Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Wattpad vs Galatea

Wattpad 4.7★ · Free + IAP 65
Winner Wattpad
Galatea 4.6★ · Free + IAP 55

Wattpad offers a wider range of free content and a more established community, making it suitable for casual readers and aspiring writers, while Galatea focuses on exclusive, high-quality stories with a more structured monetization model.

Full reviews: Wattpad · Galatea

Wattpad, with its vast library of user-generated content and long history, struggles with an overwhelming number of ads and technical glitches, impacting user experience. Galatea offers engaging, often exclusive stories but faces criticism for its restrictive point system and long wait times for free chapters.

Head to head

Content Variety & Quality tieR11R16R17R47
Wattpad Wattpad is praised for its extensive library of fanfiction and original stories, catering to diverse interests and helping users improve reading skills R11R47R17. However, some users express concern about an increase in AI-generated content R16 and a cluttered social feed .
Galatea Galatea is highly regarded for its engaging, intriguing, and well-written stories, with users often getting 'hooked' . It offers unique genres and plotlines not easily found elsewhere .
Free Reading Experience tieR1R4R6R7
Wattpad Wattpad's free experience is severely hampered by an excessive number of ads, with many users reporting an ad after every chapter or even every few minutes, making the app 'unusable' and 'unenjoyable' R1R4R6R7.
Galatea Galatea's free reading is limited by a point system and long wait times, typically 5 hours, between chapters R64R66R69R76. Users wish for more ways to earn points for free, like watching ads .
Paid Reading Experience / Value tieR19R22R40R58
Wattpad Wattpad users are resistant to paying for a membership to remove ads, feeling it's a 'scam' or 'money hungry' R19R22R40R58. Some suggest a one-time purchase option for ad removal .
Galatea Galatea's paid model, involving purchasing points or subscriptions, is frequently criticized for being expensive and confusing . Users feel chapters are short and points are costly, leading to high overall book prices . Some books are entirely behind a premium paywall .
Reliability & Features edge: GalateaR2R3R18R48
Wattpad Wattpad suffers from numerous bugs and glitches, including keyboard issues R2, deleted stories R3, login problems R18R48, inability to comment , home screen not loading , blurry text/covers R33, and offline books not loading . Users also dislike the social feed and lack of a highlighting feature or better library sorting .
Galatea Galatea has fewer reported technical issues, though some users mention dialogue cutting off and points disappearing . A key missing feature is the text-to-speech option advertised but not present in the app .
Pick Wattpad if

You are a writer looking for a platform to share your stories and connect with a large community, or a reader who prioritizes a vast selection of free (albeit ad-supported) content, especially fanfiction R47. You are willing to tolerate frequent ads and occasional bugs for the breadth of available stories R17.

Pick Galatea if

You prioritize exclusive, high-quality, and engaging original stories, particularly in genres like romance or fantasy . You are patient with wait times for free chapters or willing to pay for points to binge-read .

Evidence note: Recent reviews for Wattpad are heavily skewed negative due to the increase in ads, which contrasts with its higher lifetime rating. Galatea's reviews consistently highlight the paywall and wait times as the primary drawbacks.

Frequently asked

How do Wattpad and Galatea compare on ads?
Wattpad has a significantly higher volume of ads, with many users reporting an ad after every chapter or every few minutes, making the app difficult to use for free R1R4R6R7. Galatea, conversely, has a point and wait-time system for free reading and users appreciate its lack of ads .
Is it possible to read for free on Galatea?
Yes, you can read for free on Galatea by waiting approximately 5 hours between chapters R64R66R69R76, but some premium chapters require points, which must be purchased .
What are the main issues with Wattpad for writers?
Writers on Wattpad report issues such as keyboard malfunctions when trying to sign in R2, popular stories being deleted R3, blurry cover uploads R33, and difficulties with the writing UI being outdated R48. The social feed also clutters announcements, making it harder for writers to reach their audience .

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. [R11] Wattpad 5/5 · US Improved my Lexile level.: Back in 4th Grade I was still learning English, and I lowkey had never been into reading, so my mom got mad and threatened to take away my phone if I didn’t improve my grades in English class. Basically when I discovered Wattpad I started reading so much more that I quickly improved my lexile (It was 2.5/4 before and I changed to a 4/4). The leaderboard system regarding
  2. [R16] Wattpad 1/5 · US WHOLE BUNCH OF AI SLOP: EVERYTHING IS AI GENERATED NOBODY TRULY WRITES ANYMORE EVERYTHING IS STRAIGHT UP AI SLOP AND ADS ! WATTPAD IS MONEY HUNGRY AND FULL OF BS AI
  3. [R17] Wattpad 5/5 · US Very informative and entertaining to use as a reading tool👍: I think it’s a very good app for readers of all types ENJOY 😊
  4. [R47] Wattpad 5/5 · US BEST app for fanfiction: I absolutely LOVE wattpad. The community is super kind, and it's definitely the first place I look when I want to find fanfiction to read. Whether it's for a show, movie, or book, wattpad has it all. I love that I'm able to post my own fanfics and stories on there too. Definitely one of my favorite apps🫶💗
  5. [R1] Wattpad 2/5 · US Ads: There is way too many ads it’s absolutely ridiculous, why do you need a ad after every freaking chapter it’s crazy that I can’t read a chapter without an ad. DO BETTER
  6. [R4] Wattpad 2/5 · US So many ad’s: Been using this app 11 years now, I’ve been though so many ups and downs with you wattpad. An ad after every chapter is ludicrous. And they’re the type of ad’s where it always takes you to the App Store so you have to swipe back into it. Why penalize me for being poor? Has our time together meant nothing? You have sold out and should be ashamed.
  7. [R6] Wattpad 3/5 · US get rid of the constant ads!!!: i’ve been using wattpad for about 6 years, i’ve always loved it! There used to be very few ads and now this new update gives you ads after EVERY chapter, it ruins the whole mood and is very annoying, i stopped using wattpad because of this..NO ONE wants to sit through ads every minute while reading.. and absolutely NO ONE wants to pay any money to get rid of them! T
  8. [R7] Wattpad 1/5 · US Too many ads: The ads on this app are ridiculous and make it impossible to use. The inability to scroll without an ad popping up makes the user experience unbearable. And of course, they make the ads impossible to dismiss without taking you to the sponsors page/website. Disgusting.
  9. [R19] Wattpad 1/5 · US Scammy ads + Paywall: The ads for the app are out of control, and this coming from a user who used the app for 8+ years. From gambling ads, temu, and other sketchy game ones that when you try to ex out of it it takes a step further and leads you to a random site where you leave the app and the ad stars over again. Get it together wattpad advisors; stop putting everything behind a paywall just to r
  10. [R22] Wattpad 1/5 · US Ads: This coulda been a great review if Wattpad didn’t have ads. This has significantly worsened the app since the start. I’ve been a loyal Wattpad user for over 10 years and this is ridiculous. No one wants to pay in order for them not to have the ads. Do better Wattpad. Get rid of the ads.
  11. [R40] Wattpad 1/5 · US STOP WITH THE ADS: This app is literally damn near unusable and almost unenjoyable for me to use with the constant ads. I cannot proceed to the next chapter without being bombarded with ads. I can't even force close the app to get to the next chapter without an ad blocking it. GET RID OF THE ADS! AND STOP TRYING TO FORCE US TO BUY A MEMBERSHIP JUST TO BE ADFRRE!!
  12. [R58] Wattpad 2/5 · US What a waste of a good app: This app truly used to be great. Now all there is to do is watch ads and pay a crazy amount of money to have ad free reading.
  13. [R2] Wattpad 4/5 · US Why??: Ok, please read this because I’m having a lot of trouble. I’m a writer on Wattpad and I don’t want to loose all of my progress. It said sign in again because my session expired but my keyboard? IS NOT WORKING!! I tap the writing space to put my email in, and the keyboard just goes back down just as quickly!! Please fix this, I need to get another chapter up soon and I forgot my google acco
  14. [R3] Wattpad 3/5 · US My story was deleted: It’s a really good app I love it but my most popular story got deleted and I can’t get it back sadly 😔
  15. [R18] Wattpad 3/5 · US App issue: I have had this app for a while and for the past year or two, I have getting logged out by the app and most of the time can’t view the home page to finished reading the stories after I been logged out. I want to continue reading and it’s really annoying when I can’t continue reading the books I have started. Is there any way to stop this from happening?
  16. [R48] Wattpad 3/5 · US Horrible and Amazing: Dearfully, WATTPADs mobile services is actually wonderful, it’s a free publishing services for your stories and akin correlations. My issues with the services is a lot. Or maybe a few: firstly, whenever i had a long time no clicking on the app, it had logged me out, almost made myself afraid I had lost my account, not really a issue but still. Secondly, the writing UI, is ou
  17. [R64] Galatea 2/5 · US Better apps out there: Other novel apps allow you to read the next chapter free by watching a 60 sec ad. Well worth it. This app makes you wait hours to continue free. Kinda ridiculous. They suggest reading other stories while you wait, but I only like to read one novel at a time so I don’t get stories mixed up. I’ll continue with the one story because it’s good so far, but will delete the app aft
  18. [R66] Galatea 3/5 · US It’s ok: I think it is a cool app, but I find it annoying that I have to pay or wait 5 hours for the next chapter…
  19. [R69] Galatea 3/5 · US Good: The app is good with good stories but the wait for chapters are 5 hours apart which is better then waiting a day but still and getting enough coins is hard as it is only like 1-5 when the chapters are 10-20 coins for the next one.
  20. [R76] Galatea 2/5 · GB To long to wait: You have to wait 5 yes FIVE HOURS to read the next set of chapters. That is too long . Other apps that give you adds are a better option . I’m removing this app. No story is worth waiting 5 hours for . I’m not that addicted.
  21. [R33] Wattpad 3/5 · US Hear me out!,: Listen I love wattpad and all the writers on here, it’s a great app for original books but my one and main issue, is that Everytime I try to make my cover for my own books, they always come out blurry when I use most editing apps, Canva, picsart, even Desygner the app you guys suggest to make a cover on, I search up how to make the covers not blurry or less even, and i do what It sa

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