Seraph vs NET Bible
A readable New English Translation with the translators’ notes, and a download price of zero on the US listing, beside a quieter flame that never asks for an account. This page is written by the maker of Seraph — read it knowing that — and it will be generous to NET Bible, because the notes are real and the price on that listing is zero.
Our bias, declared: we make Seraph. The linked NET Bible sources support the specific download price, store descriptions, account wording, and privacy wording 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 NET Bible if you want the New English Translation with its translators’ notes on iPhone. The US listing (id687558432) on this check is titled “NET Bible (Formerly Lumina),” subtitle “Full Translation & Notes,” seller Biblical Studies Foundation, bundle id org.bible.thenetbible. The lockup’s developerTagline is that same subtitle string. JSON-LD Offer on that page is price 0, currency USD. Lockup offer data for this adamId sets isFree to true, hasInAppPurchases to false, and hasExternalPurchases to false. The offer title is “Get.” The lockup offer’s subtitles object is empty, so this check did not find an In-App Purchases subtitle on id687558432. buyParams on that lockup includes price=0 and salableAdamId=687558432. The tertiary title is “Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.” The description opens “Lumina allows you to experience the NET Bible with all of its notes for free” and names “58,506 translators’ notes.” It also says “The NET Bible is a modern of the Bible with 58,506 translators’ notes!” We print that sentence as it stands. This page is that app. It is not YouVersion, not Blue Letter Bible, not Enduring Word, not Logos, not Olive Tree, and not Bible Hub. We do not have Android, and we do not have their translators’ notes.
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. Sacred Seasons, including Advent, are not. There is no Seraph+ trial. NET Bible’s US listing does not name a paid plan. We are a silent office with a paid season. That is the fork.
Side by side
| Feature | Seraph | NET Bible |
|---|---|---|
| Annual price | $59.99/yr | The US listing’s JSON-LD Offer is price 0, currency USD. There is no annual line on that page. hasInAppPurchases is false. A request for Play package org.bible.thenetbible returns a page titled “Not Found,” at that package URL. A request for package org.bible.lumina returns the same “Not Found” title, at that package URL. Those pages are not an annual plan, and they are not the $59.99 in the other column. We do not invent a $59.99 NET Bible year. We do not invent a paid plan. |
| Monthly price | $6.99/mo | No monthly SKU on the US listing. We do not invent a $6.99 NET Bible month. The Play package requests above return “Not Found” and print no customer dollar. A different Play listing, The NET Bible®, has a JSON-LD Offer whose price is the string 0. That listing is not this column. We do not invent a SKU. |
| Family plan | — | None published on the pages cited here. We do not invent a family plan. |
| Free trial | None — the free tier is the trial | The US description does not print a number of days. It says the notes are available “for free.” We do not invent a trial. The download they price at 0 is the offer titled “Get.” This page is not Dwell. |
| Free, forever | Daily verse · 2 guided sessions · the whole KJV Bible (1,189 chapters) · every reading plan · streak flame · reminders | The download they price at 0, with hasInAppPurchases false on the US listing. That description says “all of its notes for free” and names 58,506 translators’ notes. bible.org says “The NET Bible study suite allows you to read and study God's word for free anywhere.” classic.net.bible.org says the learning environment puts tools “within reach of the whole world without charge,” names “the most comprehensive set of free resources available online,” and says the study environment “is made available free of charge.” We do not treat “for free,” “for free anywhere,” “without charge,” and “free of charge” as one sentence. |
| Subscription opens | Full guided-prayer library (12 sessions) · Sacred Seasons (Advent & Lent) | Nothing on the US listing is labeled as a subscription unlock. hasInAppPurchases is false, the lockup subtitles object is empty, and this check did not find an in-app purchase list. A different app on that page’s similar-items shelf, Accordance Bible Software, adamId 411970514, sets hasInAppPurchases to true. We do not copy that flag onto id687558432. We do not invent a paid plan, and we do not invent a SKU. |
| Account required | No — no sign-up exists | This check did not find a sentence in the current US description that reading the text requires an account. That description says “Sync your highlights, notes, and bookmarks with lumina.bible.org and other iOS devices running this App.” Version history item 1.1 says “Adds highlighting/underlining which syncs with your other IOS devices, and lumina.bible.org.” We do not treat “iOS” and “IOS” as one spelling, and we do not treat that 2014 note as the current description. Their privacy policy says you may modify information “by logging on to your account on bible.org or or one of our Discipleship apps” and that “your account is synchronized across services/devices.” The saved reader from netbible.org includes a “Login” control. We do not invent that opening the text requires an account. |
| Spoken Scripture | None as a spoken Bible product. Breath-paced guided prayer. Full KJV readable, not narrated as a catalogue of voices. | The US description is about reading, swiping, notes, and Night Reading Mode. This check did not find a narration sentence in that description. We do not invent a voice catalogue. This page is not Dwell. |
| Prayer analytics | None — a public vow. Prayer data never leaves your device | The labels disagree. Apple’s privacy header on the US listing: “The developer, Biblical Studies Foundation, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below.” The summary shelf is Data Not Collected, detail “The developer does not collect any data from this app.” That shelf’s purposes list is empty, and its categories list is empty. This check did not find a Data Used to Track You shelf. This check did not find a Data Linked to You shelf. The See Details header adds “This information has not been verified by Apple.” The product-page header does not include that sentence. We do not treat those two headers as one sentence. Their privacy policy, which the Privacy Policy control points at, says “For mobile apps our systems capture details about the type and location of the wireless device you use, unless you have the GPS locations services turned off,” and “Our application detects your device's approximate location.” It also says “including services that display customized content and advertising” and “We do not sell, lease, or rent your personal information.” The policy body copy does not name Lumina or this adamId, excluding that logo alt text. Header and logo images in that HTML use alt="Lumina". We print both pages. We do not invent that they describe the same collection. |
| Scripture | Full KJV bundled; offline on iPhone | The US description names the New English Translation (NET) Bible and “58,506 translators’ notes,” plus “more than 25 scholars.” Version history item 3.2 says “Updates the Bible text to the 2.1 version of the New English Translation.” classic.net.bible.org says the beta learning environment features “the NET BIBLE® translation including 60,932 translators' notes.” We do not treat 58,506 and 60,932 as one count, and we do not treat “2.1” and “NET2” as one label. The saved text from following net.bible.org and netbible.org is the reader at netbible.org/bible/Matthew+1. That reader is headed “Matthew 1” and shows chips NET2, ESV, HCSB, ISV, KJV, MSG, and NASB, plus the labels “NET NOTES,” “CONSTABLE'S NOTES,” and “MY NOTES.” The US description does not name ESV, HCSB, ISV, KJV, MSG, NASB, or Constable. We do not copy that chip list onto the US listing. Their about page says “The Lumina mobile app lets you take and review your notes anywhere you go on your iOS device” and “Lumina lets you dig deep into the orginal languages.” We print “orginal” as it stands. |
| Platforms | iPhone and web | The US listing Information section names iPhone (Requires iOS 26.0 or later), iPad (Requires iPadOS 26.0 or later), Mac (Requires macOS 26.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later), and Apple Vision (Requires visionOS 26.0 or later). It does not list iPod touch. JSON-LD operatingSystem says “Requires iOS 26.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.” JSON-LD availableOnDevice is “iPhone, iPad.” The lockup tertiary title says “Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.” Lockup data sets isIOSBinaryMacOSCompatible to true, supportsVisionOSCompatibleIOSBinary to false, and hasMacIPAPackage to false. appPlatforms are phone and pad. We print all of those. We do not invent that they are the same claim. This check did not find a Play listing for bundle id org.bible.thenetbible. The package URL and the org.bible.lumina URL each return a page titled “Not Found.” A different Android listing, The NET Bible®, package org.wycliffe.eng.newenglishtranslation.bible, is not this bundle. Size on the US listing is 21.5 MB. What’s New primary subtitle is Version 3.37, secondary subtitle Mon Jan 26 2026 16:45:53 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time), notes “Better device support” and “iOS 26 updates.” The description’s developerLinks shelf is Support, url http://bible.org. This check did not find a Developer Website control on that shelf. We do not treat http://bible.org and https://bible.org/ as one string. |
| Tradition | Broadly Christian, KJV | Seller on the US listing is Biblical Studies Foundation. The copyright line is “© 2026 Biblical Studies Foundation.” US JSON-LD types the author as Organization, name Biblical Studies Foundation. The privacy policy’s footer is “© 2026 Bible.org.” The about page footer is “© 2014 Bible.org.” classic.net.bible.org says the study environment’s “program, look and feel, interface, features, and all reference files included are copyrighted by bible.org (2006).” We do not collapse Biblical Studies Foundation, Bible.org, and bible.org, and we do not collapse © 2026, © 2014, and 2006. Version history item 3.1 says “The app is now called "NET Bible".” The current title is “NET Bible (Formerly Lumina).” We do not treat those as one title. The different Play listing’s JSON-LD name is “The NET Bible®,” author type Person, name Scripture Earth, url scriptureearth.org. Its About the developer block names Summer Institute Of Linguistics, Inc., android_dev_sil@sil.org, and “7500 W Camp Wisdom Rd” “Dallas, TX 75236-5629.” That HTML does not contain Lumina, Formerly, or Biblical Studies. We do not treat that listing as this app. Not YouVersion, not Blue Letter Bible, not Enduring Word, not Logos, not Olive Tree, and not Bible Hub. We do not treat this listing as a Logos or Olive Tree remount. We do not restate chart position or review marketing from the store page. We do not collapse them. |
| If you cannot pay | No scholarship or sponsorship path published. Advent and most guided sessions require Seraph+. | The app download is price 0. The description says the notes are available “for free.” bible.org says the study suite is “for free anywhere.” classic.net.bible.org says “without charge” and “free of charge.” The privacy policy says resources are offered “for free as a component of our ministry” and “as long as it is offered for free,” and its footer includes the link text “Purchase a NET Bible.” The saved reader includes “PURCHASE a Bible” and “Donate.” The about page includes “Donate.” This check did not find a dollar sign on those pages. We found no scholarship sentence. We do not invent one, and we do not invent a price for “Purchase a NET Bible.” |
NET Bible’s download on the US listing is price 0, with hasInAppPurchases false. Seraph+ is $59.99/yr or $6.99/mo, auto-renews, cancel anytime. Those are not a matched pair. This check did not find a customer plan dollar on the US listing, and the Play package for this bundle returned “Not Found.” Seraph+ opens guided sessions and Sacred Seasons.
What NET Bible does better
The translators’ notes, the page-swipe reading, and a study web beside the phone. If “read the NET Bible with the notes, and keep highlights that can sync to lumina.bible.org” is the requirement, their US listing is built for it. The description names 58,506 translators’ notes, cross references, bookmarks, verse notes, a fuzzy search, and Night Reading Mode. classic.net.bible.org names 60,932 translators' notes and says the environment is free of charge. The reader at Matthew 1 shows more than one translation chip. We charge for Sacred Seasons and for the rest of the guided library. There is no Seraph+ trial: you never try a paid session before buying it. If you want those notes without paying for the notes, NET Bible is the honest recommendation, and we are not in that contest.
They are also not YouVersion (a Bible app, with its own essay), not Blue Letter Bible (study tools, with its own essay), not Enduring Word (a commentary, with its own essay), not Logos, and not Olive Tree. Those are different products. This page is NET Bible (Formerly Lumina), sold on the US listing by Biblical Studies Foundation, bundle id org.bible.thenetbible, id687558432. The Play listing titled “The NET Bible®” is a different package. Bible Hub is not this page. We do not collapse them.
What Seraph does differently
Restraint as a feature, and a Bible you can finish with your eyes without a study apparatus. No account between you and prayer — their current store description does not say reading requires an account, and the privacy policy still describes logging on to an account. Ours has no sign-up screen. Prayer data never leaves the device. Their US listing’s privacy shelf is Data Not Collected. Their privacy policy says mobile apps capture wireless-device location and that services may display advertising. Two prices, written in plain numbers: $59.99 a year or $6.99 a month, auto-renew, cancel anytime. The entire KJV free — readable, bundled offline on iPhone, every chapter. Their description is the NET Bible and its notes, not that readable KJV. A public web office you can open without installing an app. A streak that forgives a missed day instead of shaming it. No ads on free or paid. Guided prayer paced by breath. Their ask, on the pages cited here, is not a plan this check found on the store. Ours is a season of guided prayer. We do not treat those as the same feature.
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.” There is no Seraph+ trial.
When each app wins
NET Bible — if you want the NET translation, the translators’ notes, or the Lumina study web
Start from the US listing, classic.net.bible.org, or the Lumina about page. The US offer is price 0, and hasInAppPurchases is false. This check did not find a Play listing for org.bible.thenetbible. Do not open The NET Bible® on Play and think you are on this page. Do not assume the JSON-LD device string and the Information section are one sentence. Do not come here first for a silent one-flame office with no account and a public vow that prayer never leaves the device. The US listing names Biblical Studies Foundation as the seller. Do not open YouVersion, Blue Letter Bible, Enduring Word, Logos, or Olive Tree and think you are on this page. Bible Hub is not this page.
Seraph — if you want a quiet office with no account, a full readable KJV, 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, NET Bible is the better fit, and we would rather you found it here than felt sold to.
Sources and scope
Checked against the following official NET Bible and Biblical Studies Foundation pages on . These references do not establish an independent review or endorsement of Seraph. Subjective product fit remains our assessment. We did not quote a rating, a review count, or an install total. This check did not find a customer plan dollar on the US listing, and we did not invent one. The privacy policy, the classic learning environment, the Lumina about page, and the saved reader print no dollar sign.
- US App Store listing (id687558432)
Supports the title “NET Bible (Formerly Lumina),” subtitle “Full Translation & Notes,” developerTagline “Full Translation & Notes,” seller Biblical Studies Foundation, category Reference, age 4+, copyright “© 2026 Biblical Studies Foundation,” bundle id org.bible.thenetbible, size 21.5 MB, JSON-LD Offer price 0 / USD, isFree true, hasInAppPurchases false, hasExternalPurchases false, offer title “Get,” an empty subtitles object, buyParams including price=0, and tertiary title “Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.” isIOSBinaryMacOSCompatible is true. supportsVisionOSCompatibleIOSBinary is false. hasMacIPAPackage is false. appPlatforms are phone and pad. JSON-LD applicationCategory is ReferenceApplication. JSON-LD genre lists Reference and Education. JSON-LD availableOnDevice is “iPhone, iPad.” JSON-LD operatingSystem includes iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The Information section’s Category line is Reference. We do not treat those as one label. Supports the description quoted above, including “for free,” “58,506 translators’ notes,” “a modern of the Bible,” and the lumina.bible.org sync sentence. Information devices as named above. The Information section does not list iPod touch. Age Rating summary is 4+. The Age Rating annotation’s items array is empty. items_V3 prints 4+. We do not treat that empty array and items_V3 as one list. Languages English. What’s New primary subtitle Version 3.37, secondary subtitle Mon Jan 26 2026 16:45:53 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time), notes “Better device support” and “iOS 26 updates.” Version history includes the 3.2 “2.1 version” sentence, the 3.1 “now called "NET Bible"” sentence, and the 1.1 “IOS devices” and lumina.bible.org sentence quoted above. Privacy header naming Biblical Studies Foundation, the Data Not Collected shelf, and the See Details line quoted above. This check did not find a Data Used to Track You shelf. This check did not find a Data Linked to You shelf. The Privacy Policy control points at bible.org/article/privacy-policy-and-terms-use. The Support control points at http://bible.org. This check did not find a Developer Website control on the description’s developerLinks shelf. This check did not find an in-app purchase list. The page canonicalURL is this href. We do not restate rating, review count, or chart rank. Accordance Bible Software, adamId 411970514, is on the similar-items shelf and sets hasInAppPurchases to true. We do not treat it as this app.
- Play package org.bible.thenetbible
Supports a response page whose title is “Not Found.” This is the iOS bundle id. This check did not find a Play listing for that package, and it did not find a dollar on that response page.
- Play package org.bible.lumina
Supports a second response page whose title is “Not Found.” We do not treat that title and the org.bible.thenetbible “Not Found” title as one request. This check did not find a dollar on that page.
- The NET Bible® on Google Play
Supports a different Android listing. JSON-LD name “The NET Bible®,” package org.wycliffe.eng.newenglishtranslation.bible, JSON-LD operatingSystem ANDROID, JSON-LD applicationCategory BOOKS_AND_REFERENCE, content rating Everyone 10+, JSON-LD author type Person, name Scripture Earth, url http://www.scriptureearth.org/. This check did not fetch a page body from that host. JSON-LD Offer price is the string 0, currency USD. The About the developer block names Summer Institute Of Linguistics, Inc., android_dev_sil@sil.org, “7500 W Camp Wisdom Rd,” and “Dallas, TX 75236-5629.” This check did not find the words Lumina, Formerly, or Biblical Studies in that HTML. We do not treat this listing as id687558432. We do not restate a rating from that page.
- Bible.org privacy, security, and terms
Supports “Privacy, Security and Terms of Use Policy,” “Bible.org is committed to respecting and protecting your personal privacy,” the statement that applies to “Bible.org’s mobile and Discipleship applications,” the location sentence and the “device's approximate location” sentence quoted above, “customized content and advertising,” “We do not sell, lease, or rent your personal information,” “logging on to your account on bible.org or or one of our Discipleship apps,” “your account is synchronized across services/devices,” “apple (ITunes/app store) ;android app store,” “for free as a component of our ministry,” “as long as it is offered for free,” the footer link text “Purchase a NET Bible” and “Download NET Bible,” “updated da 7/27/12 ,5/19/15,1/7/16,” “PUBLISHED May 18th 2005,” and “© 2026 Bible.org.” Header and logo images in that HTML use alt="Lumina". This check did not find the word Lumina in the policy body copy, excluding that logo alt text, and it did not find the name Biblical Studies Foundation, this adamId, or a dollar sign in that body copy. The US listing’s Privacy Policy control points here.
- Support control target
Supports the Support control url on the US description’s developerLinks shelf, which is http://bible.org with no trailing path. We do not treat that string and https://bible.org/ as one URL.
- bible.org homepage
Supports “The NET Bible study suite allows you to read and study God's word for free anywhere.” This check did not find a plan dollar in that sentence. We do not treat this URL and the Support control’s http://bible.org as one string.
- classic.net.bible.org
Supports “60,932 translators' notes,” “within reach of the whole world without charge,” “the most comprehensive set of free resources available online,” “made available free of charge,” “copyrighted by bible.org (2006),” “We invite you to use www.netbible.org,” the label “iPhone/Mobile NET Bible,” “powered by bible.org,” and “Go to the New Version.” This check did not find a dollar sign, the word Lumina, or the name Biblical Studies Foundation on that page. We do not treat 60,932 and the US listing’s 58,506 as one count.
- Lumina about page
Supports “The Lumina mobile app lets you take and review your notes anywhere you go on your iOS device,” “Any notes you take will be automatically synced across all of Lumina,” “orginal languages,” “Donate,” and “© 2014 Bible.org.” This check did not find the word free or a dollar sign on that page. We do not invent one.
- net.bible.org
Supports the host the classic page invites as www.netbible.org. This check followed https://net.bible.org/ and the saved visible text is the reader also saved from netbible.org/bible/Matthew+1. We do not treat the start URL and that reader URL as one string.
- netbible.org
Supports the same saved reader text as the net.bible.org follow. The visible welcome line is “Welcome to Bible.org's revamped study tool, NET Bible!” We do not treat https://netbible.org/ and https://net.bible.org/ as one string.
- NET Bible reader, Matthew 1
Supports the heading “Matthew 1,” the chips NET2, ESV, HCSB, ISV, KJV, MSG, and NASB, the labels “NET NOTES,” “CONSTABLE'S NOTES,” and “MY NOTES,” a “Login” control, “PURCHASE a Bible,” and “Donate.” This check did not find a dollar sign in that saved text. We do not copy the chip list onto the US listing.
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