Advice on What to Choose

I would like some 'unbiased' advice on Logos. For some time I had contemplated buying Accordance - as I am led to believe that Accordance is the 'Rolls-Royce' of Bible study software. With my credit card in hand I'm often tempted to buy either Accordance or Logos (I can't afford both) - but then put the credit card away again because of indecision.

I can find some examples of Logos users that switched to Accordance - but not the other way around.

I am not a pastor, nor do I lead any worship group of any kind: I am an ordinary member 'of the flock' who wants to apply himself to a deeper understanding of the Word.

My budget is around the $200 price point. On the face of it, Logos Study (with discount) wins it for me because I don't have to pay extra for the NIV (the version my local church uses) - nor do I have to pay substantively more for graphical add-ons. Plus, I can add Vines if I choose to. Accordance Standard does not offer this at a similar price.

However, I'm still bugged by the supposed 'reputation' of Accordance compared to Logos.

I would therefore be most grateful for the perspectives of any Logos users that also happen to have a foothold in using Accordance for which application they prefer, and the reasons why.

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Comments

John Fidel

Hi Chris,

Let's see.. unbiased voice on a Logos forum asking whether the to buy Logos or Accordance... hmmm.[:)]

Are you willing to run Logos using a virtual drive and windows for a while until the Mac version is completed or are you only going to run in a Mac environment?

Logos 4 for Mac is in Alpha, which means it is a work in progress and quite rough at this point. Once it gets to Beta, it will be usable with some bugs and then there will be the final release. Pricing is great now and may go up between now and then. You can run the fully functional and excellent windows version now and then move to Mac without any additional cost, but you need to have Parallels or VMware Fusion with Windows to do this. I am running Logos 4 in Parallels 5 and will probably join the Mac side when it enters beta. I also run Logos 4 on a desktop PC at work. Have an iphone?.. You get Logos 4 on your iphone with a somewhat smaller library under the same license. So you get Windows, iPhone and a soon to be completed Mac product all for one price.. quite flexible now and going forward.

I think you will love the final product when it is completed. That is my unbiased opinion of Logos. As to Accordance...

Accordance is an excellent product that has been Mac only since its inception many years ago. You should visit their forum for user comments as to their software.

Jack Caviness

Christopher, there are at least three posters on this forum who use both Logos and Acordance regularly. I have probably been using both longer than any, but I will not comment on this forum. If you would like my opinion, you can email me at jackcaviness at mac dot com.

Daniel Norwood

I have both Logos and Accordance. I have not tired Logos 4 Alpha. I think you will get more bang for your buck with logos.

Todd Peperkorn

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/46741#Comment_46741

While this may be an oversimplification and I'm sure I'll get blasted for it, I'd say that if your primary use for bible software is textual study, then I would be inclined toward Accordance. If your primary use is more generally bible study (commentaries, study guides, maps, bible dictionaries, etc.), then I think Logos may be more your speed. I don't think you will go wrong either way.

I do think I would also look to see if there are specific resources that you are looking for. In my case, as a Lutheran pastor I am very much in need of materials from Concordia Publishing House. These are only available on Logos. You may have similar needs.

Enjoy!

Richard Teschendorf

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/46748#Comment_46748

Christopher,

As a 2 year user of Accordance and a less than a month user of Logos 4 Mac Alphas, I would say Todd's advice is right on. I am retired and love to get into the word and develop a deeper understanding. I am interested in the scriptures themselves, commentaries, maps, timelines, art, etc., not at all a scholarly study as many of the power users here and at Accordance. I suggest you a) try the Accordance demo, b) watch many of the videos here on the Logos site and c) compare the resources your $200 can buy (the ones most important to you. I have $458 invested in Accordance and own many bibles, commentaries, the graphics (timelines, maps, art), devotionals, etc. It's an excellent program. So why did I purchase a Logos 4 base package? Because, with Accordance, I find myself utilizing only a tiny fraction of the resources I own. Why? Because you have to search each resource separately. What I find most appealing about Logos 4 is the ability to do a single search and it finds your search argument in all your resources and lists them. This alone makes the purchase of Logos 4 Mac worth it to me. Almost as important is the fact that, I get more for my money with Logos 4. The Bible Study base product only cost me $198 with the discount and gives me about 300 resources compared to the 103 resources I got with Accordance for $458. Numbers alone aren't everything, of course, but you get the idea. For example, with Alpha 5, as very incomplete as it is, I did a Passage Guide search for John the Baptist. Logos found him in 9 commentaries, hundreds of cross references which bring up the scripture passage in my favorite bible with a single click and four pages of media resources. I can spend my time studying all the found resources instead of having to individually open every one of my 103 Accordance resources and search in each one. So, unless I'm not understanding how to search all my Accordance resources with one search, I much prefer the Logos 4 way.

Hope this helps a little.

Dan

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/46748#Comment_46748

I have used Accordance & Logos for a the last 4-5 years and I would have to agree with many things said here. And would like to add one observation.

It's been my observation that Accordance tends to be geared toward the scholar/pastor who has a good grasp of the original languages. It's my personal opinion that for this particular audience Accordance has many advantages. However, for the average user/leader/pastor who will not use original languages in their study Logos may be the better choice because of the helps geared toward that audience. I'm sure I'll take some flak for making this giant generalization, but I believe it to be just that--a generalization.

Therefore, for your particular situation, I would have to recommend Logos. (This assumes you can live with using Parallels until the Mac version comes up to speed.)

Both applications are great, but it boils down to which one has the resources/modules that you will use most.

Please note that I use Accordance for my primary application, but find myself using Logos more and more because of the number of resources available for pastors/leaders that just aren't available for Accordance.

Darin Allen

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/46873#Comment_46873

As a user of both programs I would also have to agree with everything that is being said here. While you can do pretty much everything on both programs, I find myself going to Accordance when I want to study the original languages and the english text itself. I really enjoy Accordance's interface for this. However, when I then want to probe deeper into what other (wiser) men and women of God have written about the passage I am studying, I go to Logos, because this is where the bulk of my resources are. There is nothing like typing in a passage and finding dozens of high quality resources referring to that very passage. So for my typical study time, I will start in Accordance, find out what I think the correct interpretation of a passage is by investigating the original languages, then I go to Logos and compare that with the wealth of commentaries that are provided in my base package to make sure my interpretations aren't heretical This is just what has worked for me so far, although I know you can only go with one for right now, so I think you really can't go wrong with either. I empathize with you though man, it took me forever to decide between the two, and when all was said and done, I ended up with both.

Jack Caviness

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/46866#Comment_46866

with Accordance, I find myself utilizing only a tiny fraction of the resources I own. Why? Because you have to search each resource separately

That is incorrect, but I won't go into it on this forum

So, unless I'm not understanding how to search all my Accordance resources with one search, I much prefer the Logos 4 way.

Unfortunately, you did not understand.

I use both Accordance and Logos regularly. I honestly prefer neither over the other, nor do I get emotional over which tool someone else prefers. However, on either software's forum, I will point our errors in someone's declarations about the other.

Damian McGrath

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/46954#Comment_46954

I honestly prefer neither over the other, nor do I get emotional over which tool someone else prefers. However, on either software's forum, I will point our errors in someone's declarations about the other.

Jack, your balance is always admirable (as is your preparedness to go offline with users).

Jack Caviness

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/46968#Comment_46968

Jack, your balance is always admirable (as is your preparedness to go offline with users).

Thank you, Damian. I am learning to be less critical and more helpful, I think [:D]

Richard Teschendorf

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/46954#Comment_46954

Jack,

Thanks for the correction. It's hard to believe I could use the product for 2 years and not see how to a search of all resources. Then again, I really never looked that hard to figure it out. Somehow I got it in my thick skull that it didn't work that way. Thanks for causing me to be enlightened.

Jack Caviness

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/47171#Comment_47171

Jack,

Thanks for the correction. It's hard to believe I could use the product for 2 years and not see how to a search of all resources. Then again, I really never looked that hard to figure it out. Somehow I got it in my thick skull that it didn't work that way. Thanks for causing me to be enlightened.

I've used A since its first release and am just learning many things about it due to the recent release of podcasts by Dr J.