Comparison

Aethel Idle vs Valenor

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

Head to head
About

Aethel Idle

Embark on a long-term fantasy idle RPG adventure with 21 distinct skills to master. Progress even when the app is closed, engage in combat with multiple styles, and explore a world filled with lore and challenges. Trade with other players and join clans for a rich multiplayer experience.

Highlights
  • 21 unique skills to master
  • Idle progression while offline
  • Deep combat system with gear ladders
  • Player-driven marketplace
  • Clan and friend system
  • Extensive world exploration
Features
Read full description

Aethel Idle is a fantasy idle RPG about the long haul. Pick a skill, start working, and keep making progress — while you watch, and while the app is closed. There is no energy bar, no timer telling you to come back tomorrow, and no ads. TWENTY-ONE SKILLS Chop, mine, fish and hunt. Cook, smith, craft, fletch and brew. Grow crops, bind runes, pick locks. Every skill has its own screen, its own recipes and its own mastery to deepen — and they feed each other, so the ore you mine becomes the sword you fight with. FIGHT YOUR WAY Melee, ranged and magic each have a full gear ladder, and enemies have weaknesses worth exploiting. Save equipment loadouts and let the game swap to the right one automatically. Raise an altar and earn Devotion for blessings that turn a losing fight around. A WORLD WITH SOMETHING IN IT 16 open combat regions and 20 dungeons, from a quiet overgrown common to places that have gone very wrong. 240 creatures to learn and kill. 65 quests that tell a story about what happened to this world, rather than just handing you a checklist. Take contracts from the hunters' lodge for targets and rewards you won't find elsewhere. PROGRESS WHILE YOU'RE AWAY Close the app and your character keeps working. Come back to a pile of logs, ore or loot. This isn't an estimate — the game replays the time you were gone, tick by tick, so what you earn is exactly what you would have earned watching. PLAY TOGETHER, OR DON'T Found or join a clan, chat with your members, and build an emblem. Add friends and message them. Climb the hiscores and compare any skill against every other player, then dig into anyone's profile to see how they got there. Or ignore all of it — nothing here needs another person. BUILT TO RESPECT YOU No ads. No pop-ups begging you to rate it. Seventeen in-game guide books that tell you how things actually work instead of hiding it in a wiki. Optional reminders when something finishes. Your progress is saved to our servers, so it follows you between devices. Aethel Idle is in active development and we ship updates constantly. There's a Community tab in-game with the changelog and player polls, because the people playing it should get a say in where it goes.

About

Valenor

An old-school idle MMORPG with deep systems and challenging content. Progress skills, gather loot, and trade in a player-driven market, even when offline. Forge your own path with diverse playstyles and modes.

Highlights
  • 19 interconnected skills
  • AFK progress
  • Player market
  • Quests and achievements
  • Gear upgrades and enchanting
  • Ironman mode
Features
Read full description

Valenor is the old-school MMORPG that respects your time but brings challenging content when you want to dive deep. 19 skills and growing. All interconnected. Deep systems. Tons of loot. Progress that keeps going even when you aren't playing. Build a fighter, a skiller, a market flipper, an ironman, or forge your own path. There's no right way to play. What’s in the game • 19 skills - combat, gathering, crafting, and more • AFK progress - keep training while you’re away • Player market - buy, sell, and make profit • Quests, achievements, and collection logs • Hunter contracts and world bosses • Gear upgrades, enchanting, and pet training • Guilds, friends, and leaderboards • Ironman mode for a tougher run Play hard when you’re free. Progress when you’re not. Join the growing world of Valenor! Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Aethel Idle4 screens
Valenor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Aethel Idle at free against Valenor's freemium. Aethel Idle also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 83%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Valenor's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Aethel Idle sells 7 one-off in-app purchases and Valenor sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Aethel Idle holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17 and 34 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Aethel Idle's written reviews are positive against 83% of Valenor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Aethel Idle ships an update every 2 weeks, Valenor every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Aethel Idle versus Valenor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAethel IdleValenor
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (17 ratings) — better4.8 (34 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better83.3% of reviews
Number of ratings1734 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size94 MB2 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperJoshua CoonceGrant Lindeman

Customer experience

Aethel Idle

All ratings15 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Valenor

All ratings14 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Aethel Idle

One-time7
  • Handful of Crowns$0.99
  • Adventurer's Bundle$3.99
  • Pouch of Crowns$4.99
Show 4 more
  • Chest of Crowns$9.99
  • Founder's Pack$9.99
  • Vault of Crowns$19.99
  • Royal Hoard$49.99
5 purchases

Valenor

Subscriptions2
  • Membership Monthly Sub$4.991 Month
  • Membership Yearly Sub$49.991 Year
One-time3
  • 1 Sovereign$3.99
  • 2 Sovereigns$6.99
  • 3 Sovereigns$9.99

Questions

Is Aethel Idle free?
Aethel Idle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Valenor free?
Valenor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Aethel Idle or Valenor?
Aethel Idle is rated higher. Aethel Idle averages 5.0 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while Valenor averages 4.8 from 34 ratings.
Do Aethel Idle or Valenor have ads?
Neither Aethel Idle nor Valenor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Aethel Idle or Valenor?
Aethel Idle ships an update every 2 weeks, and Valenor every 5 days. Most recently, Aethel Idle was updated on October 25, 2026 and Valenor on October 24, 2026.

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