If you are a developer or ministry who wants Scripture in an app or website, YouVersion Platform gives you the same Bible technology that powers the Bible App, at no cost to you.^1 Created by Life.Church and led by YouVersion founder and CEO Bobby Gruenewald, it exists so ministries do not have to spend years building a reader or negotiating every publisher license themselves.^2
Register at the Platform portal for an App Key, then call the REST API or use an SDK for Swift, Kotlin, JavaScript, React, or React Native (Expo).^3 You get an embedded Bible reader with 1,487 licensed Bibles from 36 publishers in 1,283 languages, Sign in with YouVersion so readers can sync highlights and preferences, and engagement analytics.^2 The SDKs are open source on GitHub.^4 Installable Platform AI Skills teach coding agents how to use those APIs and SDKs.^5
The Platform is for non-commercial use only. An app that uses it must be free to the end user, Scripture and Scripture-dependent features must not sit behind a paywall, and the experience must not carry advertising or sponsorships or use Scripture to generate revenue, directly or indirectly.^6 Bible texts are not on the Platform automatically: each publisher must opt in before its text becomes available through the Platform.^6
YouVersion launched the Platform in public beta in December 2025, after its family of apps passed one billion installs.^2 Among the first ministries to build on it are BibleProject and Come and See, the nonprofit behind The Chosen.^2 Gruenewald describes the motive this way: "We don't see the Bible App as ours, but something we feel called to steward on behalf of the global Church."^2 Biblica, one of the publishers distributing through the Platform, calls it "a game-changer for Scripture licensing and innovation, making it easier than ever to integrate the Bible into apps."^6
