Seraph vs Through the Word
Audio guides that walk a chapter at a time, with a download price of zero on the US listing, and 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 Through the Word, because the chapter guides are real and the price on that listing is zero.
Our bias, declared: we make Seraph. The linked Through the Word 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 Through the Word if you want audio chapter guides on iPhone or Android. The US listing (id1324825712) on this check is titled “Through the Word: Bible Guide,” subtitle “Audio Study & Reading Plan,” seller Through the Word Inc., bundle id com.throughtheword.v2. 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 id1324825712. The tertiary title is “Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.” The description says the app is “a guided audio journey through the entire Bible, one chapter at a time - with no ads, no fees, ever,” and “No fees and no ads,” “even offline.” It names “all 1,189 chapters,” “19 journeys,” a 26-day Start journey, and “more than 1200 audio guides covering every Bible chapter.” This page is that app. It is not Dwell, not YouVersion, and not Enduring Word. We do not have Android, those chapter guides, or their groups.
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. Through the Word’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 | Through the Word |
|---|---|---|
| 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. The Play listing JSON-LD Offer is price 0, currency USD, and an Install control sits next to itemprop price content 0. Their giving page prints gift buttons of $25, $50, $100, and $250. Those buttons are not an annual plan, and they are not the $59.99 in the other column. We do not invent a $59.99 Through the Word 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 Through the Word month. The Play listing prints no customer dollar besides the download priced at 0. The giving page marks the $50 button aria-pressed true on this fetch, and the donate control reads “Donate $50 (once or recurring).” A separate line says “Set your gift to recur and become a monthly partner.” Another line says “No ads, no paywall, no subscription.” We do not treat a recurring gift and that no-subscription sentence as one claim, and we do not treat either as an App Store month. |
| Family plan | — | None published on the pages cited here. A monthly partner on the giving page is not a family SKU. 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 “with no ads, no fees, ever” and “No fees and no ads.” The Play description does not print a number of days. Their homepage prints $0 above the words “Free. Forever.” 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 names all 1,189 chapters, 19 journeys, a 26-day Start journey, more than 1200 audio guides, and offline listening. The Play description says “more than 1,200 audio guides” and “all 66 books explained,” and it calls the product “a free audio Bible.” We do not treat 1200, 1,200, 1,189, and 66 as one count. Their giving page says “No ads, no paywall, no subscription. Every chapter stays free because listeners fund it,” and “Free app: no ads, no fees, no guilt trips.” Their homepage says “Free forever. No ads. No fees.” |
| 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. Their giving page says there is no subscription, and the same page prints gift buttons of $25, $50, $100, and $250, plus an Other amount button with no dollar on it. A span under those buttons reads “Brings audio guides to roughly 100 hours of listening.” We do not invent an equation that ties that span to the $50 button. Their terms say they “reserve the right to make changes to the app or to charge for its services, at any time and for any reason,” and that they “will never charge you for the app or its services without making it very clear to you exactly what you're paying for.” That reservation is not a price this check found. 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 on the US listing that the guides require an account. Their platforms page says “No login required. Browse every Journey and Audio Guide at app.throughtheword.org and listen free. Try all our content before you ever create an account.” Their help home heads a support category “Having trouble signing in?” Their privacy policy defines Account as “a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service,” and says the company “allows You to create an account and log in” through Google, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Their giving page says “Log in to manage giving.” We do not invent that the app requires an account, and we do not invent that those four sentences are the same claim. |
| 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 says every audio guide walks you through one Bible chapter, and that you can listen offline. The Play description says “Listen to the Bible with a teacher in your ear” and “a free audio Bible.” The US What’s New notes say “Continuous playback: audio guide, Bible, and group messages play straight through.” We do not invent a voice catalogue of Bible translations, and we do not copy the Play “free audio Bible” sentence onto the US listing. |
| 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, Through the Word Inc., indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below.” The summary shelves are Data Used to Track You (Identifiers), Data Linked to You (Contact Info and Identifiers), and Data Not Linked to You (Usage Data and Diagnostics). Under See Details: Data Used to Track You — Identifiers (Device ID), with no purposes list on that shelf; Data Linked to You — Developer’s Advertising or Marketing — Identifiers (Device ID); Analytics — Identifiers (Device ID); App Functionality — Contact Info (Email Address) and Identifiers (User ID); Data Not Linked to You — Analytics — Usage Data (Product Interaction); App Functionality — Diagnostics (Crash Data). The See Details header adds “This information has not been verified by Apple.” The Play Data safety block, which says the developer provided it and may update it: “This app may share these data types with third parties” — “App activity, App info and performance, and Device or other IDs.” “This app may collect these data types” — “Personal info, Photos and videos and 4 others.” “Data is encrypted in transit.” “You can request that data be deleted.” This check did not find a “No data collected” line, a “No data shared with third parties” line, a Contains ads chip, or an In-app purchases chip. Their privacy policy says “Through the Word does not sell, rent, or otherwise share personal information with third parties for monetary or valuable consideration,” and “Our Service does not respond to Do Not Track signals.” It also says they may use Google Analytics and Firebase, and that Google “may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.” We print those pages. We do not invent that they describe the same collection. We do not turn the missing Contains ads chip into a claim that the US listing says the app contains ads, and we do not turn that absence into a claim that the app is ad-free. The no-ads sentences are the ones quoted from their description, homepage, and giving page. We do not restate rating or ranking marketing from the store listings. |
| Scripture | Full KJV bundled; offline on iPhone | Chapter guides, and an in-app Bible reference the store notes name. The US What’s New notes say “Bible toggle: reference the Bible while leaving a message.” The Play What’s new block includes that sentence. We do not treat the two What’s new blocks as one string. The US description names all 1,189 chapters, from Genesis to Revelation, in about 10 minutes each, and more than 1200 audio guides. The Play description adds “all 66 books explained” and “more than 1,200 audio guides.” Their homepage shows a Mark 1 sample badged NIV. This check did not find a sentence that names a catalogue of translations, and we do not invent one. The toggle sentence does not name a translation or a bundled whole Bible, and we do not invent either claim beyond it. |
| Platforms | iPhone and web | The US listing Information section names iPhone (Requires iOS 16.0 or later), iPad (Requires iPadOS 16.0 or later), Mac (Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later), and Apple Vision (Requires visionOS 1.0 or later). It does not list iPod touch. JSON-LD availableOnDevice on that page is “iPhone, iPad.” JSON-LD operatingSystem says compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The lockup tertiary title says “Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.” Lockup data for this adamId sets isIOSBinaryMacOSCompatible to true. We print all of those. We do not invent that they are the same claim. The Play listing is Android, package com.throughtheword.v2, developer Through the Word Inc., content rating Everyone, category Books & Reference, JSON-LD applicationCategory BOOKS_AND_REFERENCE, and “Updated on Sep 17, 2026.” The US Information Category line is Books. JSON-LD applicationCategory on the US page is ReferenceApplication. JSON-LD genre lists Books and Reference. We do not treat Books, Books & Reference, and ReferenceApplication as one label. Their platforms page also names a browser at app.throughtheword.org and plans on YouVersion. Size on the US listing is 38.6 MB. The US What’s New primary subtitle is Version 5.1.2, and the secondary subtitle is Fri Sep 18 2026 23:33:30 GMT+0000. The notes open with “Version 5.1 - Groups, Refined,” which is not the same string as 5.1.2. Play page data includes 5.1.2 beside a What’s new block whose visible heading is also “Version 5.1 - Groups, Refined,” and the visible Updated on line is Sep 17, 2026. We do not treat Sep 17 and Sep 18 as one date, and we do not treat the two What’s new blocks as one string. The US block names “Lockscreen and background audio.” The Play block says “Background listening is back” and does not include the word Lockscreen. |
| Tradition | Broadly Christian, KJV | Seller on the US listing is Through the Word Inc. The copyright line is “© 2024 Through the Word Inc.” The Play developer name is Through the Word Inc. Play JSON-LD types that name as Person. US JSON-LD types the author as Organization. Their privacy policy says the company “refers to Through the Word, PO Box 303, Westminster, Ca 92684,” and the application is “named Through the Word App.” The Play About the developer block names 190 E Stacy Rd, Allen, TX 75002. Their giving page says mail a check to P.O. Box 673, Huntington Beach, CA 92648. We do not collapse those three addresses, and we do not collapse Through the Word Inc., Through the Word, and Through the Word App. The homepage footer reads “© 2026 Through The Word. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit.” The giving page says “Tax-deductible 501(c)(3)” and prints Tax ID 45-2540720. We do not treat © 2024 and © 2026 as one line. Not Dwell, not YouVersion, and not Enduring Word. Their platforms page says they have more than 150 plans on YouVersion. That is plans on another app, not this listing. We do not restate chart position or review marketing from those store pages. 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. Their giving page says “Funded entirely by listeners who give cheerfully,” “100% goes to keeping the Bible free for everyone,” and “Every $1 delivers 2+ hours of Bible listening.” A later sentence says “Every $1 you give delivers more than two hours of Bible listening around the world.” We do not combine those two $1 sentences. The gift buttons this check read are $25, $50, $100, and $250. We do not invent a further gift amount. We found no scholarship sentence. We do not invent one. The terms reserve a right to charge later and print no dollar. |
Through the Word’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. The giving page’s $25, $50, $100, and $250 buttons are gifts, not a plan this check found on the store. Seraph+ opens guided sessions and Sacred Seasons.
What Through the Word does better
The chapter audio, the journeys, the groups, and Android. If “listen to a teacher walk this chapter, Genesis through Revelation, and keep going tomorrow” is the requirement, their US listing is built for it, and the Play listing is the Android edition. The US description says no ads and no fees, 1,189 chapters, 19 journeys, and more than 1200 audio guides. The Play description says a free audio Bible, more than 1,200 guides, and 66 books, and it does not repeat the US count of 1200 without a comma. They ship Android. 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 chapter audio without paying for the guides, Through the Word is the honest recommendation, and we are not in that contest.
They are also not Dwell (an audio Bible with a trial, and its own essay), not YouVersion (a Bible app, with its own essay; their platforms page says Through the Word also publishes plans there), and not Enduring Word (a commentary, with its own essay). Those are different products. This page is Through the Word: Bible Guide, sold on the US listing by Through the Word Inc., bundle id com.throughtheword.v2, id1324825712. We do not collapse them.
What Seraph does differently
Restraint as a feature, and a Bible you can finish with your eyes. No account between you and prayer — their platforms page says the browser does not require a login, and the privacy policy still describes an account you can create. Ours has no sign-up screen. Prayer data never leaves the device. Their US listing reports a Track shelf for Device ID, plus contact info and identifiers linked to you, and Play says the app may share app activity, app info and performance, and device or other IDs. 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 US What’s New notes say “Bible toggle: reference the Bible while leaving a message,” and the Play What’s new block includes that sentence, so the contrast is a full bundled KJV against that in-app Bible reference, not against chapter guides alone. Their homepage sample of Mark 1 is badged NIV. We do not invent a translation catalogue from the toggle. 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 paid ask, on the giving page, is a gift. 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
Through the Word — if you want chapter audio, journeys, groups, or Android
Start from the US listing, the Play listing, or their platforms page. The US offer is price 0, and hasInAppPurchases is false. The giving page still prints gift buttons, and it says listeners fund the chapters. The Play page prices the download at 0 and prints no customer plan for this app. Dollar amounts elsewhere on that Play page belong to other apps. We do not copy them here. Use Android if that is your phone. Do not assume the lockup’s “Not verified for macOS” and the Information section’s Mac line 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 Through the Word Inc. as the seller. Do not open YouVersion or Enduring Word and think you are on 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, Through the Word is the better fit, and we would rather you found it here than felt sold to.
Sources and scope
Checked against the following official Through the Word 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 or the Play listing, and we did not invent one. The giving page prints $25, $50, $100, $250, and the $1 sentences quoted above. We do not invent a further gift amount. The homepage prints $0. That is a download caption, not a plan.
- US App Store listing (id1324825712)
Supports the title “Through the Word: Bible Guide,” subtitle “Audio Study & Reading Plan,” seller Through the Word Inc., category Books, age 4+, copyright “© 2024 Through the Word Inc.,” bundle id com.throughtheword.v2, size 38.6 MB, JSON-LD Offer price 0 / USD, isFree true, hasInAppPurchases false, hasExternalPurchases false, offer title “Get,” an empty subtitles object, and tertiary title “Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.” isIOSBinaryMacOSCompatible is true on the lockup for this adamId. JSON-LD applicationCategory is ReferenceApplication. JSON-LD genre lists Books and Reference. The Information section’s Category line is Books. We do not treat those as one label. Supports the description quoted above, including “with no ads, no fees, ever,” “No fees and no ads,” all 1,189 chapters, 19 journeys, the 26-day Start journey, “more than 1200 audio guides,” and offline listening. Information devices as named above. JSON-LD availableOnDevice is “iPhone, iPad.” JSON-LD operatingSystem names iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The Information section does not list iPod touch. Age Rating is 4+ and Contains Messaging and Chat and User-Generated Content. Languages English. What’s New primary subtitle Version 5.1.2, secondary subtitle Fri Sep 18 2026 23:33:30 GMT+0000, notes opening “Version 5.1 - Groups, Refined,” including “Lockscreen and background audio” and “Bible toggle: reference the Bible while leaving a message.” Privacy header naming Through the Word Inc., the three shelves and the See Details purpose split quoted above. The Privacy Policy control points at throughtheword.org/privacy-policy/. The Developer Website control points at throughtheword.org. The Support control points at help.throughtheword.org. This check did not find an in-app purchase list. We do not restate rating, review count, or chart rank.
- Through the Word on Google Play
Supports an Android listing titled “Through the Word: Bible Guide,” package com.throughtheword.v2, developer Through the Word Inc., content rating Everyone, category Books & Reference, JSON-LD applicationCategory BOOKS_AND_REFERENCE, JSON-LD author type Person with that same name, JSON-LD Offer price 0 / USD, an Install control, itemprop price content 0, and “Updated on Sep 17, 2026.” Page data includes 5.1.2 beside What’s new. The visible What’s new heading is “Version 5.1 - Groups, Refined,” including “Background listening is back” and “Bible toggle: reference the Bible while leaving a message,” and this check did not find the word Lockscreen in that block. Description supports “with no ads, no fees, ever,” “No fees and no ads,” “a free audio Bible,” “Listen to the Bible with a teacher in your ear,” “more than 1,200 audio guides,” and “all 66 books explained.” This check did not find the US “more than 1200” string, without a comma, in that description. Data safety, attributed to the developer: the share line, the collect line “Personal info, Photos and videos and 4 others,” “Data is encrypted in transit,” and “You can request that data be deleted.” This check did not find a Contains ads chip, an In-app purchases chip, a “No data collected” line, or a “No data shared with third parties” line. The app-support block names help@throughtheword.org and the website throughtheword.org. The About the developer block repeats that email and names 190 E Stacy Rd, Allen, TX 75002. The Privacy Policy control points at the slash URL below. We do not restate review counts or install totals from that page. Dollar amounts this check saw on other apps in the similar-apps block are not this app’s prices. We do not copy them.
- Through the Word privacy policy
Supports “Last updated: October 28, 2024,” the Account definition quoted above, the application “named Through the Word App,” the company line “Through the Word, PO Box 303, Westminster, Ca 92684,” the sign-in sentence naming Google, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, “To manage Your Account,” email address among personal data, the Google Analytics and Firebase sentences, the advertising-network sentence quoted above, “Through the Word does not sell, rent, or otherwise share personal information with third parties for monetary or valuable consideration,” and “Our Service does not respond to Do Not Track signals.” The contact line on that HTML is obfuscated. This check did not read a plaintext email address in that policy. We do not treat that obfuscated line and help@throughtheword.org on Play as one address.
- Through the Word giving page
Supports “Free app: no ads, no fees, no guilt trips,” “Funded entirely by listeners who give cheerfully,” “100% goes to keeping the Bible free for everyone,” gift buttons $25, $50, $100, and $250, the $50 button with aria-pressed true, an Other amount button, “Brings audio guides to roughly 100 hours of listening,” the control “Donate $50 (once or recurring)” whose href is the Church Center giving link with default_amount=50, “Every $1 delivers 2+ hours of Bible listening,” “Every $1 you give delivers more than two hours of Bible listening around the world,” “No ads, no paywall, no subscription. Every chapter stays free because listeners fund it,” “Set your gift to recur and become a monthly partner,” “Log in to manage giving,” “Tax-deductible 501(c)(3),” Tax ID 45-2540720, and checks payable to Through the Word, P.O. Box 673, Huntington Beach, CA 92648. We do not invent a further gift amount. We do not restate listener totals from that page.
- Through the Word platforms page
Supports “Free, with no ads,” “No login required,” the browser sentence naming app.throughtheword.org, “Try all our content before you ever create an account,” and “more than 150 plans” on YouVersion. The same page prints a plan-completions total. We do not restate it. We do not treat those plans as the YouVersion app itself.
- Through the Word homepage
Supports $0 above “Free. Forever.,” “Free forever. No ads. No fees,” a Mark 1 sample badged NIV, and the footer “© 2026 Through The Word. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit.” The Developer Website control on the US listing points at throughtheword.org without a trailing slash. This homepage URL has the slash. We do not collapse those two strings. This check did not find a plan dollar on that page. We do not restate ratings or listener totals from that page.
- Through the Word help home
Supports the category line “Having trouble signing in?” The US listing’s Support control points at this host. We do not treat that heading as a sentence that the guides require an account.
- Through the Word terms
Supports the reservation “to charge for its services, at any time and for any reason,” and “We will never charge you for the app or its services without making it very clear to you exactly what you're paying for.” This check did not find a dollar on that page. The reservation is not a current plan.
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