What is the best life simulation app for iPhone?

BitLife - Life Simulator, S tier, ranked #1 of 40, rated 4.8 by 1,796,173 people.

Which life simulation apps are free?

40 of 40 are free to download: BitLife - Life Simulator (S), Idle Guy: Life Simulator games (S), Life Sim 3D: Family Simulator (S), Hobo - Real Life Simulator (S) and more. 36 of them sell in-app purchases. 3 report no in-app purchases.

Which life simulation app has the best App Store rating?

From Zero to Hero: Idle game! at 4.8 from 291,924 ratings.

AppTierList › All lists › Life Simulation

Best Life Simulation Apps for iPhone (2026)

40 apps ranked S through F · Updated 2026-10-19 · Ranked by AppTierList, computed, never sold · JSON

Part of Simulation Games.

BitLife - Life Simulator is the top-ranked of 40 life simulation apps on iPhone, at S tier with 4.8/5 from 1,796,173 ratings.

1
BitLife - Life SimulatorS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 1,796,173 ratings · score 99
2
Idle Guy: Life Simulator gamesS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 72,627 ratings · score 96
3
Life Sim 3D: Family SimulatorS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 145,909 ratings · score 95
4
Hobo - Real Life SimulatorS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 40,959 ratings · score 93
5
From Zero to Hero: Idle game!S
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 291,924 ratings · score 92

What belongs in this list

Play a game where I live out a virtual life and make choices about a character's daily life.

Not here: Simulation games alone; Dating simulation alone; Animal simulation alone; Gun simulation alone; A character dress-up game alone

More lists: Best Idle Life Simulator Apps · Best Mother Life Simulator Apps

How we pick

For this list we ask the App Store the same searches a person would, in several countries, and keep every app it returns. A model reads each app's listing and rejects the ones that only mention the use case. Every app that stays is scored out of 100 from four parts, each 0 to 100 and averaged with no weights: its App Store rating, how many people rated it, where the App Store itself ranks it for this list's searches, and how recently its current version shipped. An app showing Apple's Editors' Choice badge gets a fifth part of 100, which can only lift its score. Tiers follow fixed score bands: S from 90, A from 80, B from 70, C from 60, D from 50, F below. The list's leader is S if it scores 80 or more. On a list of 20 or more ranked apps, a tier from S to D takes in new apps only up to a quarter of the top 40: an app pushed out of a full tier falls to the next tier with room, and F takes the rest. An app already in a tier keeps its place while the tier is at most 2 apps over a quarter; past that, only the apps over that margin go down, lowest score first. Equal scores share a tier, and no app has a better tier than an app ranked above it. An app keeps its tier until its score passes the band edge by more than 1 point, or a full tier or the order above moves it. Only the top 40 of a list get a tier. Read the full method →

Compare every app

1
BitLife - Life SimulatorS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 1,796,173 ratings · score 99 · best in class
2
Idle Guy: Life Simulator gamesS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 72,627 ratings · score 96 · best in class
3
Life Sim 3D: Family SimulatorS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 145,909 ratings · score 95 · best in class
4
Hobo - Real Life SimulatorS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 40,959 ratings · score 93 · best in class
5
From Zero to Hero: Idle game!S
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 291,924 ratings · score 92 · best in class
6
Sunday City: Life SimulatorS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 8,088 ratings · score 92 · best in class
7
ReLife - Life SimulatorS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 1,149 ratings · score 91 · best in class
8
Virtual Mom and Dad SimulatorA
Free · ★ 4.5 · 14,259 ratings · score 90 · excellent
9
Staff! - Job & Life SimulatorA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 28,464 ratings · score 90 · excellent
10
Dog Life Simulator !A
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 180,854 ratings · score 89 · excellent
11
Nomi Sim - Life SimulationA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 913 ratings · score 89 · excellent
12
Verdant - Life SimulationA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 364 ratings · score 88 · excellent
13
Everlife - Life SimulatorA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 4,402 ratings · score 88 · excellent
14
Lifespan - Life SimulatorA
Free · ★ 4.7 · 230 ratings · score 88 · excellent
15
OneState RP: Role Play OnlineA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.2 · 26,171 ratings · score 88 · excellent
16
Everlife 2 - Life SimulatorA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 403 ratings · score 87 · excellent
17
The Sims™ FreePlayA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 463,556 ratings · score 87 · excellent
18
Family Life!A
Free + IAP · ★ 4.4 · 42,866 ratings · score 86 · excellent
19
Sentience - Life SimulatorB
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 357 ratings · score 85 · good
20
Design Family LifeB
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 13,420 ratings · score 84 · good
21
AltLife Sim!B
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 1,215 ratings · score 84 · good
22
Life Sim: Real Life SimulatorB
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 4,596 ratings · score 84 · good
23
100 Years - Life SimulatorB
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 181,671 ratings · score 84 · good
24
Idle Life - SimulatorB
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 1,720 ratings · score 83 · good
25
BitLife Dogs - DogLifeB
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 62,704 ratings · score 83 · good
26
Virtual Families 3B
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 111,818 ratings · score 82 · good
27
AltLife - Life SimulatorB
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 1,181 ratings · score 82 · good
28
Medieval Life - Life SimulatorB
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 2,536 ratings · score 82 · good
29
Virtual Families 2 Dream HouseC
Free + IAP · ★ 4.4 · 21,802 ratings · score 81 · situational
30
HeartopiaC
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 35,412 ratings · score 81 · situational
31
Family Go! - Lifetime Sim gameC
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 10,658 ratings · score 81 · situational
32
Home Street: Virtual House SimC
Free download · ★ 4.6 · 35,620 ratings · score 81 · situational
33
SimLife: Life Simulator GameC
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 81 ratings · score 81 · situational
34
Chronos - Life SimulatorC
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 17 ratings · score 81 · situational
35
GenLife: Life SimulatorC
Free + IAP · ★ 4.5 · 67 ratings · score 80 · situational
36
Eras: Life Across AgesC
Free · ★ 4.5 · 59 ratings · score 80 · situational
37
Jupi: AI Companion & Town GameC
Free + IAP · ★ 4.5 · 33,607 ratings · score 80 · situational
38
Lifeline: Life SimulatorC
Free + IAP · ★ 4.1 · 13 ratings · score 80 · situational
39
Nirvana Game of LifeC
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 3,497 ratings · score 79 · situational
40
AnyLife - Life SimulatorC
Free + IAP · ★ 4.4 · 41 ratings · score 79 · situational

Beyond the top 40

231 more, not ranked yet

New in the last 30 days

Questions people ask

What is the best life simulation app for iPhone?: BitLife - Life Simulator, S tier, ranked #1 of 40, rated 4.8 by 1,796,173 people.
Which life simulation apps are free?: 40 of 40 are free to download: BitLife - Life Simulator (S), Idle Guy: Life Simulator games (S), Life Sim 3D: Family Simulator (S), Hobo - Real Life Simulator (S) and more. 36 of them sell in-app purchases. 3 report no in-app purchases.
Which life simulation app has the best App Store rating?: From Zero to Hero: Idle game! at 4.8 from 291,924 ratings.
How many life simulation apps reach S or A tier?: 18 of 40. Tiers follow fixed score bands: S from 90, A from 80, B from 70, C from 60, D from 50, F below. The list's leader is S if it scores 80 or more. On a list of 20 or more ranked apps, a tier from S to D takes in new apps only up to a quarter of the top 40: an app pushed out of a full tier falls to the next tier with room, and F takes the rest. An app already in a tier keeps its place while the tier is at most 2 apps over a quarter; past that, only the apps over that margin go down, lowest score first. Equal scores share a tier, and no app has a better tier than an app ranked above it. An app keeps its tier until its score passes the band edge by more than 1 point, or a full tier or the order above moves it. Only the top 40 of a list get a tier.