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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
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Is it worth paying for

ESPN

45
Value score / 100 Worth paying? No Skip it

The ESPN app is a decent free option for general sports news and scores, but its paid subscription, ESPN+, is frequently criticized for poor streaming quality, excessive ads, and a lack of desired content.

Free + in-app purchases seen up to $370 4.6★ lifetime (4,102,779) since 2009

The ESPN app is highly rated for its free features like scores, news, and team tracking, but recent reviews highlight significant issues with its paid ESPN+ subscription, including frequent crashes, excessive commercials, and poor content availability. While many users appreciate the breadth of sports coverage, the app's technical problems and monetization strategies detract from its overall value, especially for paying subscribers.

Free vs paid

The free version of the ESPN app allows users to track teams, view scores, and access general sports news and commentary R3R4R19R25. Many users find it useful for staying updated on their favorite sports R3R4R25R53. The paid ESPN+ subscription is intended for watching live events and replays, but reviews indicate it suffers from buffering, ads even for paid content, and difficulty finding specific matches or replays R38R42R44R45. Some users report paying for ESPN+ but still being unable to log in or access content R44.

Value complaints

  • Paid subscription still includes excessive commercials, sometimes longer than the content itself, even for clips and replays.R7R38R42R184
  • Users pay for ESPN+ but cannot log in or access live sports, making the subscription worthless.R43R44
  • Subscription does not guarantee access to replays of major matches, with some content disappearing or being hard to find.R45R66R78
  • The app is perceived as greedy due to its monetization practices and poor quality for the price.R24R42R45
  • Some users regret adding ESPN to their Hulu subscription due to poor performance.R2

Where it delivers

  • The app is excellent for keeping track of team progress, scores, and general sports news.R3R4R19R25
  • Users appreciate the comprehensive sports knowledge, info, and commentary available.R4R11R19R26
  • It provides a good format for quick summaries and in-depth articles.R23R25
  • Many find the app entertaining and useful for staying updated on various sports.R9R53R57R81
Worth paying if

It is not worth paying for the ESPN+ subscription based on current user reviews, as many paying users report significant issues with streaming quality, ad frequency, and content availability R38R42R44R45.

Skip / stay free if

You should skip paying for ESPN+ if you expect a seamless, ad-free streaming experience or reliable access to specific replays, especially for events like Wimbledon R38R42R45. Users who primarily want to follow less mainstream sports or customize their feed extensively may also be disappointed R20R45R49R65.

Evidence note: Recent reviews R2R7R13 are overwhelmingly negative, focusing on technical issues, excessive ads, and poor value for paid features, which contrasts sharply with the high lifetime rating (4.65/5) that likely reflects the app's historical performance or free features. The positive reviews R3R4 are generally older or praise the free content and general sports coverage without addressing the monetization or technical issues raised in negative reviews.

Frequently asked

Is the ESPN app free to use?
Yes, the core ESPN app is free to download and use for tracking scores, news, and general sports information R3R4R25R53.
Does ESPN+ have commercials?
Yes, many users complain that ESPN+ still includes excessive commercials, even for paid content and replays, with some ads being longer than the video clips themselves R7R38R42R184.
Can I customize the ESPN app to only show my favorite sports?
While the app allows selecting favorite sports, users frequently report that it still pushes notifications and content for sports they don't care about, and customization options are limited R13R45R49R75.
Are there technical issues with the ESPN app?
Yes, numerous users report significant technical issues including slow loading times, frequent crashes, videos freezing, notifications leading to the wrong content, and problems with fast-forwarding and rewinding R21R27R31R35.
Does the ESPN app cover all sports?
While it covers many major sports, some users complain about a lack of coverage for specific leagues like AUSL (professional softball) and cricket, or that popular global sports like soccer are not prominently featured R20R30R41R65.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R7] 3/5 · US Too commercialized: Way too many commercials. Clicking a link to watch a 10 seconds video shouldn’t have 30-60 seconds of commercials in front of
  2. [R38] 1/5 · US Ruined by Ad Tech: Ad Tech has utterly destroyed the usability of this app. It’s not that it forces me to view ads. I’m fine with that although I would pay more to avoid it. The problem is that streaming a game that has already been played, particularly if you do not watch it all at once, is a disaster. The app freezes and the fast forward and rewind functionality rarely works well. It is the wors
  3. [R42] 1/5 · US Commercials?: We’re talking about commercials? $30 a month and I can’t watch clips without watching a commercial first. Commercials longer than the clip.
  4. [R184] 3/5 · US 29.99 for adds: Purchased the app to watch Wimbledon matches. I think for 29.99$ I don’t have to watch 2 min ads every time I want to fast forward the video. Those ads are so annoying!
  5. [R43] 1/5 · US Can’t Login: Can’t login with TV Provider. There’s not s way to select Optimum TV which is Optimum giber internet. :(
  6. [R44] 1/5 · US Terrible: I pay a lot of money for cable AND for espn+ bundle app and the app will not let me log in to either to watch live sports. It’s ridiculous.
  7. [R45] 1/5 · US No customization - my thumb is tired: Unlimited???? NOT! It’s very limited!!! Esp no tennis replays of major matches- live only. For $30/mo extra that is robbery. Too many sports I don’t care to watch that I can’t filter out. UI great for free app but for paid subscription I would expect ability to filter what I want to see, not what ESPN wants me to see EASILY. I spend too much time hunting an
  8. [R66] 1/5 · US Do not waste your money on subscriptions: I subscribed to ESPN specifically to watch the Wimbledon 2026 men’s and women’s singles matches in the US. Because of the time difference, the matches are played while I’m at work, so I expected to watch the replays in the evening. Instead, I paid for a subscription that still includes a lot of advertising, and by the time I get home, many of the matches
  9. [R78] 1/5 · US Horrendous User Experience: I'm an ESPN Unlimited subscriber and your coverage in the app of Wimbledon, especially Men's singles replays is awful. You lump every single match in the On Demand section (who actually cares about wading through Girls and Boys matches in a main feed? Ridiculous) but leave out the matches I actually want to watch. You really should study how HBO handled Roland Garros. T
  10. [R24] 1/5 · US Greed: Greedy. Greedy. Greedy. ESPN is garbage now. Anchors. Pregames. All garbage.
  11. [R2] 5/5 · US Hot: This app is hot garbage anymore. I regret adding it to my Hulu. What’s funny is it won’t even let me change my tv provider.
  12. [R3] 5/5 · US ESPN: Best app ever if I need to keep track of my teams progress and scores and then I can watch events
  13. [R4] 5/5 · US Best app ever: It gives me all my sport knowledge in seconds and I can keep watch on all the games all day long
  14. [R19] 5/5 · US Zone in, lock in: Where else can you get every bit of accurate sports news, info and commentary from? Nothing is as on point as espn and they do what we need done. We need to know what’s going on in each game, who’s doing what and drafting where, pitching here, winning the CUP there. Fans are out there locked in to ESPN WHY? Because sports is the vein and espn is the blood of the game!
  15. [R25] 5/5 · US Love this: Ever since I got the app it has been so awesome because it allows me to have all of the Google searches for scores, headlines, etc in one app that loads super fast except for some articles they freeze but anyway this app is totally awesome i would 1000% recommend this to anyone trying to get into sports or if they already are
  16. [R11] 5/5 · US RickyD: Everything anything about SPORTS is on here easy to access and 100% TRUTH Love MR. STEVEN A. SMITH. Perks growing on me.. 😂😂
  17. [R26] 5/5 · US Best Sport Angeles analyst and commentators: I started watching ESPN because I love FirstTake. FirstTake is my favorite show along with PARDON THE INTERRUPTION! ESPN has a diverse group of commentators and analysts that have drawn me in, and I also watch other shows like Get Up, Pat McAfee, NFL Countdown, and NBA Live. Keep up the good work. Oh, one more comment: I enjoyed all the Black History k
  18. [R23] 5/5 · US Great format for the long story short & the rest maybe later.: It’s one of those questions only those closest to the 1 of 1 can attempt to answer. To what length SportsCenter be or not be shared by any measure never losing it’s unquantifiable sanctity
  19. [R9] 5/5 · US Cool: So entertaining
  20. [R53] 5/5 · US Keeping me update: ESPN is my favorite sports app because I can watch and look at scores and it still tells me the news five stars plus it has verts that keep me entertained
  21. [R57] 5/5 · US Enjoyable: Good coverage
  22. [R81] 5/5 · US Lwky Lwky tuff: This app Lwky is Lwky so Lwky tuff. It Lwky gives you Lwky everything you Lwky need for sports Lwky. 6️⃣🤷🏽‍♂️7️⃣. Lwky one of my Lwky favorite apps. Lwky definitely Lwky recommend Lwky downloading it. Lwky Lwky Lwky Lwky YEA BOOM MERICAAA!!
  23. [R13] 1/5 · US No more World Cup: Please make the World Cup notifications stop. I have them turned off because I don’t care and I still get soccer notifications for some reason
  24. [R49] 1/5 · US SC app: Can’t choose only the sports you want to follow, you get all the sports ESPN wants you to see
  25. [R75] 1/5 · US Lazy: Unlike other apps where you can choose the content direction and stay in the area of sports that you are attracted to this app continually hammers you with content “they” think is best. II have know and will not change my opinion the WNBA and their NBA enablers suck. STOP
  26. [R21] 1/5 · US Notifications: When you click on a notification half the time it takes you to another article or just the home page…..espn is by far the worst app on my phone and its not even close
  27. [R27] 3/5 · US Great app but: I love this app for following my favorite football team. Go dolphins! But it always takes nine years for anything to load and ninety nine percent of the time it doesn’t load a especially verts
  28. [R31] 1/5 · US Worst app I’ve ever used: For a company as big as ESPN they have the worst interface I have ever used. Videos or adds just randomly play in the background unless you completely close out of the app. You will be trying to scroll and it will just randomly select videos or articles that you didn’t even touch. Don’t waste your time. Had it for years but will never go back
  29. [R35] 1/5 · US Tech is horrible: They can’t even figure out how to do basic things like rewinding and ffwding. You only have the option of 2x immediately jumped to 50 x. No loop forward or back. It’s pitiful. Also have to scroll down like 20 rows or bs just to get the last show you watched to resume it. And good luck to you that it chose the right spot because if not once again you can’t ffwd or rwnd to it witho
  30. [R20] 1/5 · US Please please please: Can you please please please add AUSL score and STATS to the app? Love that I am now able to watch pro softball on espn but if I’m out and about I would love to check scores and stats on the go. 🙏🙏🙏🙏
  31. [R30] 3/5 · US FIFA: How is it the WORLDCUP has been going on and the app doesn’t really promote it. You have scroll down on the app just to get into details about the game. I have the update of it and it still don’t have it on top. Same thing with UFC and formula 1. The Spain and France is on today and they aren’t talking about. It’s a semi final game and act like it’s nothing. Do Better
  32. [R41] 2/5 · US Getting Irrelevant: Doesn’t really cover the most popular sports in the world soccer and cricket
  33. [R65] 3/5 · US No AUSL coverage?: Recent update still doesn’t show professional softball league scores or as an option to add as a favorite. It’s been a league for at least 2 years and you haven’t added it?!

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store