Comparison

SURVIVALOS vs GridDown

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

Head to head
About

SURVIVALOS

Features
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First aid, SOS signals and outdoor preparation, ready on your phone. Use the guides and core tools without a connection. No account needed. Core emergency features stay free. WHEN YOU NEED HELP โ€ข Hold for a full-screen SOS signal with flashing light and whistle sound. โ€ข Share a location card with coordinates, elevation, accuracy and time. On supported devices, send it by text message; mobile service is required. โ€ข Follow 21 illustrated first-aid guides and share the steps as a card. Guides for life-threatening emergencies, CPR Metronome, SOS, Survival Whistle, Compass and emergency medicines are free. โ€ข Find emergency numbers for 249 countries and regions, with the local number selected using available location and region settings. MEDICINES, WITH THEIR SOURCES The Medication Guide covers 45 medicines with information from official medicine labels. Adult and child instructions are separate. It does not calculate a dose for you. Check the country and source shown: some entries use a label from another country when a local version is unavailable. A Pharmacy card shows a medicine's name, brand names and availability for supported destinations, ready to show a pharmacist. It contains no dose instructions. PREPARE BEFORE YOU GO โ€ข Share a Trip plan: where you're going, your route and when you expect to return. Local reminders prompt you to check in. Contacts are not notified automatically. โ€ข Keep a Medicine kit and receive expiry reminders 30 days before and on the expiry date, with notification permission. โ€ข Read 211 condition entries, 95 survival articles and 159 plant entries. โ€ข Use 28 tools, including GPS Coordinates, Map & Waypoints, Water Timer, Knot Guide and Supply Checklist. Some tools and library content require Pro. MADE FOR THE FIELD The Horizon sky follows the sun at your location, with automatic red light at night. The Classic tactical theme remains available. Wide windows on iPad and iPhone Duo use two panes. OFFLINE AND PRIVACY Guides, medicine labels, sun and moon calculations, GPS positions, waypoints and tracks work offline. Map imagery needs a connection. Optional Apple Weather also needs a connection and uses your location; turn it off during setup or in Me, under Settings, with the Apple Weather switch. Your kit, contacts and trip plan stay on your device unless you choose to share them. No account or advertising tracking. SURVIVALOS Pro is a one-time purchase for the full toolkit and reference libraries. No subscription. Core emergency features stay free. Medical and plant information is for reference only. It does not replace a doctor, emergency services or expert plant identification.

About

GridDown

Features
Read full description

GridDown is your personal emergency preparedness and survival planning app. Build your survival team, organize essential supplies, save bug-out locations, create emergency plans, and know exactly where to go when normal systems are unavailable. BUILD YOUR SURVIVAL TEAM Create your trusted emergency network and assign members to important roles including Leadership, Security, Medical, Food & Water, Shelter, Communications, and Morale. Add skills, contact information, notes, photos, and saved locations for each member. PLAN YOUR BUG-OUT LOCATIONS Save multiple bug-out destinations, rally points, supply locations, and other important places. Choose your primary destination and use Apple Maps to view locations and navigate when needed. TRACK FOOD & WATER Build an inventory of emergency food, water, and long-term storage items. Organize quantities, expiration dates, storage locations, and preparedness goals. ORGANIZE YOUR SUPPLIES Track medical supplies, power equipment, lighting, communications gear, tools, fuel, clothing, hygiene products, vehicle equipment, and other essentials. BUILD GO BAGS Create individual emergency bags for yourself, family members, vehicles, or specialized purposes. Use checklists to quickly see what is ready and what is missing. CREATE EMERGENCY PLANS Prepare plans for power outages, severe storms, evacuations, extended grid failures, communication outages, and other emergencies. Create rally points, assign responsibilities, and organize the actions your team should take. SEE YOUR READINESS GridDown brings your preparedness information together into a simple dashboard so you can quickly identify missing team roles, supplies, locations, and planning tasks. MAP YOUR PLAN View team member locations, bug-out destinations, rally points, medical locations, supply caches, and other important places using Apple Maps. OFFLINE-FIRST & PRIVATE Emergency information shouldn't depend on an internet connection or an online account. GridDown is designed around locally stored preparedness information so your essential plans remain available on your device. Whether you're preparing for a storm, extended power outage, evacuation, natural disaster, or simply want your family better organized, GridDown gives you one place to build your plan before you need it. Know your people. Know your supplies. Know where you're going. Be ready with GridDown.

Screenshots

SURVIVALOS4 screens
GridDown4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SURVIVALOS at Free against GridDown's $2.99. SURVIVALOS also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 6 months) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.5). GridDown's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

SURVIVALOS is free to download; GridDown costs $2.99 up front. SURVIVALOS sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. GridDown asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SURVIVALOS ships an update every 6 weeks, GridDown every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences ยท 2 level
SURVIVALOS versus GridDown: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSURVIVALOSGridDown
PriceFree โ€” better$2.99
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks โ€” betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 โ€” better26.5
Further details โ€” not scored
Size34 MB6 MB
Age rating17+4+
Developerwu zhaodongYOURFULLSTACK, LLC

In-app purchases

1 purchases

SURVIVALOS

One-time1
  • SURVIVALOS Pro$6.99
None

GridDown

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SURVIVALOS free?
SURVIVALOS is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is GridDown free?
GridDown costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do SURVIVALOS or GridDown have ads?
Neither SURVIVALOS nor GridDown shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SURVIVALOS or GridDown?
SURVIVALOS ships an update every 6 weeks, and GridDown every 6 months. Most recently, SURVIVALOS was updated on November 5, 2026 and GridDown on November 10, 2026.

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