The best iOS app for most Orthodox Christians is Orthodox Daily Companion, because it puts the whole of the Church’s day in one place: the saints commemorated, the appointed readings, morning and evening prayers, and whether today is a fast. Around it, a well-stocked iPhone might add the Orthodox Study Bible for Scripture, OrthoPrax if your parish keeps the Old Calendar, Ancient Faith for listening, and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese’s Daily Readings and Digital Chant Stand for the lectionary and the services. One disclosure before the list: Orthodox Daily Companion is our own app, so we explain below exactly what it does and where it stops, the same as every other entry.

An app is a prayer book that is always in your pocket. It is not a parish, a priest, or a spiritual father, and the good ones know it: they point you outward, to the services, the fasts, and the saints the whole Church is keeping today, rather than asking for more of your attention. That is the standard this list is judged by.

How We Chose These Apps

We looked for apps that meet four tests, and checked every App Store listing on October 31, 2026:

  • Made by or for Orthodox Christians. Not a general Christian app with an icon on the splash screen, but one built around the Orthodox calendar, Scripture as the Church reads it, and the Church’s own prayers.
  • Honest about the calendar. Orthodox parishes keep either the New (Revised Julian) or the Old (Julian) calendar for fixed feasts, thirteen days apart. A good app says which one it follows. If you are not sure which your parish keeps, our guide to the different Orthodox jurisdictions is a good place to start.
  • Actively maintained. Every app here has been updated within roughly the last year.
  • Clear about what costs money. We list what is free and what is paid, as the App Store showed it. Prices change; check the listing before you buy.

The Best iOS Apps for Orthodox Christians at a Glance

  1. Orthodox Daily Companion: the whole day in one place. Free download; premium by subscription. New Calendar.
  2. Orthodox Study Bible: Scripture with Orthodox commentary. Free Today screen; full text is one purchase.
  3. OrthoPrax: matching your jurisdiction’s calendar. Free, with paid tiers. Old or New Calendar.
  4. Ancient Faith: Orthodox radio and podcasts. Free.
  5. Daily Readings: the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese’s lectionary. $0.99.
  6. Digital Chant Stand: the texts of the services, in English and Greek. Free.
  7. Athon: Bible, saints, and audio studies in seven languages. Free, with a premium subscription.
  8. Orthodox Calendar †: a dense daily reference in English and Russian. Free, with a paid full version. Old or New Calendar.

1. Orthodox Daily Companion: The Whole Day in One Place

Most mornings, an Orthodox Christian has three practical questions: who the Church is remembering today, what to read, and whether today is a fast. Orthodox Daily Companion answers all three on one screen, then gives you a short rule of prayer to begin and end the day. It is made to be opened briefly and often, and then closed.

  • Daily synaxarion. The saints, martyrs, and feasts of the day. Tap any day to read the life of the saint and why the Church remembers them. (New to the word? See the lives of the saints.)
  • Scripture readings. The appointed Epistle and Gospel for every day of the year, the same passages being read in parishes on that calendar.
  • Morning and evening prayers. The Trisagion, the Creed, the Jesus Prayer, prayers of the saints, and intercessions, in collapsible sections so you can pray at your own pace.
  • Fasting guidance. Whether today is a fast day, a fish day, or a fast-free day, with Wednesdays, Fridays, and the four great fasts of the year built in.
  • Wisdom of the Fathers. A daily saying from the desert ascetics, the Cappadocians, and later saints, with a library of the Fathers behind it.
  • A private journal, kept on the device and tagged by date, for a prayer intention or a line that struck you.
  • A Home Screen widget showing today’s saint, today’s fast, and the daily saying, and prayer reminders at the times you choose.

What it costs. The app is free to download, and the free version includes the daily synaxarion, the prayers, and the daily saying. A premium subscription ($5.99 a month or $59.99 a year on the App Store in October 2026) adds the full daily Scripture readings, the complete library of the Fathers, prayer reminders, and the widget.

Where it stops. It follows the New (Revised Julian) Calendar, so Old Calendar parishes are better served by OrthoPrax or Orthodox Calendar † below. It is in English only, and the App Store edition is designed for iPhone (iOS 15.1 or later); on an iPad or a computer, use the web version in any browser. It is not affiliated with any jurisdiction, so your parish’s own calendar and your priest’s guidance come first.

Why we rank it first, and why you should know who made it. Orthodox Daily Companion is published by the Orthodox Calendar Company, and the App Store lists its seller as Michael Mitrakos, the author of this article. We built it to put the whole day in one place, and we rank it first because we think it does that better than anything else here. You are entitled to weigh our opinion of our own app accordingly. More on the Companion’s page on this site; it is also on Google Play.

2. Orthodox Study Bible: Scripture as the Church Reads It

The Orthodox Study Bible app, from VDUB Software, licenses the full text and notes of the printed Orthodox Study Bible from Thomas Nelson. The Old Testament is translated from the Greek Septuagint, including the books Protestant Bibles omit, and the New Testament is the New King James Version. Commentary drawn from the early Church, book introductions, topical articles, and a glossary sit alongside the text.

Two things make it more than a Bible reader. First, its free Today screen gives the day’s readings with their footnotes, plus morning and evening prayers with the appointed psalm inserted. Second, those daily readings follow your choice of three lectionaries: Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church in Baltimore (Old Calendar), the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, or the Orthodox Church in America (both New Calendar). Reading plans, the kathismata of the Psalter, bookmarks, highlights, and search are included.

What it costs. The Today screen is free. Everything else is a single in-app purchase ($10.00 on the App Store), with no subscription. Who it is for: anyone who wants to read Scripture daily with the Church’s commentary at hand. For background, see what Bible Orthodox Christians use.

3. OrthoPrax: For the Old Calendar and Your Parish’s Typikon

OrthoPrax, published by St. Sebastian Orthodox Press, is a combined church calendar, prayer book, and collection of readings. Its distinguishing feature is flexibility: the calendar switches between Old (Julian) and New (Revised Julian), and adjusts to the particular practices of the Greek, Antiochian, Serbian, Russian, and American Orthodox churches. If you have found that other apps keep a feast on a different day from your parish, this is the one to try.

It carries the saints’ lives for each day, prayers for morning, evening, and before Communion, thousands of icon images, clearly marked fast days, and professionally narrated audio, including the Prologue of Ohrid in its paid tier. What it costs: free to download with in-app purchases; its listing describes a basic tier at $3.99 a year and a full tier at $14.99 a year. Who it is for: Old Calendar Orthodox, and anyone who wants the app to match their own jurisdiction’s reckoning exactly.

4. Ancient Faith: For Listening

Ancient Faith is the official, free app of Ancient Faith Ministries: three 24-hour internet radio stations, live call-in programs, and a large library of downloadable Orthodox podcasts, along with access to the Ancient Faith store. It is where the hours you cannot spend reading can go: the commute, the dishes, the walk.

The podcast catalog ranges from Scripture studies to parish life, and includes the archive of Fr. Thomas Hopko’s Speaking the Truth in Love, recorded over many years before his repose in 2015. Who it is for: anyone who learns by listening. One suggestion: pick one program and go through it in order, rather than sampling clips.

5. Daily Readings: The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese’s Lectionary

Daily Readings, from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, does one job and does it officially: the day’s Scripture readings, saints, and fasting guidelines according to the lectionary of the Greek Orthodox Church, following the typikon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It also lets you look up any saint or feast, find the movable feasts for a given year from the date of Pascha, look up Orthodox terms, read a selection of prayers, set reminders to read the Epistle and Gospel, and switch the text and interface between English, Greek, and Arabic.

What it costs: $0.99 on the App Store (the Android edition is free). Its recent release notes mention an upcoming rewrite of the app, so expect the listing to change. Who it is for: parishioners of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, and anyone in a parish that follows the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s lectionary.

6. Digital Chant Stand: The Texts of the Services

Digital Chant Stand began as the work of AGES Initiatives, which is now part of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. It is a free and growing library of liturgical texts and music for Vespers, Orthros, the Divine Liturgy, and other services, with Greek and English, musical scores, audio, and booklets assembled for the day.

Who it is for: anyone who wants to follow a service word by word, and chanters preparing to sing it. Two cautions. The translations are the Archdiocese’s, so they will not always match the books in a parish of another jurisdiction, and the listing notes that texts are revised from time to time. And if you use it during a service, keep the phone silent and out of the way. If the Liturgy itself is new to you, start with our guide to understanding the Divine Liturgy.

7. Athon: Bible, Saints, and Audio in Seven Languages

Athon: Orthodox Bible is the most feature-heavy app on this list: daily readings, feast and fasting calendars, audio Bible studies, the lives of more than 900 saints, a full offline Bible, and a prayer book with audio. It is available in English, French, German, Greek, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish, which makes it a good fit for a household that prays in more than one language.

What it costs: free to download, with a premium subscription (listed at $6.99 a month or $49.99 a year, with frequent discounts). One caution: it includes an AI-powered question-and-answer feature. Treat its answers as you would a stranger’s opinion on the internet: occasionally useful for a definition, never a substitute for asking your priest.

8. Orthodox Calendar †: A Dense Daily Reference in English and Russian

Orthodox Calendar † (the cross is part of its name, which helps when searching) packs a great deal into each day: feasts, saints, and the commemorated icons of the Mother of God, the Gospel readings, a memorial book for the names of the living and the departed, reminders, and a widget. It supports both the Julian and Revised Julian calendars and is in English and Russian.

What it costs: free to download; the Bible and prayer book are part of a full version bought in-app. Who it is for: readers who like everything at once, and especially those in Russian-tradition parishes.

Which App Should You Start With?

  • If you want one app: Orthodox Daily Companion, for the day’s saints, prayers, fast, and readings.
  • If your parish keeps the Old Calendar: OrthoPrax or Orthodox Calendar †, with the Orthodox Study Bible’s Old Calendar readings alongside.
  • If you belong to a Greek Orthodox parish: Daily Readings and Digital Chant Stand, both from the Archdiocese.
  • If you want to read Scripture with the Church’s commentary: the Orthodox Study Bible.
  • If you learn best by listening: Ancient Faith.

Whatever you install, the calendar your phone keeps should be the one your parish keeps. If they disagree, believe the parish. (Why the dates can differ at all is explained in why Orthodox Pascha falls on a different date.)

A Word of Caution About Lookalike Apps

Search the App Store for “Orthodox” and you will find dozens of recent apps with nearly identical names. Some are careful work; others are thin, quickly assembled, or full of machine-written text presented as the Church’s teaching. Before you install, check four things:

  • The developer. Is it a known publisher, monastery, or archdiocese, or someone with a page of unrelated apps?
  • The last update. A calendar app that has not been updated in years may get this year’s movable feasts wrong.
  • The App Privacy section. A prayer book has no need to track you across other apps.
  • The exact name. “Orthodox Daily” is also the name of our free browser extension, and several unrelated apps use similar words. Our app is listed as Orthodox Daily Companion.

And keep the app in its place. The Orthodox life is learned in the Divine Liturgy and with a priest who knows you. An app can help you keep a prayer rule; it cannot give you one.

Common Questions

Is there a good free Orthodox app for iPhone?

Yes. Ancient Faith and Digital Chant Stand are free outright. Orthodox Daily Companion is free to download and includes the daily synaxarion, morning and evening prayers, and a daily saying of the Fathers. The Orthodox Study Bible app gives away its Today screen, and OrthoPrax has a free tier.

Which iPhone app works for the Old Calendar?

OrthoPrax switches between the Old (Julian) and New (Revised Julian) calendars, and Orthodox Calendar † supports both. The Orthodox Study Bible app also carries the daily readings of an Old Calendar parish, Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church in Baltimore. Orthodox Daily Companion currently follows the New Calendar only.

What is the best app for following the Divine Liturgy in church?

Digital Chant Stand, from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, has the texts of Vespers, Orthros, and the Divine Liturgy in English and Greek. If you use a phone during services, silence it and keep it discreet. Customs differ from parish to parish, so ask if you are unsure.

Is the Orthodox Study Bible app the same as the printed book?

Yes. The app licenses the text and notes of the Orthodox Study Bible published by Thomas Nelson: a Septuagint Old Testament including the Deuterocanon, the New King James New Testament, and the commentary. The full text is a single in-app purchase with no subscription.

Does Orthodox Daily Companion work on iPad or Mac?

The App Store edition is designed for iPhone. On an iPad or a computer, the web version at app.livesofthesaintscalendar.com runs in any browser with the same account.