Comparison

Devmaxx vs System Design Refresher

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

Head to head
About

Devmaxx

This app provides a daily system design question to help software engineers master essential skills for interviews and career growth. It offers clear explanations, linked resources, and a private community for learning and practice.

Highlights
  • Daily system design questions
  • Clear explanations and answer breakdowns
  • Linked learning resources
  • Access to previous questions
  • Private developer community
  • Progress tracking
Features
Read full description

System design is becoming one of the most important skills for software engineers. Many companies now require a dedicated system design interview, and your career growth often depends on your ability to design large-scale systems. Devmaxx gives you one focused system design question every day across databases, infrastructure, APIs, theory, and product to help you learn these skills and stay sharp. Each question takes about two minutes, and includes a resource to learn more about the subject. What you’ll get:
 • A new system design question daily
 • Clear explanations for every answer
 • Breakdown of the correct answer
 • Access to previous questions
 • Linked resources to go deeper
 • Access to a private community of developers learning and building the same things as you • Progress tracking to monitor growth If you’re preparing for interviews, this builds daily momentum. If you’re already working as an engineer, this keeps your fundamentals sharp. Open the app. Answer one question. Land the offer. * All features described above require a subscription Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

System Design Refresher

Features
Read full description

System Design Refresher is a free study companion for software engineers preparing for system design interviews. WHAT'S INSIDE • 30+ system design articles covering distributed systems, databases, caching, and more • Engineering blogs from top tech companies (Google, Meta, Stripe, Airbnb, and more) aggregated in one place • AI-powered flashcards with spaced repetition • Ask AI to summarize or explain any article in plain language • Favorites, reading progress tracking, and custom RSS feeds FEATURES • Works offline — articles download for reading without internet • Dark mode, font customization, and text size controls • Face ID / Touch ID lock for privacy • Sign in with Google or Apple, or use as a guest with no account required

Screenshots

Devmaxx4 screens
System Design Refresher4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: System Design Refresher at none against Devmaxx's 2. Devmaxx's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly) and iOS requirement (17.5 vs 26.2). On price, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Devmaxx sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. System Design Refresher asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Devmaxx ships an update every 2 weeks, System Design Refresher monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Devmaxx versus System Design Refresher: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDevmaxxSystem Design Refresher
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (495 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews20.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings495 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscription—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.5 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB18 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperArjay McCandless LLCSaurabh Sharma

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Devmaxx

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Devmaxx Subscription7 Days trial$8.991 Month
  • Annual Devmaxx Subscription7 Days trial$59.991 Year
None

System Design Refresher

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Devmaxx free?
Devmaxx is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is System Design Refresher free?
System Design Refresher is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Devmaxx or System Design Refresher have ads?
Neither Devmaxx nor System Design Refresher shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Devmaxx or System Design Refresher?
Devmaxx ships an update every 2 weeks, and System Design Refresher monthly. Most recently, Devmaxx was updated on September 26, 2026 and System Design Refresher on September 12, 2026.

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