Comparison

Catholic Answers vs Formed

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

Head to head
About

Catholic Answers

Access comprehensive Catholic teachings, articles, and Q&As in a user-friendly interface. Stream or download audio and video content, and engage with popular Catholic apologetics podcasts. This app helps users deepen their understanding and confidence in explaining and defending the Catholic faith.

Highlights
  • Stream and download audio/video
  • Searchable articles and Q&As
  • Catholic apologetics podcasts
  • Offline playback
  • Content saving and tagging
  • Live call-in for radio show
Features
Read full description

Explore the fullness of the Catholic faith, all in one place. The Catholic Answers app is your trusted source for sound Catholic teaching, wherever you are. And now, it’s better than ever. New: • Brand new design, easier to use audio and video for a richer media experience. • Additional content from Catholic.com, Q&As and articles, fully integrated and searchable. • Create Account to save progress, previously viewed. You’ll also enjoy the best podcasts in Catholic apologetics and evangelization: • Catholic Answers Live • The Counsel of Trent • Shameless Popery • The Jimmy Akin Podcast • The Cy Kellett Show • Daily Defense Podcast App features include: • Stream audio and video, or download audio for offline access • Search by guest, topic, or keyword • Call in live during Catholic Answers Live • Bluetooth support • Playback speed control • Stay up to date with upcoming topics and guests • Favorite & tag your content Whether you’re a lifelong Catholic or just curious, the Catholic Answers app helps you grow in knowledge, clarity, and confidence—so you can explain and defend the faith with love.

About

Formed

This app offers faith-informed content to guide Catholics and those they evangelize toward a fully Catholic life. It provides a comprehensive and customizable platform for spiritual formation and education, accessible anywhere. Empower your curiosity and grow in your faith journey with engaging resources.

Highlights
  • Faith-informed Catholic content
  • Spiritual formation and growth resources
  • High-quality videos and movies
  • Comprehensive and diverse content
  • Customizable learning experience
  • On-the-go learning
Features
Read full description

Formed guides Catholics and those they evangelize to a fully Catholic life through faith-informed content. As a faithful authority and helpful guide, which draws people closer to Christ, the Formed platform provides a captivating experience that is comprehensive, customizable, educates, and moves with you wherever you are in your Faith journey. Formed empowers and satisfies curiosity by forming Catholics for life. To access all features and content you can subscribe to Formed on a monthly or yearly basis with an auto-renewing subscription right inside the app.* Pricing can vary by region and will be confirmed before purchase in the app. In app subscriptions will automatically renew at the end of their cycle. * All payments will be paid through your iTunes Account and may be managed under Account Settings after the initial payment. Subscription payments will automatically renew unless deactivated at least 24-hours before the end of the current cycle. Your account will be charged for renewal at least 24-hours prior to the end of the current cycle. Any unused portion of your free trial will be forfeited upon payment. Cancellations are incurred by disabling auto-renewal. Terms of Service: https://watch.formed.org/tos Privacy Policy: https://watch.formed.org/privacy

Screenshots

Catholic Answers4 screens
Formed4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Catholic Answers at none against Formed's 9. Formed's advantage is review sentiment (99% vs 86%) and ratings volume (14K vs 2.3K). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Formed sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Catholic Answers asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Catholic Answers against 4.9 for Formed. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Formed has 14K ratings behind it against 2.3K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of Catholic Answers's written reviews are positive against 99% of Formed's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Catholic Answers ships an update monthly, Formed every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Catholic Answers versus Formed: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCatholic AnswersFormed
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (2.3K ratings)4.9 (14K ratings) — better
Positive reviews86.0% of reviews98.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.3K14K — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple TV
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB67 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCatholic AnswersAugustine Institute, Inc.

Customer experience

Catholic Answers

All ratings2,256 ratings
Positive97.7%
Neutral0.8%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews107 reviews
Positive86.0%
Neutral3.7%
Negative10.3%

Formed

All ratings14,162 ratings
Positive98.2%
Neutral0.7%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews1,853 reviews
Positive98.5%
Neutral0.6%
Negative0.8%

User reviews

Catholic Answers

From 2.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🙏 Faith-strengthening
  • 🧠 Excellent apologetics
  • 🤝 Helpful for conversion
  • 📚 Great for learning
  • 🙌 Life-changing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches
  • 🔍 Search issues
  • 💾 Download management problems
  • 🌙 Dark mode issues
  • 🚗 No CarPlay support

Formed

From 14K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Excellent Catholic content
  • 🙏 Helps with spiritual formation and growth
  • 🎥 High-quality videos and movies
  • 🌟 Comprehensive and diverse resources
  • 🧑‍🏫 Knowledgeable and inspiring presenters

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate and find specific content
  • 🔋 Drains battery when used for audio
  • 🔑 Requires email login, which can be inconvenient
  • 🌍 Limited content available in languages other than English

Bugs and requests

Catholic Answers

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashing on iOS 14 update
  • Inability to delete downloaded episodes
  • Inconsistent behavior when sorting by date
  • App not working on some devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add Bible Navigator feature
  • Ability to view articles like website
  • Improved search and filtering options
  • Better download management and deletion
  • CarPlay support

Formed

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional app crashes or freezes
  • Playback issues when switching between audio and video

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved search and browsing functionality
  • Ability to save progress and resume content
  • More content in languages other than English
  • Integration with smart TVs and other devices

In-app purchases

None

Catholic Answers

No in-app purchases

9 purchases

Formed

Subscriptions2
  • FORMED Subscription7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • FORMED Subscription7 Days trial$99.991 Year
One-time7
  • Formed - 099$0.99
  • Formed - 1499$14.99
  • Formed - 1599$15.99
Show 4 more
  • Formed - 1699$16.99
  • Formed - 1799$17.99
  • Formed - 1899$18.99
  • Formed - 1999$19.99

Questions

Is Catholic Answers free?
Catholic Answers is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Formed free?
Formed is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Catholic Answers or Formed?
Formed is rated higher. Catholic Answers averages 4.9 out of 5 from 2.3K ratings, while Formed averages 4.9 from 14K ratings.
Do Catholic Answers or Formed have ads?
Neither Catholic Answers nor Formed shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Catholic Answers or Formed?
Catholic Answers ships an update monthly, and Formed every 2 months. Most recently, Catholic Answers was updated on November 1, 2026 and Formed on November 4, 2026.