Scholarly

Scholarly vs ScholarshipOwl: which auto-apply service is better for you?

Last updated October 2026 · By the Scholarly team

Short answer

Both are paid services that apply for you from one profile. ScholarshipOwl is built for volume, including automatic re-entry into recurring, mostly sweepstakes-style awards; its plans run $20 a month down to $10 a month on a six-month plan. Scholarly is $59.99 a year on the web, has no free trial, and puts a review step in front of every application. If you want many small entries on autopilot, ScholarshipOwl. If you want to read what goes out under your name, Scholarly.

We make Scholarly, so weigh our take accordingly. Every fact about another company on this page links to its source at the bottom, checked in October 2026. Prices and features change; confirm on their site before you pay.

Side by side

Scholarly compared with ScholarshipOwl
Feature	Scholarly	ScholarshipOwl
Price	Free to set up. Swiping and auto-apply need a subscription: $59.99 a year or $19.99 a month on the web. On iPhone it's billed through the App Store. No free trial.	Free basic account. Paid: $20/month, $45 per 3 months, $60 per 6 months, or VIP at $69/month. Free trial needs a credit card.
How you find scholarships	Swipe through scholarships matched to your profile. Anything you don't qualify for is hidden. Roughly 700 are open at a time.	Matching against 10,000+ scholarships by GPA, major, background, and activities. Shows applicant counts and credibility scores to members.
Applies for you?	Yes Fills in and submits each application after you review and approve it.	Partly Multi-apply from one profile, plus automatic reapplication to recurring awards.
Essay help	Stores one personal statement and reuses it. You edit it when you want; it isn't rewritten behind your back.	One essay reused across applications. VIP adds extra scholarship help.
Platforms	iPhone app (4.7 stars, 4,100+ ratings) and a web app that runs in any browser, Android included.	Website and iPhone app (4.7 stars, 234 ratings).
Business model	Subscriptions. No ads, no sponsored listings in the swipe feed.	Subscriptions. Also hosts its own no-essay giveaways such as the "$500 My Free Time is Valuable Scholarship."
Data sharing	Never sold. Your details go only to the providers you swipe right on.	See its privacy policy. Not summarized here because we didn't verify specifics.

The real difference

These are the two products on this list that actually do the applying, so the differences come down to taste. ScholarshipOwl leans into quantity. A chunk of its catalog is recurring no-essay awards, and members get re-entered each cycle without lifting a finger. That's convenient. It's also a lottery ticket model, and ScholarshipOwl is upfront that paying doesn't change your odds on any given award.

Scholarly is narrower on purpose. We'd rather show 700 scholarships you actually qualify for than 10,000 you might. Every application waits for you to read and approve it, and if a scholarship needs something only you can provide, like a transcript or a recommendation letter, the app tells you what's missing instead of sending a half-finished application.

On price, ScholarshipOwl's six-month plan works out to $120 a year if you renew it. Scholarly's web plan is $59.99 a year. ScholarshipOwl has a free trial; we don't.

Pick ScholarshipOwl if…

You want to enter as many recurring and no-essay awards as possible with zero effort
You want to try it free first (and you'll remember to cancel)
You want to see applicant counts before applying

Pick Scholarly if…

You want a review step before anything is sent in your name
You want fewer, better-matched scholarships instead of a firehose
You'd rather pay $59.99 once a year than $10 to $20 a month
You want an iPhone app with 4,100+ ratings behind it

Can you use both?

You can, but paying for two auto-apply services is overkill for most people. If you're tempted, the cleanest split is ScholarshipOwl for its recurring sweepstakes entries and Scholarly for essay and form-based scholarships. Watch for the same award showing up in both; most providers only accept one application per person.

Questions people ask

How much does ScholarshipOwl cost?

ScholarshipOwl's help center lists four paid plans: $20 for one month, $45 for three months, $60 for six months, and a VIP plan at $69 a month with extra scholarship help. A basic free account also exists. Its free trial asks for a credit card and charges it when the trial ends unless you cancel.

How much does Scholarly cost?

Setting up your profile and seeing matches is free. Swiping and auto-apply cost $19.99 a month or $59.99 a year in the web app. On iPhone, plans are bought through the App Store. There's no free trial.

Does ScholarshipOwl actually apply for you?

Partly. Its homepage promises "one essay, multiple personalized applications" and says members are automatically reapplied to recurring scholarships that pick winners year-round. Many of those recurring awards are sweepstakes-style. ScholarshipOwl's own footer says premium membership doesn't raise your chances of winning a specific scholarship.

Is ScholarshipOwl legit?

Yes, it's an established paid service; its domain dates back to 2013. The thing to watch is the free trial: it needs a credit card and the card is charged when the trial ends unless you cancel, so set a reminder.

Which has more scholarships?

ScholarshipOwl says its matching runs against 10,000+ scholarships. Scholarly keeps roughly 700 open at a time, filtered to ones it can submit. ScholarshipOwl is bigger by count.