# Pelican+ vs Refugia

The clearest difference is monetization model: Refugia at freemium against Pelican+'s subscription. Refugia also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (93% vs 85%). Pelican+'s advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Pelican+ sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 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.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Pelican+ against 4.9 for Refugia. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 32 and 35 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 85% of Pelican+'s written reviews are positive against 93% of Refugia's.

Pelican+ ships an update every 2 months, Refugia every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Pelican+ | Refugia |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.9 (32 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pelican-plus/id6753085864/reviews) | [4.9 (35 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/refugia/id6761618169/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 32 | **35** |
| Positive reviews | 84.6% of reviews | **92.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 3 days** |
| Monetization | Subscription | **Freemium** |
| Size | 33 MB | 51 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.1** | 17.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Pious Pelican Media, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1842404761) | [Adrian Lawson](https://appshunter.io/developer/1890478124) |

## What reviewers say

### Pelican+

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pelican-plus/id6753085864)

A faith-safe digital sanctuary for Traditional Catholic families, offering a personalized content library with e-books, audiobooks, and podcasts. It supports Catholic creators and provides trusted media for prayer, learning, and devotion, free from secular ads.

**Highlights:** Personalized content library, Cross-device progress syncing, E-book highlighting and note-taking, Premium podcasts, video blogs, ebooks, audiobooks, articles, Content for prayer, learning, and devotion, Films, documentaries, and children's programming (coming soon)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Basic Subscription | $9.99 | per month |
| Premium Monthly | $19.99 | per month |
| Basic Yearly | $99.99 | per year |
| Premium Yearly | $199.99 | per year |


### Refugia

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/refugia/id6761618169)

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.

**Highlights:** Guided Holy Rosary prayer, Collection of Marian prayers, Faith-based courses and media, Marian feast day notifications, Custom prayer reminders, Spiritual content

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Refugia Premium | $4.99 | per month |
| Scholar | $9.99 | per month |
| Scholar Plus | $14.99 | per month |
| Refugia Premium | $39.99 | per year |
| Scholar Max | $49.99 | per month |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Pelican+ free?

Pelican+ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Refugia free?

Refugia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Pelican+ or Refugia?

Pelican+ and Refugia are both rated 4.9 out of 5 on the App Store, from 32 and 35 ratings respectively.

### Do Pelican+ or Refugia have ads?

Neither Pelican+ nor Refugia shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Pelican+ or Refugia?

Pelican+ ships an update every 2 months, and Refugia every 3 days. Most recently, Pelican+ was updated on September 18, 2026 and Refugia on September 19, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*