Cécile vs Refugia
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cécile
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The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services. (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 116) With this app you'll learn how to sing gregorian chant even if you can't sing at all. You don't need to know any musical notation, just watch falling blocks and see in real time if you're singing in tune. Improve your pitch control, voice emission and range with a set of simple exercises. Train all melodies of the ordinary parts of the Mass as well as many hymns. Track your progress. Join the community to share experience and sing together. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Refugia
This app guides users through Marian devotion and Catholic prayer, offering tools for praying the Holy Rosary, accessing a collection of Marian prayers, and exploring faith-based courses and media. It also provides notifications for Marian feast days and custom prayer reminders.
- Guided Holy Rosary prayer
- Collection of Marian prayers
- Faith-based courses and media
- Marian feast day notifications
- Custom prayer reminders
- Spiritual content
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Pray, read, listen, and research the Catholic faith in one beautifully designed app. REFUGIA SCHOLAR Go beyond a list of search results. Research Catholic doctrine across Scripture, the Church Fathers, councils, papal documents, the Doctors of the Church, and St. Thomas Aquinas. • Search the Bible, the Fathers, both together, or St. Thomas • Read sources in context through linked citations • Compare Scripture passages across Bible translations • Explore historically ordered primary sources • Generate source-linked research articles and save them for later • Build guided reading plans, track progress, and resume where you stopped • Copy, share, or export your research with citations • Report irrelevant results so research quality keeps improving PRAYER AND DAILY DEVOTION • Pray all four sets of Rosary mysteries with guided meditations • Build a personal Rule of Life for prayer, Scripture, and spiritual reading • Follow novenas and traditional Catholic prayers with optional reminders • Keep a prayer streak and see your progress across home and Lock Screen widgets • Practice prayers with interactive memorization activities SCRIPTURE, CLASSICS, AND AUDIO • Read the Bible and compare multiple translations • Read the Church Fathers, councils, papal writings, and spiritual classics • Listen with text-to-speech or available recorded audio • Create custom audio playlists and continue across chapters • Follow focused reading challenges and daily plans Refugia is free to begin. Refugia Premium unlocks the complete library and additional prayer, media, and listening features. Scholar subscriptions unlock the full research workspace and their included monthly research credits. Available features and pricing are shown clearly before purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled and can be managed through your Apple account. Privacy Policy: https://refugia.download/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Cécile at 15.6 against Refugia's 17.6. 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. Cécile sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Refugia sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Cécile ships an update every 11 days, Refugia every 6 days. Both last shipped on October 28, 2026.
| Parameter | Cécile | Refugia |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.9 (37 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 93.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 37 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 63 MB | 143 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Bartlomiej Szypelow | Adrian Lawson |
In-app purchases
Cécile
- Premium$4.991 Month
- Premium$49.991 Year
Refugia
- Refugia Premium$4.991 Month
- Scholar$9.991 Month
- Scholar Plus$14.991 Month
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- Refugia Premium$39.991 Year
- Scholar Max$49.991 Month






