dhammapada vs Plain Dharma
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
dhammapada
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Dhammapada Comics brings the Buddha's most beloved teachings to life through hand-illustrated artwork. The Dhammapada is a collection of 423 short verses traditionally attributed to the Buddha ā one of the most widely read Buddhist texts in the world. This app pairs each verse with a comic illustration to make ancient wisdom approachable, beautiful, and easy to reflect on. WHAT'S INSIDE ⢠423 verses across 26 chapters of the Dhammapada ⢠Original Pali source text and English translation for every verse ⢠Traditional commentaries and stories (Atthakatha) explaining the context behind each teaching ⢠Hand-illustrated comic for each verse ⢠Pinch-to-zoom comic viewer for detailed reading ⢠Smooth chapter and verse navigation THOUGHTFUL DESIGN ⢠Clean, distraction-free reading experience ⢠Light and dark mode support ⢠Optimized for both iPhone and iPad ⢠No accounts, no tracking, no ads CONTENT CREDIT Verse translations and accompanying stories are sourced from tipitaka.net, with deep gratitude to the volunteers who maintain that resource. Whether you're new to Buddhist philosophy or a longtime student, Dhammapada Comics offers a peaceful daily companion for reflection on the path of mindfulness, ethics, and wisdom.
Plain Dharma
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Plain Dharma offers the six foundational teachings of the Buddha in plain modern English ā free, and dedicated to the public domain. These are the discourses at the root of the whole tradition: the first talk in the deer park, the teaching on not-self, the fire sermon, loving-kindness, the foundations of mindfulness, and how to decide what to believe. They're rendered for a first-time reader who'd rather understand than wade through footnotes ā the structure, the repetitions, and the key images are kept; the archaic English is stripped away. ⢠Read all six in about an hour ⢠Listen to the narrated audiobook ⢠Highlight passages and keep private notes ā with an optional account to sync across your devices ⢠Also available in Simplified Chinese ⢠No ads, no tracking, nothing to buy Everything here ā the text, the audio, and the art ā is CC0 / public domain. Copy it, print it, translate it, remix it, share it freely. A small gift, offered in the spirit of the dharma.
Screenshots
Verdict
dhammapada and Plain Dharma are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters ā price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them ā neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | dhammapada | Plain Dharma |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | ā | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod ā better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 ā better | 16.4 |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 113 MB | 60 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dhawal Gajwe | Flexbike, Inc. |
In-app purchases
dhammapada
No in-app purchases
Plain Dharma
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is dhammapada free?
Is Plain Dharma free?
Do dhammapada or Plain Dharma have ads?
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