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Updated October 28, 2026

InstLife vs BitLife

InstLife vs BitLife: who made each game, why Candywriter bought InstLife, where to get them today, how you pay, and which one to play.

Lifesim, Inc.

What is InstLife?

InstLife is a text-based life simulator for phones. A small studio called InstCoffee made it. In 2019, Candywriter, the company that makes BitLife, bought it.

Gamezebo calls InstLife “one of the first text-based life simulators for mobile.” Gamezebo also says that InstCoffee was a studio of only two developers. The Gamezebo page shows the date June 18, 2019.

The Next Web picked InstLife as one of the best apps of 2018. Its writer says that the interface “is barebones, like the internet’s earliest HTML sites.” He also says: “In InstLife you live out randomly generated lives by making life-defining decisions.”

How InstLife plays

You start a random life and make choices year by year. You go to college, get married, have children, and die. The Next Web writer played a Norwegian career woman. She tried to adopt, went to the hospital, assaulted a clown, and went to prison for a year.

A third-party SourceForge listing says that one InstLife run takes about five minutes. It lists choices for relationships, hobbies, skills, and a career ladder. The listing says the game has no art and no animations.

If you do not know BitLife yet, read what BitLife is and how it plays first. The two games use the same basic idea.

Is InstLife the same as BitLife?

No. InstLife and BitLife are two different games from two different studios. They now have the same owner, because Candywriter bought InstLife.

Both games are text life simulators. You live one random life from birth to death, and you tap choices in menus. That is why many players think that one game is a copy of the other.

We found no source that says InstLife copied BitLife, or that BitLife copied InstLife. The official BitLife site says that BitLife exists “since 2018.” The Next Web says InstLife was on Google Play in 2018. We could not confirm which game came out first.

What did Candywriter do with InstLife?

Candywriter planned to move parts of InstLife into BitLife. Gamezebo says that InstLife will “no longer receive support.” It says that the “best features and scenarios will make the transition over to BitLife.”

Gamezebo adds that Candywriter “hasn’t detailed its plans in full just yet.” We found no official list of the InstLife features that went into BitLife. So we do not name any.

Is InstLife still available?

Not in the official stores, from what we found. On October 28, 2026, we searched the App Store and Google Play for “InstLife.” Neither store showed an InstLife app by InstCoffee.

The Google Play search for “instlife” showed BitLife, CatLife, AltLife, and other life sims. It showed no InstCoffee app. The Candywriter games page lists BitLife, DogLife, CatLife, and Letter Soup. It does not list InstLife.

Some third-party sites still show InstLife pages. The SourceForge listing shows an update date of May 23, 2023. We could not confirm that date in an official store.

Should you download an InstLife APK?

We do not recommend it. A file from an unknown download site can contain malware. Also, the game gets no updates from Candywriter, so bugs stay in the game.

Do you want the InstLife style today? Play BitLife from an official store. Or pick a free life sim from our list of text-based games.

What is the difference between InstLife and BitLife?

BitLife is the bigger game, and it still gets updates. InstLife is a smaller game that its new owner stopped supporting. The table compares the facts that we could check today.

FactInstLifeBitLife
Original makerInstCoffee, a two-person studioCandywriter, LLC
Owner todayCandywriter (Gamezebo, 2019)Candywriter
In official stores todayNot found on October 28, 2026Yes, App Store and Google Play
UpdatesNo support since the saleGoogle Play update on October 21, 2026
Store ratingNo store page to rate4.8 (App Store, 1.8M ratings); 4.4 (Google Play, 1.32M reviews)
How you payFree (The Next Web, 2019)Free, with ads and in-app purchases
Age ratingNot available18+ (App Store); Mature 17+ (Google Play)

Features

Both games cover the same life events: school, college, jobs, love, marriage, children, crime, prison, and death. The BitLife store pages list much more than the InstLife sources do.

  • Careers. Google Play says that in BitLife you can “become a doctor, actor, athlete, criminal, influencer, CEO.” SourceForge says InstLife has a career ladder up to executive levels.
  • Crime. The BitLife App Store page lists smuggling, bank robberies, and prison. The Next Web writer went to prison in InstLife after an assault.
  • Relationships. Both games have dating, marriage, divorce, and children. The Next Web writer also tried adoption in InstLife.
  • Packs and modes. BitLife sells expansion packs, such as Landlord, Investor, and C.U.L.T. The official site promotes a Movie Director Expansion Pack and an Ultimate Fighter Mode. We found no packs for InstLife.
  • Pets. The BitLife store text that we read does not list pets. Candywriter makes DogLife and CatLife as separate games.

Platforms

BitLife runs on iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple silicon Macs, and Apple Vision. Google Play also lists Windows. InstLife started on Android, and The Next Web said that an iOS version was in work.

Neither game has an official browser version. The BitLife site links only to the App Store and Google Play. For the PC steps, read how to play BitLife on PC. For school computers, read our BitLife unblocked guide.

Is InstLife or BitLife free?

Both games are free to download. BitLife shows ads and sells extras. We could not verify whether InstLife had ads or purchases.

The Next Web said that you can “download the app for free on the Google Play store.” The article does not mention ads or purchases. We found no store page that lists InstLife purchases today.

How BitLife makes money

The BitLife App Store page lists these types of in-app purchases:

Each purchase is a separate item in the store list. For the full cost picture, read is BitLife free.

Players complain about the ads. One Google Play review from October 2025 says: “I noticed the large amount of ads recently.”

Which is better, InstLife or BitLife?

BitLife is the better choice for most players today, because you can still get it from an official store. InstLife is only a good choice if you already have it on an old phone.

Use this rule to choose:

  1. Do you want a text life sim on a phone today? Play BitLife.
  2. Do you still have InstLife on an old device and like it? Keep it, but expect no updates.
  3. Do you want no ads and nothing to buy? Neither fits well. Read the next section.
  4. Do you want to play in a browser? Neither has an official web version. Read life simulator browser games.
  5. Is the player under 17? Check the ratings first. Read BitLife age rating.

Some players also ask about a sequel. Read is there a BitLife 2 for what Candywriter has released.

What games are like InstLife and BitLife?

Many text life sims copy the BitLife model: one random life, year by year, with menus. Our list of games like BitLife compares the main options, with platforms and how you pay.

Some newer games use AI to write the story. Read AI life simulator games for that group.

LifeSim (we make it)

We make LifeSim, so read this part with that in mind. LifeSim is not a year-by-year text sim like InstLife or BitLife.

In LifeSim, you live one life, a day at a time, in a real city. The map is the real Earth in 3D. The people are AI characters with jobs, homes, and friends. You talk to them in your own words, and they remember you.

LifeSim is free, with no ads, nothing to buy, and no subscription. It plays in any browser at play.lifesim.com and on iPhone and iPad. Season 1 is in beta.

LifeSim does not fit you if you want a five-minute life with random events. It also does not fit if you want packs or God Mode. It does not fit a full life from birth to death in one sitting. Stay with BitLife for that. See also our BitLife alternatives page.

Questions

Who makes InstLife?

InstCoffee, a two-person studio, made InstLife. Gamezebo says that Candywriter, the maker of BitLife, bought it.

Did BitLife buy InstLife?

Yes. Candywriter, the company behind BitLife, bought InstLife, according to Gamezebo.

Can you still download InstLife?

We found no InstLife app in the App Store or Google Play on October 28, 2026. Only third-party sites still list it.

Is InstLife on iPhone?

In January 2019, The Next Web said that an iOS version was in work. A SourceForge listing shows an iPhone version. We found no App Store page for it today.

Is BitLife free?

Yes. BitLife is free to download. It shows ads and sells extras such as Bitizenship, God Mode, and expansion packs.

Is there a version of BitLife or InstLife without ads?

BitLife sells a Remove Ads purchase. We could not verify ads in InstLife. LifeSim, our game, has no ads, but it plays differently.

More BitLife guides

Sources

New to life sims? Read what a life simulator is, or play LifeSim, a free online life simulator on a real map of Earth.

Sims 4 database

Look it up in the Sims 4 database, read from the game files: cheats, traits, careers, moodlets, deaths, packs, challenges, recipes, popular mods, pack finder, and the death odds calculator.

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