Comparison

Small Surah vs Critica

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

Head to head
About

Small Surah

This Islamic app provides 13 essential Surahs from the Holy Quran for daily prayers. It features Arabic text with diacritics, Bengali and English transliterations, and audio recitation for each Surah. The app boasts a clean and elegant design.

Highlights
  • 13 essential Surahs
  • Arabic text with diacritics
  • Bengali transliteration
  • English transliteration
  • Audio recitation
  • Clean design
Features
Read full description

Small Surah is a beautifully designed Islamic app that brings you the most commonly recited Surahs of the Holy Quran. FEATURES: - 13 essential Surahs for daily prayers - Arabic text with full diacritics - Bengali transliteration & pronunciation - English transliteration - Audio recitation for every Surah - Clean, elegant design SURAHS INCLUDED: - Surah Al-Fatiha - Surah Al-Falaq - Surah An-Naas - Surah Al-Ikhlas - Surah Al-Kauthar - Surah Al-Lahab - Surah An-Nasr - Surah Al-Kafirun - Surah Al-Quraish - Surah Al-Fil - Surah Al-Asr - Surah Al-Qadr - Surah Al-Maun Perfect for Muslims who want to memorize and recite Surahs correctly in their daily prayers. May Allah accept your prayers. Ameen.

About

Critica

This app provides critical annotations for Islamic texts, including the Quran, Hadith, Sira, Fiqh, and Tafsir. It flags and explains issues like violence, misogyny, and historical errors, citing specific sources for verification. Designed for readers seeking a deeper, critical understanding of Islamic tradition.

Highlights
  • Annotated Quran (Meccan/Medinan)
  • Six Sunni & Twelver Shia Hadith collections
  • Event-based biography of Muhammad (Sira)
  • Classical jurisprudence (Fiqh) on contested topics
  • Major classical Tafsir commentaries
  • Source citation for every claim
  • Filterable flags for critical issues
Features
Read full description

Critica is a critical-edition reference covering the full primary sourcebase of Islam across five tabs: • QURAN — All 114 surahs, grouped Meccan / Medinan, with section-by-section annotations. • HADITH — The six Sunni books (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, Ibn Majah) and the Twelver Shia al-Kafi, with the most consequential and most-cited narrations. • SIRA — Muhammad's biography by event cluster — Mecca, Hijra, Badr, Uhud, the Jewish-tribe encounters, Khaybar, the conquest of Mecca, the Farewell Sermon. • FIQH — Classical jurisprudence on contested topics across the four Sunni madhabs (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali) and the Twelver Ja'fari school: apostasy, marriage age, hudud, polygamy, jizya, FGM, and more. • TAFSIR — Major classical exegetes (Tabari, Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi, Razi, Tabarsi, Zamakhshari) with their distinctive readings of famous verses. Every flag is sourced. Each section cites a specific ayah (Q surah:verse), a hadith number (Bukhari 5134), a sira page (Ibn Hisham 2:240), or a madhab manual (al-Mughni 9:486) so a curious reader can verify the claim in any translation. The eleven flag categories: • Violence • Misogyny • Slavery • Hostility to unbelievers • Anti-LGBTQ teaching • Harm to children • Scientific errors • Historical errors • Contradictions • Moral problems • Logical issues Filter by flag to focus on one kind of issue at a time. Tap any flag to expand its full annotation. The reading level is middle-school to high-school. The tone is editorial, not polemical — the reader assumed throughout is someone who was told the tradition was perfect and noticed otherwise, and wants substantive engagement with what mainstream critical scholarship has actually said. SOURCES Patricia Crone, Michael Cook, John Wansbrough, Gerd-R. Puin, Christoph Luxenberg, Tom Holland, Robert G. Hoyland, Fred Donner, Joseph Schacht, G.H.A. Juynboll, Ignaz Goldziher, Jonathan Brown, Wael Hallaq, Ibn Warraq, and the Skeptic's Annotated Quran. Classical sources cited directly include the Six Books of Sunni hadith, al-Kafi, Ibn Hisham's recension of Ibn Ishaq, al-Tabari's history, and the classical tafsirs of Tabari, Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi, Razi, Tabarsi, and Zamakhshari. Critica is the Islamic-tradition companion to Decanon (the same critical-edition treatment applied to the Protestant Bible).

Screenshots

Small Surah4 screens
Critica4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Critica at 5.0 against Small Surah's 1.0. Critica also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.2). Small Surah's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly). On price, ratings volume 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. Critica sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Small Surah asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Critica holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Small Surah ships an update fortnightly, Critica monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Small Surah versus Critica: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmall SurahCritica
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterMonthly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.217.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB19 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperAbul Kalam SekhOMAR DANIEL GRAZIANO

Customer experience

Small Surah

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Critica

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Small Surah

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Critica

One-time1
  • Full Access$9.99

Questions

Is Small Surah free?
Small Surah is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Critica free?
Critica is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Small Surah or Critica?
Critica is rated higher. Small Surah averages 1.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Critica averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Small Surah or Critica have ads?
Small Surah shows ads; Critica does not.
Which is updated more often, Small Surah or Critica?
Small Surah ships an update fortnightly, and Critica monthly. Most recently, Small Surah was updated on October 21, 2026 and Critica on October 25, 2026.

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