Comparison

Catholic Novenas vs eScrivaLite

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

Head to head
About

Catholic Novenas

This app offers a collection of prayers and novenas to guide your spiritual observance during the Advent and Christmas seasons. It provides specific novenas for various feast days, encouraging reflection and enrichment of your holiday practices.

Highlights
  • Advent and Christmas novenas
  • 33 days of prayers
  • Saint Andrew Christmas Novena
  • Immaculate Conception Novena
  • Our Lady of Guadalupe Novena
  • Christmas Novena
  • Holy Family Novena
  • Mary, Mother of God Novena
Features
Read full description

Enter the sacred season of Advent and Christmas-tide with a complete collection of traditional Catholic Novenas, accompanied by the most beautiful masterpieces of sacred art. From the Feast of Saint Andrew (November 30) through the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (January 1), this app gathers the classic Novenas of the season in one reverent place: • Saint Andrew Christmas Novena (the beloved Christmas Anticipation Prayer) • Novena to the Immaculate Conception • Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe • Christmas Novena with the O Antiphons • Novena to the Holy Family • Novena to Mary, Mother of God Each Novena is presented day by day. Daily prayers unlock only on their proper dates, marked by a gold indicator so you always know where you are in the season. A full Calendar, Dates Index, and Prayers Index remain available at all times. The app is enriched by carefully chosen sacred images: – Thomas Cole’s monumental “The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds” – Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s radiant Immaculate Conception, Adoration of the Magi, Holy Family, and Madonna and Child – Carlo Crivelli’s Saint Andrew – The miraculous tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe A plenary indulgence, granted by Pope Pius VII, is attached to the faithful observance of these Novenas under the usual conditions. Designed for quiet, focused prayer — free of ads, subscriptions, and distractions. May these Novenas and the beauty of sacred art draw you more deeply into the mystery of the Incarnation. Download now, then set a reminder in the App so you are ready the moment each Novena begins. St. Clement ePress Traditional Catholic Apps

About

eScrivaLite

This app provides daily Catholic Mass gospel readings and meditations based on the writings of St. Josemaria Escriva. It aims to make understanding the Gospel easier and can be integrated into daily prayer routines. An optional premium version offers access to eight of his books.

Highlights
  • Daily gospel readings
  • St. Josemaria Escriva meditations
  • Commentaries on the Gospel
  • Language selection tool
  • Offline book downloads (Premium)
Features
Read full description

'Incredible. Meditation made easy.' - Franca Attoh 'Great App, I read it before mass, first thing at morning, when I feel down.it's the best!' - Chigozie Ofor Over 100,000 people are diving deeper into the daily gospel readings from the Catholic Mass with eScrivalite. Let St Josemaria Escriva guide you to a fuller understanding of the Gospel as you meditate on his words. Users have said using the App has made Meditation easier. Why not make it a part of your daily prayer routine? St Josemaria's writings emphasize the laity's calling to sanctification. Pope St John Paul II made the following observation in his homily at the beatification of Escrivá: 'With supernatural intuition, Blessed Josemaría untiringly preached the universal call to holiness and apostolate. Christ calls everyone to become holy in the realities of everyday life. Hence work too is a means of personal holiness and apostolate, when it is done in union with Jesus Christ.' This free App makes the reading of the Gospel easy, attractive and straightforward. Just click on TODAY to access the Gospel of the day and the writings from St. Josemaria's published works about that Gospel. Click on the relevant points to read St. Josemaria's commentaries on the Gospel. Just click on the text you want to read, and the point opens up. If you upgrade to the Premium version you can download and own eight of St Josemaria's books; The Way, Furrow, The Forge, Christ is Passing By, Friends of God, Conversations, Holy Rosary, and The Way of the Cross. Available in 11 different languages, eScrivaLite identifies your preferred language, and it also comes with an inbuilt language selection tool for greater flexibility.

Screenshots

Catholic Novenas4 screens
eScrivaLite4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: eScrivaLite at Free against Catholic Novenas's $1.99. eScrivaLite also leads on ratings volume (726 vs 3) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 9 months). Catholic Novenas's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On rating 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

eScrivaLite is free to download; Catholic Novenas costs $1.99 up front. eScrivaLite sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Catholic Novenas asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Catholic Novenas against 4.9 for eScrivaLite. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: eScrivaLite has 726 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Catholic Novenas's written reviews are positive against 91% of eScrivaLite's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Catholic Novenas ships an update every 9 months, eScrivaLite every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 5, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Catholic Novenas versus eScrivaLite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCatholic NovenaseScrivaLite
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better4.9 (726 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better91.0% of reviews
Number of ratings3726 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.611.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size249 MB62 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBil KimesIGRO GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT LIMITED

Customer experience

Catholic Novenas

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

eScrivaLite

All ratings726 ratings
Positive98.5%
Neutral1.1%
Negative0.4%
Written reviews134 reviews
Positive91.0%
Neutral3.0%
Negative6.0%

Bugs and requests

Catholic Novenas

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

eScrivaLite

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App not opening after recent update
  • Buttons or navigation not working as expected

Requested features

3 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Improved search by keywords or topics
  • Support for additional liturgical calendars

In-app purchases

None

Catholic Novenas

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

eScrivaLite

One-time1
  • All the books and more$7.99

Questions

Is Catholic Novenas free?
Catholic Novenas costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is eScrivaLite free?
eScrivaLite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Catholic Novenas or eScrivaLite?
Catholic Novenas is rated higher. Catholic Novenas averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while eScrivaLite averages 4.9 from 726 ratings.
Do Catholic Novenas or eScrivaLite have ads?
eScrivaLite shows ads; Catholic Novenas does not.
Which is updated more often, Catholic Novenas or eScrivaLite?
Catholic Novenas ships an update every 9 months, and eScrivaLite every 2 months. Most recently, Catholic Novenas was updated on September 5, 2026 and eScrivaLite on September 23, 2026.

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