMUM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS: Portyl is a geo-located real-time rendered 3d environment. It requires a lot of horsepower! In general the higher-end device you have, the better experience, certainly something less than 5 years old, and a higher-end model. RECOMMENDED: iPhone 11 or newer with at least 4GB RAM PERMISSIONS REQUIRED: • Location: Portyl requires access to your device's location to place you in the virtual world as well as for map navigation. • Microphone: Portyl needs to "hear" your questions for some AI features. • Camera: Portyl needs to "see" where you are in the real world to launch XR scenes and place you in the virtual world.- Data Services: Not a permission, but a requirement for use. WiFi or 5G PERMISSIONS REQUESTED: • Notifications: For instance, notifications when a user comes within 50 km of an available site or when a venue has finished downloading. Occasional app updates, etc. No spamming and incessant notifications. Photos and Videos: As we add features like the Portyl Selfie feature, screenshot sharing, etc.
ChapterWalks
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ChapterWalks makes audio walking tours of places the guidebooks rush. Not the twenty cities every tour app already covers. Roman ruins on an African plain, baroque towns built from stone that carves like wood, a Silk Road city most travel apps have never heard of. Places worth a guided walk that rarely get a good one. HOW IT WORKS Buy a tour, download it, and walk. Each stop plays where you're standing — the app offers the right audio as you reach each place, or you can play any stop manually. Download before you go: the audio and every stop's text need no signal on the walk. WHAT IT COSTS Every tour is $4.99, yours forever. All Tours, Forever is $79.99 — every current and future tour, one payment. No subscription, nothing renews, no ads. Stop 1 of every tour is free, full length, before you pay anything. HOW IT'S MADE The narration is written with AI, fact-checked against published sources claim by claim, and reviewed by a human before release. Every factual claim cites a source you can read in the app. We're open about all of this because we think the tours stand on it. Narration is in English.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: ChapterWalks at every 3 days against Portyl's weekly. Portyl's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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. Portyl sells 12 one-off in-app purchases and ChapterWalks sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Portyl ships an update weekly, ChapterWalks every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Portyl | ChapterWalks |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (11 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 11 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 410 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Histoury | LEANDRO LIGETTA |
In-app purchases
Portyl
- Rome Pass$6.00
- Herculaneum Pass$6.00
- Pompeii Pass$6.00
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- Paestum Pass$6.00
- Espresso Tour$6.00
- Solo Tour$29.00
- Rome Tour$29.00
- Herculaneum Tour$29.00
- Couples Tour$50.00
- Family Tour$95.00
- Super Tourist$149.99
- Maximus Barbarus$179.99
ChapterWalks
- Otranto tour$4.99
- Ronda tour$4.99
- Samarkand tour$4.99
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- Seville tour$4.99
- Volubilis tour$4.99
- Taormina tour$4.99
- Istanbul tour$4.99
- One Tour Credit$4.99
- Istanbul Balat tour$4.99
- All Tours, Forever$79.99









