Seraph vs Abide
Two apps that take a daily rhythm seriously, built on different convictions. This page is written by the maker of Seraph — read it knowing that — and it will be generous to Abide, because Abide has earned it.
Our bias, declared: we make Seraph. The linked Abide sources support the specific prices, free-tier rules, trial length, account wording, and store listings identified below; this is not an independent review of either app. Our product details describe Seraph’s current published offering. If we've got something wrong, tell us and we'll fix it.
The main difference
Consider Abide for spoken Christian meditation and sleep audio: a large Premium library, a 7-day trial of that library, Android as well as iPhone, and a published annual price below ours. Their own help centre is unusually candid about the free tier — the shortest two-minute daily meditation and a selection of sleep stories — and they publish scholarships we do not.
Choose Seraph if you want something quieter: one flame kept daily, the whole King James Bible readable free, guided prayer paced by breath — and a hard privacy line: no account to create, no ads, and a public vow of no prayer analytics. Your prayer life stays on your device. Seraph+ is $6.99/mo or $59.99/yr on our US App Store listing and on our pricing page. The daily office is free.
Side by side
| Feature | Seraph | Abide |
|---|---|---|
| Annual price | $59.99/yr | $39.99/yr on their help centre, with a 30-day full-refund window on that plan. Their subscribe page reads “Get 7 days free, then only $39.99 per year.” Their Google Play listing publishes the same annual number. |
| Monthly price | $6.99/mo | $9.99/mo (cancel anytime), also on their Google Play listing. The subscribe page we loaded today stated the annual offer, not a monthly one. |
| Family plan | — | None published on the Abide help pages cited here. |
| Free trial | None — the free tier is the trial | 7 days of Abide Premium on iOS and on Android, per How Does The Free Trial Work?. Their getting-started article says the pop-up is skippable: tap X to stay on the free version. |
| Free, forever | Daily verse · 2 guided sessions · the whole KJV Bible (1,189 chapters) · every reading plan · streak flame · reminders | Daily guided meditation (shortest 2-min version) · a selection of sleep stories. Their Free vs Premium table adds: 1 short daily meditation that rotates every 24 hours · limited sample library · small selection of bedtime stories · limited devotionals · Bible plans not included · offline listening not available |
| Subscription opens | Full guided-prayer library (12 sessions) · Sacred Seasons (Advent & Lent) | Abide Premium: unlimited daily meditations up to 15 minutes · 2,000+ guided meditations · 500+ Bible-based sleep stories · extended devotionals they describe as ad-free · Bible reading plans · full music and soundscapes · offline downloads · adjustable lengths and background music |
| Account required | No — no sign-up exists | Account is how they describe starting: “Simply create an account, download the app to your mobile device, and sign in to begin.” Their email article states “Abide only asks for your name and email address” and points iPhone users at Sign in with Apple’s Privacy Relay. |
| Prayer analytics | None — a public vow. Prayer data never leaves your device | Apple’s App Privacy label on their US listing (self-reported, not verified by Apple) names Identifiers, Contact Info, User Content, Usage Data, and Diagnostics. We do not restate rating or ranking marketing from that page. |
| Scripture | Full KJV bundled; offline on iPhone | Their US App Store listing says audio from all chapters of the NIV Bible. Their Google Play listing says you can read and listen to the NIV. We offer the King James Version and nothing else. |
| Platforms | iPhone and web | iPhone, iPad, and Android. Not a full computer app: “designed as a mobile app and is not currently accessible on standard computers,” with an exception for Apple Silicon Macs that can run iOS apps. That article also names daily emails and Daily Prayer on the website after you create an account — not the full app. |
| Tradition | Broadly Christian, KJV | Broadly Christian; Scripture-guided meditation and sleep audio |
| If you cannot pay | No scholarship or sponsorship path published | Reduced rates upon request, and “One-year free subscriptions are offered to those who are unable to afford a subscription.” Seraph offers nothing like this. |
Abide’s help centre and Google Play listing publish $9.99 a month and $39.99 a year. The US App Store listing (id726031617) IAP list we read on September 9, 2026 also shows several Abide Premium and Abide Member entries at once — including $4.99, $7.99, $9.99, $12.99, $29.99, $39.99, and $44.99 — and Apple does not label which is current. Introductory, promotional, and legacy prices sit side by side. Check Abide’s published pricing article and your checkout before subscribing. No worldwide cheapest-price claim is made here.
What Abide does better
Range, and a lower published year. Their Premium table is a different product than a quiet daily office: thousands of guided meditations, hundreds of sleep stories, music, Bible plans, and offline downloads. They ship Android. They publish a 7-day trial of the paid library — you can actually try Premium before buying it. Ours does not: you never try a Seraph+ session before buying it. The daily office is the trial of Seraph, not of the paid library.
They also publish a way in when you cannot pay, and a 30-day refund on the annual plan. Their catalogue includes live Advent audio — a player such as First Sunday of Advent (Isaiah 40:9–11) is on abide.com today. And they offer the NIV on their US listing and Play listing, which we do not. If you want spoken meditation, sleep stories, Android, a trial of the paid product, or a scholarship, Abide is the honest recommendation, and we are not in that contest.
What Seraph does differently
Restraint as a feature. No account between you and prayer. Two prices, written in plain numbers: $59.99 a year or $6.99 a month. The entire Bible free — not excerpts — bundled offline on iPhone. A streak that forgives a missed day instead of shaming it. No ads on free or paid. A public web office, which Abide’s own computer article says the full Abide app is not. And a privacy stance we've made contractual with our users: no prayer analytics, ever. Compare the plan and features that fit your use, rather than assuming one worldwide price difference.
Three disclosures that belong here. The web subscription and the iPhone subscription are separate purchases and do not unlock each other. The complete offline Bible is the iPhone app; on the web, chapters you have already opened stay readable. And restoring a web subscription in a new browser emails a magic link, so we will not claim “no email ever.”
When each app wins
Abide — if you want spoken meditation, sleep audio, Android, or a trial of the paid library
Start from their getting-started article: create an account, install on a phone, and sign in. Skip the trial pop-up if you only want the two-minute daily, or take the seven days if you want to hear Premium. Ask about a scholarship if the year is out of reach. Use Android if that is your phone. Do not come here first for a family plan — they do not publish one on the pages we cite.
Seraph — if you want a quiet office with no account and a price you can read before you install
Ours, last on purpose. A flame, the KJV, two free guided sessions, reading plans, no sign-up. Paid for the remaining sessions and Sacred Seasons, free for the office. Small, new, iPhone-and-web only. If none of those sentences is what you came for, Abide is the better fit, and we would rather you found it here than felt sold to.
Sources and scope
Checked against the following official Abide pages on . These references do not establish an independent review or endorsement of Seraph. Subjective product fit remains our assessment. Abide’s Zendesk help centre sometimes challenges automated fetches; wording quoted from help articles is from those same first-party URLs already used in our other compare essays, re-read for this page.
- Abide — How Much Does Abide Cost?
Supports $9.99/mo, $39.99/yr, the 30-day annual refund, the shortest 2-minute daily meditation plus a selection of sleep stories as the free tier, reduced rates upon request, and one-year scholarships for people who cannot afford a subscription.
- Abide — How Do I Get Started With Abide?
Supports creating an account, downloading on iPhone or Android, signing in to begin, the skippable trial pop-up, 7 days of full Premium access if you take the trial, and the line that Abide “is a mobile app only and is not accessible on computers.”
- Abide — Free vs Premium Overview
Supports the Free vs Premium feature table quoted above, including 2,000+ Premium meditations, 500+ sleep stories, Bible plans on Premium only, and offline listening on Premium only.
- Abide — How Does The Free Trial Work?
Supports a 7-day Premium trial on Android and on iOS after install and account creation, keep-access-until-the-trial-ends if you cancel, and Apple’s 24-hour-before-renewal cancel rule on iOS.
- Abide — Why Does Abide Ask for My Email Address?
Supports “Abide only asks for your name and email address,” use of email to find the account, reset passwords, and sign in across devices, and Sign in with Apple Privacy Relay for iPhone users.
- Abide — How can I use Abide on my computer?
Supports that the full app is not currently accessible on standard computers, the Apple Silicon Mac exception, and website / daily-email / streaming-channel alternatives after you create an account.
- Abide subscribe page
Supports “Get 7 days free, then only $39.99 per year” and auto-renew each year until cancelled, as shown on this check.
- Abide US App Store listing (id726031617)
Supports the in-app purchase list we transcribed (Abide Premium and Abide Member entries at $4.99, $7.99, $9.99, $12.99, $29.99, $39.99, and $44.99), NIV audio from all chapters, and the App Privacy category names above. We do not restate their rating or ranking marketing.
- Abide on Google Play
Supports an Android listing, NIV read-and-listen wording, and the published $9.99 monthly / $39.99 annual pair. We do not restate review counts or install totals from that page.
- Abide — First Sunday of Advent
Supports a live Advent meditation player (Isaiah 40:9–11) in the Abide catalogue.
Daily office free, with no account · Seraph+ $6.99/mo or $59.99/yr · auto-renews · cancel anytime
Web and iPhone subscriptions are separate purchases and do not unlock each other