Hallow Alternatives: Free and Cheaper Catholic Prayer Apps

The Short Answer: The Best Hallow Alternative for Each Need

The right Hallow alternative depends on what you used Hallow for. Here is the quick match.

• Free, with the most features: Laudate. Mass readings, the Liturgy of the Hours, an interactive Rosary, the Catechism and confession guides, all free.
• Free daily guided audio prayer: Pray As You Go, from the Jesuits in Britain. A 10 to 13 minute session every day, always free.
• Free recorded Rosary with familiar voices: the Ascension app's free tier, with Fr. Mike Schmitz, Fr. Mark-Mary Ames and the Sisters of Life.
• Free Catholic meditations and sleep stories: Amen, from the Augustine Institute.
• The Liturgy of the Hours, bought once: Universalis, $9.99 on the App Store with no subscription needed.
• Daily devotionals, guided prayer, Bible studies and worship playlists for one payment: Catholic/Christian Pro, $49 once.

Before you switch, check what you lose. Hallow's own free version keeps Bible in a Year, the Daily Rosary and the Daily Gospel at no cost, as our full Hallow review and price breakdown explains. Many people only need to cancel the paid plan.

Hallow Alternatives Compared by Price

The table below lists US prices from each app's own App Store listing or website, as of November 2026. "Free" means the app lists no subscription or in-app purchase for its core content.

Prices from each publisher's App Store listing or own website for US users, checked November 2026. Prices change; confirm in your app store before you buy.

Free Apps Like Hallow

Five well-established Catholic apps cost nothing and cover most of what people use Hallow for.

Laudate

Laudate calls itself the most comprehensive free Catholic app on its App Store listing, and the feature list backs it up: daily Mass readings with the saint of the day, the Liturgy of the Hours in English and Latin, the New American Bible and an offline Douay-Rheims, an interactive Rosary and many chaplets, the Stations of the Cross, the Catechism, Vatican II documents, confession guides and podcasts for daily meditation and the Rosary. The design is plain. The content is deep.

Pray As You Go

Pray As You Go is a work of the Jesuits in Britain. Its App Store listing says all content is always free with no subscription. The heart of it is one guided session each day, lasting 10 to 13 minutes, built from music, a Scripture passage and Ignatian reflection questions. It also has Examen prayers, imaginative contemplations, sleep prayers and mental health prayer guides. If you used Hallow mainly for a morning Gospel meditation, this is the closest free match.

Amen

Amen comes from the Augustine Institute, the publisher behind Formed. It offers recorded Catholic prayers, the Rosary in standard, meditative and scriptural formats with optional background music, audio Bible studies, Christian meditations, sleep stories and Dr. Tim Gray's insights on the daily readings. It is listed as free on the App Store.

Click To Pray

Click To Pray is the official app of the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network. It gives three short moments of prayer each day for the Holy Father's monthly intentions, and lets you share intentions with a worldwide community. It is free.

Divine Office

The Divine Office app gives the Liturgy of the Hours with audio recordings, hymns and a map of people praying the same hour with you. DivineOffice.org says the app is now free and the ministry runs on donations. The website itself can only be used from the United States because of licensing.

The Ascension App: The Closest Free Match for Bible in a Year

The Ascension app is the closest alternative for Catholics who came to Hallow for Fr. Mike Schmitz. Ascension produces The Bible in a Year, The Catechism in a Year and The Rosary in a Year podcasts, and its App Store listing says every user gets the full text of the Bible, the full Catechism, daily Mass readings with reflections, the full Rosary with all recorded voices and most Ascension podcasts for free.

The recorded Rosary includes Fr. Mike Schmitz, Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, Jeff Cavins, the Sisters of Life and Paul Rose, in English or Latin, with an option to chant. Ascension's paid plan, $8.99 a month or $59.99 a year in the US, unlocks all content and its 80+ study plans. Plenty of people never need the paid plan.

Following the full year with Fr. Mike? Our Catholic Bible in a Year reading plan guide shows how to start and keep going.

One-Time Purchase Alternatives to Hallow

If the yearly renewal is what bothers you about Hallow, two Catholic apps sell for a single payment.

Universalis ($9.99 once)

Universalis is a missal and breviary in one app: the complete Liturgy of the Hours and the Mass readings for every day, past and future, with no internet connection needed once installed. The Universalis site lists the iPhone app at $9.99 as a single purchase, with no subscription required. Spoken audio of the Hours is an optional subscription at $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year, and the app includes a Rosary with a Scripture verse for every Hail Mary. If you want the prayer of the Church, this is excellent value.

Catholic/Christian Pro ($49 once)

Pro is our own one-time membership. For $49 once you get daily audio devotionals with calming background music, audio-guided prayer sessions for anxiety, healing and protection, in-depth Bible studies and prayer frameworks, curated worship playlists, offline access and early access to everything new. It also includes a private circle to pray with, counselling sessions with a qualified therapist and the Freedom Programme for breaking a porn, gambling, drinking or drug habit. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Pro is a smaller library than Hallow's. It suits people who want one daily routine, real Bible study and people to pray with, and who would rather pay once.

Cheaper Subscriptions Than Hallow

Some readers prefer a printed or digital monthly devotional to an app library. Three cost less than Hallow's $69.99 a year:

• The Word Among Us: the digital edition with audio of the daily Mass readings and meditations is $1.99 a month on iPhone and Android, with a free trial, according to wau.org.
• Magnificat: the digital edition is $24 a year, and paper plus digital is $52 a year, according to Magnificat USA. It gives morning and evening prayer, the Mass texts and a daily meditation.
• Formed: the App Store lists FORMED subscription purchases of $9.99 and $99.99. Formed says more than 5,000 parishes provide it, so ask your parish for a free login first.

For a printed-or-digital routine you can keep for years, see our guide to building a daily Catholic devotional.

Which Hallow Alternative Should You Choose?

Choose by the Hallow feature you would miss most.

• You used Hallow for the Rosary: Ascension's free recorded Rosary, or Laudate. Our audio Rosary guide lists free recordings for each day's mysteries.
• You used Hallow for the morning Gospel: Pray As You Go.
• You used Hallow for sleep prayers: Pray As You Go's sleep prayers or Amen's sleep stories, both free. Night Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours is free in Laudate and Divine Office.
• You used Hallow for Bible in a Year: keep Hallow's free tier, or use the Ascension app. Both are free.
• You used Hallow for music: Pro includes curated worship playlists for one payment.
• You want guided prayer, Bible study and people to pray with, for one payment: Pro.

How to Switch From Hallow Without Losing Your Habit

Switching apps is the moment many people stop praying, because the routine breaks. Do it in this order.

1. Install the new app first. Use it for a week alongside Hallow, at your usual prayer time.
2. Copy your routine. If you prayed Hallow's 10-minute Gospel at 7am, set the same reminder in the new app.
3. Cancel in your app store settings. On iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions. On Android, open Google Play, then Payments and subscriptions. Deleting Hallow does not cancel it.
4. Cancel at least 24 hours before renewal. Hallow's subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is off at least a day before the period ends.
5. Keep Hallow's free tier if you like it. Your free content, including Bible in a Year and the Daily Rosary, stays.

What to Look For in a Catholic Prayer App

Any app you trust with your prayer life should pass four checks.

• Faithful content. Catholic prayers, approved translations and teaching in line with the Catechism. Check who stands behind the app: Ascension, the Augustine Institute, the Jesuits in Britain and the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network publish several of the apps above.
• Offline use. Prayer should not stop on a train or a weak signal. Universalis, Laudate's Douay-Rheims Bible and Pro work offline.
• Honest cost over time. Multiply any yearly price by five. Hallow's annual plan is $349.95 over five years at today's price; Ascension's is $299.95. A one-time price stays the same.
• Short daily sessions. Five to fifteen minutes is the length people keep. Long sessions get skipped.

The app is a tool. The daily turning to God is the point, and it starts today.