
Resource Review · Bible Reading Apps
Reina Valera Bible
The Reina-Valera is the Spanish-speaking world’s King James — and there are free apps built entirely around it. Here’s what the dedicated Reina Valera Bible apps offer, and the most trustworthy way to read the RVR on your phone.
- App Store rating
- 4.8 / 5
- Starting price
- Free (ad-supported), optional purchases
- Free tier
- Yes
- Platforms
- iOS · Android
- Developer
- Various (Reina-Valera 1960)
- Launched
- 2014
The verdict
The Reina-Valera 1960 is the default Spanish Bible, and there are popular free apps dedicated entirely to it — clean readers with audio, plans, and search. They get the job done, but for the safest, ad-free experience the RVR is also free inside the major apps. Here’s how to choose.
Try Reina Valera Bible ↗Opens bible.com
For the Spanish-speaking church, the Reina-Valera is what the King James Version is for English readers: the historic, beloved, formal translation that generations grew up on and that still anchors most Spanish-language Bibles. First published by Casiodoro de Reina in 1569 and revised by Cipriano de Valera in 1602, its 1960 revision (the “RVR 1960”) became the standard pew and study Bible across Latin America and Hispanic congregations, and it remains the most-read Spanish Protestant Bible today.
Because it is so dominant, the App Store carries a whole shelf of apps built entirely around it — titles like “La Biblia Reina Valera” that present the RVR text on its own, often with audio, daily verses, reading plans, search, and highlighting. Several of these have racked up six-figure rating counts purely on the strength of the translation’s popularity, and most are free.
This review looks at that category — the dedicated Reina Valera Bible apps — and, just as importantly, at the most trustworthy way to read the RVR on a phone. Because the dedicated apps are made by various third-party developers and lean on ads, the cleanest route for many readers is to read the same Reina-Valera 1960 inside a major, well-supported app where it is also available free. Here is how the options compare.
✓ The good
- Built entirely around the Reina-Valera — the standard, beloved Spanish Protestant Bible, front and center
- Free — the dedicated RVR apps are generally free to download, usually ad-supported
- The everyday tools — offline reading, search, highlights, bookmarks, and daily verses
- Audio editions are common, so you can listen to the RVR as well as read it
- Simple and focused — a single-translation reader for readers who only want the RVR
- The RVR 1960 is also available free inside major apps, giving you a cleaner, better-supported option
✗ Watch out
- The dedicated apps are made by various third-party developers, so quality and support vary
- Most are ad-supported, and the ads can be intrusive
- Single-translation by nature — comparing the RVR against other Spanish versions needs a multi-version app
- No real study tools — these are readers, not study environments
- For a polished, ad-free, well-maintained experience, a major app carrying the RVR is usually better
Best for
- Spanish-speaking readers whose Bible is the Reina-Valera
- Anyone who wants a simple, free, RVR-only reader with audio
- Readers who grew up on the RVR 1960 and want exactly that text on their phone
- People setting up a parent’s or grandparent’s phone with a familiar Spanish Bible
Avoid if
- You want an ad-free, polished, well-supported app (read the RVR inside YouVersion or Olive Tree instead)
- You want to compare the RVR against other Spanish translations side by side
- You need study tools, commentaries, or original languages
- You prefer a different Spanish translation (NVI, NTV, RVC) as your main Bible
What Reina Valera Bible is
A “Reina Valera Bible” app is a Bible reader built specifically around the Reina-Valera translation — most commonly the 1960 revision (RVR 1960), the standard Spanish Protestant Bible. The App Store has many such apps from various developers, typically offering the full RVR text offline, keyword and verse search, highlights, bookmarks, daily verses, and frequently an audio edition so you can listen as well as read. Most are free and ad-supported.
The same Reina-Valera 1960 is also available free inside the major multi-translation apps. So “the Reina Valera Bible app” is really two things: the dedicated single-translation apps, which are simple and free but third-party and ad-heavy, and the option of reading the identical RVR text in a polished, well-maintained app like YouVersion or Olive Tree. For most readers the translation is the constant; the question is which app delivers it best.
Why the Reina-Valera is the Spanish Bible
The Reina-Valera’s place in the Spanish-speaking church is hard to overstate. Its lineage runs back to Casiodoro de Reina’s 1569 translation and Cipriano de Valera’s 1602 revision, and the 1960 update became the version memorized, preached, and quoted across Latin America and in Hispanic congregations worldwide. Like the King James in English, it carries a familiar cadence and a sense of reverence that newer Spanish translations, however readable, have not displaced for many readers. When a Spanish speaker says “la Biblia,” the words in their memory are very often the RVR’s.
That cultural weight is exactly why dedicated RVR apps exist and thrive. A reader who wants their Bible — the specific wording they grew up with — searches for “Reina Valera” and downloads an app named for it, and the translation’s popularity alone carries those apps to huge download and rating counts. The translation is the draw; the app is just the vessel. Which is why the smartest move is to make sure the vessel is a good one.
A dedicated RVR reader, free
The dedicated Reina Valera apps do one thing: present the RVR text cleanly and for free. You typically get the full Bible offline, adjustable type, keyword and verse search, highlights and bookmarks, and a daily verse — the everyday reading toolkit, focused entirely on the one translation. For a reader who only wants the Reina-Valera and nothing else, that simplicity is the appeal.
The trade-off is what funds “free”: most of these apps are ad-supported, and the ads can range from mild to intrusive. Because they come from a range of third-party developers rather than a single trusted publisher, the polish, stability, and ad-load vary from app to app. The text is the same RVR; the experience around it is not.
Audio Reina-Valera
Many of the dedicated RVR apps include an audio edition, so you can listen to the Reina-Valera on a commute, while working, or for readers who find listening easier than reading. For the RVR specifically — a translation often loved for how it sounds read aloud — that audio option is a meaningful feature, and it is frequently part of the free experience.
Audio quality and whether it is a full dramatization or a single narrator vary by app. For the richest free Spanish audio Scripture, the missions-focused Bible.is also carries dramatized audio in Spanish among its thousands of languages, which is worth knowing if listening is your priority.
The better route: the RVR inside a major app
Here is the part most “best Reina Valera app” searches miss: the Reina-Valera 1960 is available free inside the major, well-supported Bible apps. In YouVersion you can set the RVR 1960 as your version and get it ad-free, with audio, reading plans, and the ability to compare it against other Spanish translations (NVI, NTV, RVC) and English ones — all in a polished, actively maintained app. Olive Tree and Bible Gateway likewise carry the RVR.
For most readers, that is simply a better way to read the same translation: no intrusive ads, dependable updates, broader features, and the option to compare versions, with the exact RVR 1960 text at the center. The dedicated single-translation apps are fine and genuinely free, but if you want the cleanest experience of the Reina-Valera, reading it inside a major app is usually the smarter choice.
Pricing
Free (dedicated RVR apps)
Free, ad-supported
The standalone Reina Valera apps are generally free to download and ad-supported, with the full RVR text, search, highlights, daily verses, and often audio. Some offer an in-app purchase to remove ads or add features.
RVR inside a major app
Free
The Reina-Valera 1960 is available free inside major, well-supported apps like YouVersion and Olive Tree — ad-free, polished, and maintained, alongside many other Spanish and English versions.
The dedicated Reina Valera apps are generally free to download, funded by ads, with the full RVR text, search, highlights, daily verses, and often audio included. Some offer a small in-app purchase to remove ads or unlock extra features.
The same Reina-Valera 1960 is available free — and ad-free — inside major apps like YouVersion and Olive Tree, alongside many other translations. There is no cost to read the RVR there either; you simply get a more polished, better-supported app around it.
So the honest pricing summary is: the Reina-Valera is free to read either way. The dedicated apps trade ads for simplicity; a major app gives you the RVR ad-free with more features. Choose based on whether you want an RVR-only reader or a fuller app that happens to carry the RVR.
Where Reina Valera Bible falls behind
Quality is inconsistent. Because the dedicated RVR apps come from many different third-party developers, polish, stability, and support vary widely — some are excellent, others are cluttered or poorly maintained.
Ads are the norm. Most dedicated RVR apps are ad-supported, and the ad experience can be intrusive, especially compared with reading the same translation ad-free inside a major app.
They are single-translation by design. Comparing the RVR against newer Spanish versions like the NVI, NTV, or RVC — or against an English translation — requires a multi-version app, which the dedicated readers are not.
There are no study tools. These are readers, not study environments; for commentaries, cross-references, or original languages you will need a fuller app such as Logos or Olive Tree.
The best experience often isn’t a dedicated app. For many readers, the cleanest way to read the Reina-Valera is inside YouVersion or Olive Tree, which makes the standalone RVR apps somewhat redundant once you know the RVR is free there too.
Dedicated RVR apps vs. YouVersion vs. Olive Tree
All three can put the Reina-Valera in your hand; they differ in polish, features, and whether the RVR stands alone or sits among other versions.
A dedicated Reina Valera app is the simplest: the RVR text, free, focused, often with audio — but third-party, usually ad-supported, and with quality that varies by developer. It suits a reader who wants nothing but the RVR and does not mind ads.
YouVersion carries the Reina-Valera 1960 free and ad-free inside the world’s most popular Bible app, with audio, the biggest reading-plan catalog (including many in Spanish), community features, and the ability to compare the RVR against other Spanish and English translations. For most readers this is the better way to read the same text.
Olive Tree offers the RVR in a clean, cross-platform reader with a buy-once study library, for readers who want to grow a Spanish (and English) study setup over time. The bottom line: the Reina-Valera is the right translation for most Spanish-speaking readers — the only real decision is whether to read it in a dedicated free app or, better for most, inside a major app like YouVersion.
The bottom line
The Reina-Valera is the Spanish-speaking world’s standard Bible, and you have two good ways to read it. The dedicated “Reina Valera” apps are free, simple, and often include audio, but they come from various third-party developers and lean on ads, so quality varies. The cleaner choice for most readers is to read the exact same Reina-Valera 1960 inside a major, ad-free, well-supported app like YouVersion or Olive Tree, where it sits alongside audio, reading plans, and other translations. Either way the translation is the constant and it is free — pick the app that gives the RVR the experience it deserves.
Alternatives to Reina Valera Bible
YouVersion
Carries the Reina-Valera 1960 free and ad-free, with audio, the biggest plan catalog (many in Spanish), and the ability to compare versions. The best way to read the RVR for most readers.
Olive Tree Bible App
A clean, cross-platform reader carrying the RVR with a buy-once Spanish and English study library you can grow over time.
Bible.is
Free dramatized audio Scripture in thousands of languages, including Spanish — the richest free audio route for the Bible in Spanish.
Bible Gateway App
Carries the Reina-Valera alongside a large translation library, with a Plus subscription that adds Spanish and English study resources.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Reina-Valera, and which version should I use?
- The Reina-Valera is the historic, standard Spanish Protestant Bible, dating to Casiodoro de Reina (1569) and Cipriano de Valera (1602). Its 1960 revision (RVR 1960) is by far the most widely used and is the default for most Spanish-speaking churches. Newer revisions (like the RVR 1995 or RVC) exist, but the RVR 1960 is the one most readers mean by “Reina-Valera.”
- Are the Reina Valera Bible apps free?
- The dedicated RVR apps are generally free to download and ad-supported, with the full text, search, highlights, daily verses, and often audio. Some offer an in-app purchase to remove ads. The same RVR 1960 is also free — and ad-free — inside major apps like YouVersion and Olive Tree.
- Which is the best Reina Valera app?
- For most readers, the best way to read the Reina-Valera is inside a major, well-supported app — YouVersion or Olive Tree — where the RVR 1960 is free, ad-free, and sits alongside audio, reading plans, and other versions. The dedicated single-translation RVR apps are fine and free, but they vary in quality and usually carry ads.
- Can I listen to the Reina-Valera as audio?
- Yes. Many dedicated RVR apps include an audio edition, and the RVR audio is also available in YouVersion. For the richest free Spanish audio Scripture, Bible.is offers dramatized audio in Spanish among its thousands of languages.
- Can I compare the Reina-Valera with other Spanish translations?
- Not in a single-translation RVR app, but easily in a multi-version app. YouVersion and Olive Tree let you read the Reina-Valera alongside other Spanish translations such as the NVI, NTV, and RVC, as well as English versions, which is useful for study.
- Is the Reina-Valera like the King James Version?
- In its role, yes. The Reina-Valera holds a place in the Spanish-speaking church much like the King James Version does in English — a historic, formal, beloved translation with a familiar cadence that generations grew up on and that remains the standard for many congregations, even as newer translations have appeared.