ORA›Which tarot app should you choose?
Comparison

Which tarot app should you choose?

There is no best tarot app. There are four tools that do different things, and the question you start with should guide your choice. Here is what each one actually does, ORA included. This page is published by the company behind ORA, and says so.

Choose based on what you need, not on a ranking

When someone searches for a tarot app, they are really asking one of four questions, and they do not have the same answer:

For the first three, good options already exist. The fourth is what ORA was built for, and it happens to be where the market is most confusing today.

Four tools, no ranking

Labyrinthos
For learning

Labyrinthos presents itself as an online tarot school, and that is what it is. Short lessons, quizzes, a reading journal, and branches into astrology, Lenormand and runes. The Android app has more than a million downloads and a 4.8-star rating from over 43,000 reviews. The company also sells its own decks.

What it does not do: give you a written reading of your situation. You learn to read tarot; no one reads for you.
Biddy Tarot
For understanding one specific card

Biddy Tarot is the reference site for what a card means. Each card has a long page devoted to it, with upright, reversed and contextual meanings. The site makes the same point as ORA: tarot is not fortune-telling; it is a way of looking at what you cannot see about yourself. The trade-off is sheer volume: it can overwhelm someone who just wants an answer.

What it does not do: connect three cards to your question. You read the pages and connect them yourself.
Galaxy Tarot
For simple, free card drawing

Galaxy Tarot puts a full Rider-Waite deck in your pocket, with the card of the day, classic spreads including the Celtic Cross, and a card-by-card reading. It is free on Android and easy to pick up. It is highly rated and widely downloaded.

What it does not do: write a reading that builds on what you described. Cards are interpreted one at a time, in the order of the spread.
ORA our app
For a reading about your situation

You write your question in your own words, draw three cards, and get a written reading that begins with that question and ties the three cards together. Choose between two traditions, the Tarot de Marseille and the Rider-Waite-Smith, each with its own interpretive system. Readings are available in seven languages. Readings are saved, can be reread, and can be played back as audio. The card of the day is free every day, and signing up gives you fifteen credits.

What it does not do: teach you tarot. There are no lessons, no quizzes, no learning path. And no predictions: no dates, no specific events, no names.

How to settle it in three questions

Take a sheet of paper. Answer in order and stop at the first yes.

One: do I want to read the cards myself?

If yes, go to Labyrinthos. An app that hands you a reading will not teach you to produce one, and that is fine. They are two different jobs.

Two: do I need the meaning of one particular card?

If yes, Biddy Tarot. Those pages go deeper than anything a reading app will ever display, because a reading has to stay short to be readable.

Three: do I just want to draw tonight, for free?

If yes, Galaxy Tarot on Android. You get a full deck, a card of the day and classic spreads without spending anything.

If the answer to all three is no, you have a situation to look at rather than a skill to learn. That is where ORA comes in, and you can try it without an account or a card.

What ORA does, and what it does not

Worth saying here, even though ORA publishes this page.

What it does: one reading per question, three cards, in the tradition you pick, in your language. It ties the cards to what you wrote instead of reciting a definition. It keeps your history, which means you can come back to a reading weeks later and see what happened. It also documents all 78 cards, one by one, in both traditions, free to read.

What it does not do: predict. No dates, no events, no names. No diagnosis of your health, physical or mental. No legal or financial advice. An ORA reading replaces neither a doctor, nor a lawyer, nor an accountant, and decides nothing for you.

What it is not: a tarot school, a psychic service, or a chat with a medium. There is nobody behind the screen, and the terms say so.

Marseille or Rider-Waite: what is the difference

If you are unsure which of the two traditions to pick, here is the simplest split.

The Tarot de Marseille comes from France. The colours are blunt, the major arcana sometimes carry a number without a name, and the reading leans heavily on numbers, colours and the way figures are placed. The minor cards have no illustrated scene: you read an arrangement of wands, cups, pentacles or swords.

The Rider-Waite-Smith comes from England. Every minor card shows a scene, with figures and a setting, which makes the meaning more immediate. It is the most widespread tradition in the English-speaking world, and often the one people start with.

Neither is more serious than the other. Pick the one whose images speak to you, and stay with it long enough to learn how to read it.

Frequent questions

What is the best tarot app?
There is no single best one. Labyrinthos is the most complete if you want to learn, Biddy Tarot the most detailed for understanding one specific card, Galaxy Tarot the simplest way to draw for free on Android. ORA does something else: you write your question in your own words and get a reading that builds on it. The right choice depends on what you are looking for, not on a ranking.
Is ORA a psychic or fortune-telling app?
No. ORA does not predict events, does not give dates and does not name people. Tarot is treated as a reading of symbols: the card says something, and you are the one who receives it. An ORA reading offers an angle on your situation, not an answer about what is going to happen.
Can you learn tarot with ORA?
ORA is not a school. The 78 cards are documented and readable one by one, in both traditions, but there are no lessons, no quizzes and no progression. To learn, Labyrinthos is better equipped. To understand one specific card, Biddy Tarot publishes more detailed pages.
Do you have to pay to use a tarot app?
Not necessarily. Galaxy Tarot is free on Android. ORA gives you 15 credits on sign-up, enough for two to five readings depending on the type you pick, and the card of the day is free every day. Labyrinthos and Biddy Tarot sell courses and decks, with free parts.
What is the difference between Tarot de Marseille and Rider-Waite-Smith?
The Tarot de Marseille is the French tradition: blunt colours, major arcana that sometimes carry a number without a name, and a reading that leans on numbers and colours. The Rider-Waite-Smith is the English tradition, with illustrated scenes that tell a story. ORA offers both, with a separate corpus for each.

A card does not decide for you.
It shows you where to look.

Three cards, one question, a reading that builds on what you wrote. No account, no card details.

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