Comparison

Sanctus vs Cephas

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

Head to head
About

Sanctus

This app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for traditional Catholic devotion. It includes a Latin Mass guide, Holy Rosary tracker, prayers, scripture readings, a liturgical calendar, and saint biographies, all accessible offline.

Highlights
  • Traditional Latin Mass guide
  • Holy Rosary with bead tracking
  • 100+ traditional prayers
  • 1962 liturgical calendar
  • Saints of the day
  • Offline support
Features
Read full description

Sanctus is a complete companion for the traditional Catholic life. Pray the Holy Rosary, follow the 1962 liturgical calendar, meditate with the saints, study scripture, and grow in devotion — all in one beautifully crafted app, fully offline. FEATURES • Traditional Latin Mass guide with side-by-side English and Latin translations • The complete Holy Rosary with mystery rotations and bead tracking • 100+ traditional prayers in English and Latin with audio recitation • Daily Mass readings from the Douay-Rheims Bible • 1962 liturgical calendar with feast days, fasts, and ember days • Saints of the day with feast and biographical detail • Novenas and litanies with guided sequences • Meditation library: chants, homilies, devotions, and lectio divina • Audiobook library from LibriVox (Imitation of Christ and more) • Latin vocab trainer with spaced repetition • Daily and feast-specific notification reminders • Confession tracker, examination of conscience, and adoration scheduling • Full offline support — your devotional life works anywhere Sanctus is built for those who love the Church's traditional liturgy and patrimony. Every prayer, every reading, and every chant is rooted in centuries of Catholic tradition. ABOUT THE CONTENT Scripture is the public-domain Douay-Rheims Bible. Audiobook recordings come from LibriVox (public domain). Liturgical texts follow the 1962 Roman Missal and Breviary. No analytics. No tracking. No data collection — see our privacy policy for details.

About

Cephas

Explore the New Testament chronologically with daily Catholic readings, historical context, and curated Christian art. Delve into the story of the Church's inheritance and the voices of its commentators. This app offers a contemplative reading experience for serious Christian study.

Highlights
  • Linear New Testament narrative
  • Daily Catholic liturgical readings
  • Paired Christian art masterpieces
  • Historical context and timelines
  • Modules on Church inheritance (saints, apparitions)
  • Commentary from Church Doctors and historians
  • Art commentary essays
Features
Read full description

The New Testament is the most important story in human history. But it's difficult to piece together from the snippets included in daily and weekly readings. Cephas changes that. It tells the New Testament story in a linear way — from the Annunciation to the death of Saint John the Evangelist — with the seriousness and depth that the history deserves. Every day, Cephas presents the readings from the Catholic liturgical calendar - the same readings heard at Mass that morning, and in Catholic parishes on every continent. The Sunday Gospel, the daily readings of Lent and Advent, the proper feasts and the ordinary days. The full liturgical year, faithful to the Lectionary, available to read at your own pace. In addition to the daily reader, Cephas offers Christians the deeper story. The Story of the New Testament. One hundred and forty-four moments, from the world Christ was born into through the Acts of the Apostles, organized into ten movements. Each moment is paired with a great work of Christian art — Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Ghirlandaio, Mantegna, the masters who interpreted the Gospel for the centuries that followed. Each moment is tied to its place on the map, its date in history, and the figures who lived it. The Inheritance. The story did not end with the New Testament. Cephas's Inheritance modules tell what came after - the saints, the apparitions, and the devotions that carried the Gospel across two thousand years. Three modules are included at launch: Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), Our Lady of Guadalupe, and The Sacred Heart Devotion. Each is roughly an hour and a half of serious reading, with curated public-domain art and the careful attention these subjects deserve. New modules will be added periodically. Voices and the Witness. For readers who want to go deeper, the optional Voices and Witness layer adds the Doctors of the Church and the great Christian commentators beside each moment: Athanasius on the Temptation, Aquinas on the Eucharist, Newman on the conversion of Saint Paul. The Witness adds non-Christian historical sources - Tacitus, Josephus, Pliny the Younger - that attest to the New Testament's events from outside the Christian tradition. Art Commentary. One hundred and thirty-one homily-style essays on the great paintings of the New Testament. Not museum captions, but reflections on what each painting sees in the Gospel. One purchase, yours for life. No subscription. Family Sharing included. Apple manages your purchases. Cephas is built for the Christian reader who wants to read New Testament seriously, with the art, the voices, and the inheritance the Church has carried for centuries. Hand-curated editorial work, public-domain art with verified provenance, and a quiet reader designed for contemplation rather than scroll. The Faith has a story. Cephas was built for you to learn that story through text, art, and historical context. No celebrity narrators and no music swells; just the work itself.

Screenshots

Sanctus4 screens
Cephas4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Cephas at 5.0 against Sanctus's 3.0. Cephas also leads on update cadence (daily vs fortnightly). Sanctus's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 8). On price, ratings volume, ads and monetization model 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. Cephas sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Sanctus asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cephas holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sanctus ships an update fortnightly, Cephas daily. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Sanctus versus Cephas: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSanctusCephas
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings22
Update frequencyFortnightlyDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB129 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShark Belly Industries, LLCJEFFREY DANIEL LESSARD

In-app purchases

None

Sanctus

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

Cephas

One-time8
  • Padre Pio$4.99
  • Our Lady of Guadalupe$4.99
  • The Sacred Heart Devotion$4.99
Show 5 more
  • Art Discount$9.99
  • Art Commentary Discount$9.99
  • Voices and Witness$14.99
  • Art Commentary$14.99
  • Voices and Witness + Art Bundle$24.99

Questions

Is Sanctus free?
Sanctus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cephas free?
Cephas is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sanctus or Cephas?
Cephas is rated higher. Sanctus averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Cephas averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Sanctus or Cephas have ads?
Neither Sanctus nor Cephas shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sanctus or Cephas?
Sanctus ships an update fortnightly, and Cephas daily. Most recently, Sanctus was updated on October 24, 2026 and Cephas on October 14, 2026.

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