Comparison

School Days vs BitLife

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

Head to head
About

School Days

Experience school life in a challenging environment where survival and academic success are key. Navigate classes, answer questions, and manage your popularity among students. Explore an interactive city and master various in-game controls to achieve your goals.

Highlights
  • Real-time school simulation
  • Interactive city exploration
  • Academic challenges and subjects
  • Popularity contest mechanics
  • Diverse in-game controls
  • Customization options
Features
Read full description

The prison has closed down and re-opened as a school, but the challenge to survive and thrive remains the same! Live every hour of every day in real-time - from getting out of bed in the morning to attending a timetable full of classes, as you explore a city filled with interactive props. Picking up knowledge from each class helps you answer real questions in 10 different subjects, as you work towards the grades you need to graduate. But with over 100 fellow students walking the halls, an equally important popularity contest decides whether your days are filled with fun or fear. Although the game is mostly free to play, you can upgrade to a "Private" education to remove ads and make the school your own - starting with a student of your own creation and saving your changes to all 10 classes as well as the teachers and civilians. Private students also benefit from a more continuous experience that never ends until you want it to. BASIC CONTROLS: In-game tutorials explain in more depth, but the basic controls are as follows: A = Attack (on its own to kick, with a direction to punch) G = Grapple / Throw R = Run P = Pick-Up / Drop (with a direction to prioritize objects, without to prioritize furniture) T = Taunt (interact with props) OTHER CONTROLS - Press ATTACK and RUN together to launch a powerful attack. - Press any button with any direction (or none) in a grapple to trigger different moves. - Press RUN and PICK-UP together to set fire to a small object (which can then be used to set fire to a large object). - Touch the clock or health meter to pause the game for more options. - Tap the speech bubbles to speed through conversations. PERFORMANCE - If you find your device struggles to display lots of characters, considering keeping the "Population" option low. - Head to the "Display" options to tone down other features. To learn more about this and other games, join the debate at: www.facebook.com/MDickieFans @MDickieDotcom

About

BitLife

This text-based life simulator allows you to make choices that shape your virtual life from birth to death. You can pursue a path of good deeds or embrace a life of crime and chaos. Every decision impacts your story, leading to unique outcomes.

Highlights
  • Text-based life simulation
  • Choice-driven narrative
  • Career and education paths
  • Relationship and family simulation
  • Crime and consequence system
  • Multiple life outcomes
Features
Read full description

How will you live your BitLife? Will you try to make all the right choices in an attempt to become a model citizen sometime before you die? You could marry the love of your life, have kids, and pick up a good job along the way. Or will you make choices that horrify your parents? You could descend into a life of crime, start trouble in prison, smuggle goods across country lines, and rob banks. It's all up to you... BitLife is the original text-based life simulator that lets you roleplay your life, your way. Create your story in this choice-driven simulation game. Build a perfect life, chase success, or embrace chaos. In this life simulation, every tap is a choice that changes what happens next in your story. Play a full roleplaying life from start to finish and shape your own life story. Choose your path through love, romance, relationships, and marriage or drama, betrayal, and scandal. Shape your life through careers, education, and risky choices, then watch your story unfold through the consequences of every decision. Virtual life is calling… CREATE YOUR STORY: - Live your BitLife as a model citizen… or a total wild card. - Build a dream life story: love, family, career, and success. - Or chase chaos: fame, scandal, and bad choices with big outcomes. - Your life, your identity, your story, your roleplay. LIFE SIMULATOR: - A text-based life simulator where choices stack up, year after year in a true simulation. - Shape your life through education, careers, and relationships. - Every decision changes your path, your story, and your ending. - No two lives, and no two stories, play out the same. DRAMA & CONSEQUENCES: - Break the rules: crime, prison trouble, smuggling, and bank robberies. - Cheat, betray, or stay loyal: your choices decide the fallout. - Take risks, face consequences, and deal with the chaos your story creates. - An interactive story and simulation where choices actually matter. JOIN OUR COMMUNITY: TikTok: @bitlifeapp X: @BitLifeApp Instagram: bitlifeapp This game is free to play.

Screenshots

School Days4 screens
BitLife4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: BitLife at 4.8 against School Days's 4.1. BitLife also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (1.8M vs 3.3K). School Days's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (67% vs 51%). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

Both are free to download. School Days sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and BitLife sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BitLife holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BitLife has 1.8M ratings behind it against 3.3K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of School Days's written reviews are positive against 51% of BitLife's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

School Days ships an update every 3 months, BitLife every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
School Days versus BitLife: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSchool DaysBitLife
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (3.3K ratings)4.8 (1.8M ratings) — better
Positive reviews67.3% of reviews — better51.2% of reviews
Number of ratings3.3K1.8M — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#13 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size65 MB385 MB
Age rating+1717+
DeveloperMDickie LimitedCandywriter, LLC

Customer experience

School Days

All ratings3,276 ratings
Positive78.1%
Neutral5.9%
Negative16.0%
Written reviews400 reviews
Positive67.3%
Neutral13.8%
Negative19.0%

BitLife

All ratings1,798,150 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral2.4%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews7,574 reviews
Positive51.2%
Neutral10.6%
Negative38.2%

Bugs and requests

School Days

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

BitLife

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inconsistent behavior when adopting children
  • Losing Bitizenship status after updates
  • Certain jobs/careers not functioning properly

Requested features

6 requests
  • More family-related features (grandparents, aunts/uncles, etc.)
  • Ability to start own business or company
  • More crime-related activities and scenarios
  • Expanded education and career options
  • Deeper relationships with friends and coworkers
Show 1 more
  • Randomized world events and news updates

In-app purchases

1 purchases

School Days

One-time1
  • Private Education$2.99
10 purchases

BitLife

One-time10
  • Time Machine Use$0.99
  • Remove Ads$2.99
  • Bitizenship$7.99
Show 7 more
  • Investor Expansion Pack$7.99
  • Landlord Expansion Pack$7.99
  • C.U.L.T. Expansion Pack$7.99
  • God Mode$9.99
  • Bitizenship$9.99
  • Bitizenship + God Mode$15.99
  • Boss Mode$20.99

Questions

Is School Days free?
School Days is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BitLife free?
BitLife is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, School Days or BitLife?
BitLife is rated higher. School Days averages 4.1 out of 5 from 3.3K ratings, while BitLife averages 4.8 from 1.8M ratings.
Do School Days or BitLife have ads?
BitLife shows ads; School Days does not.
Which is updated more often, School Days or BitLife?
School Days ships an update every 3 months, and BitLife every 2 weeks. Most recently, School Days was updated on November 5, 2026 and BitLife on November 6, 2026.

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