Apps like Paladin: 6 ways to learn history as stories (2026)

We make Microloop, one of the apps below, so weigh our view accordingly. Details about the other apps come from their official store listings and websites, checked on 26 October 2026 (US prices). Where Paladin is the better choice, we say so.

What Paladin is, and why you might want something else

Paladin turns history into short (~5-minute) animated, narrated story chapters about people like Cleopatra, Lincoln and Marcus Aurelius. Every lesson ends with a quiz, and there are themed paths, streaks, collectible characters and 1v1 knowledge battles. Paladin says every story is fact-checked by historians. It's well liked: 4.6 from about 24,000 App Store ratings and 500,000+ Google Play installs.

Reasons people look for an app like Paladin:

• Price. Paladin is free to download, but Pro costs $12.99 a month in the US, so many people search for a free version.
• History only. If you also want science, psychology or books, you need another app.
• The game layer. Some people love the quizzes and battles; others just want the story. A few recent reviewers dislike the end-of-chapter quizzes.
• Billing and accuracy. Recent reviews mention charges after the trial and hard-to-find cancellation, and one reviewer caught a narrated date error.

Paladin is made by Brainstash, Inc., the company behind Deepstash.

Apps like Paladin, compared

Prices change often and vary by region; check the store before subscribing.

1. Microloop: history as short video stories, in a swipe feed

The closest format to Paladin without the game layer. Microloop tells history as narrated, illustrated video stories a few minutes long, which you swipe through like TikTok: the people, turning points and surprising stories behind the world we live in. Unlike Paladin it isn't history-only: the same feed has science, psychology, money, philosophy and book Deep Dives, which tell a whole book or subject as a story in parts.

Pick it if: you like Paladin's stories but would rather watch than play, or you want history mixed with other subjects. You can still quiz yourself on any story.

Where Paladin is better: a structured history curriculum (paths), a quiz after every lesson, battles and collectibles, and a "fact-checked by historians" promise. Microloop has no curriculum path or spaced repetition.

Price: free to start with a daily allowance; Pro unlocks unlimited stories and every Deep Dive chapter.

2. Nibble: if you want more games and more subjects

Nibble's ~10-minute lessons mix text, quizzes, mini-games, short narrated videos and audio, across 35+ topics including history. Its AI chats let you "talk" to figures like Cleopatra or Napoleon. It's made by Headway Inc, and its annual web price is about $49.99.

Pick it if: Paladin's quizzes are what you liked, and you want them for science and art too.

3. Chunks: narrated stories, edited by a person

Chunks is a small indie app of narrated stories (about 5–8 minutes) with word-by-word synced text, a quiz after each story, CarPlay and offline downloads. It covers history, philosophy, psychology and mythology, and says every library story is fact-checked and edited by a person. Its free tier is limited and the library is small.

Pick it if: you want to listen on a commute and value a human editor.

4. Imprint: history you can see

Imprint teaches with illustrated diagrams and timelines in chapters of two minutes or less, including history courses alongside psychology, philosophy and finance. Excellent design and a 4.8 rating, but there's no free tier and no narration.

Pick it if: you're a visual learner who prefers diagrams to animation.

5. Kinnu: the free option

Kinnu's pathways are short reading modules with multiple-choice questions and spaced repetition, and the core app is free. History is one of several subjects. It's reading rather than watching, but it's the best free way to actually retain what you learn.

6. Vellum: free history videos while the app is in development

Vellum publishes ~90-second narrated "true cases" about power, money and deception (the Eiffel Tower con, Enron's last quarter) in three-part arcs, with sources on its website. There's no app yet, but the videos are free on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Vellum also runs its own "apps like Paladin" page, so it's a fellow app maker, not a neutral reviewer.

Free apps like Paladin

• Kinnu: free, with spaced repetition.
• Microloop: a daily allowance of free history and science stories.
• Chunks: a limited free story set.
• Vellum: free videos on social platforms.
• Paladin's own free version lets you try lessons before Pro.

How to choose

• Want a game: stay with Paladin, or try Nibble.
• Want a story without the game: Microloop (video) or Chunks (audio).
• Want diagrams: Imprint.
• Want free and to remember it: Kinnu.

For more ways to fill the time you'd spend scrolling, see apps that replace doomscrolling and learning apps that work like TikTok.