I have used Logos Bible Software since the days when it was mailed on diskettes (soon after the company started in 1992)—the software has come a long way in usability, simplicity, and resources. With the release of Logos 10, that progression has continued.

As one who loves to teach people to study the Bible for themselves, primarily using the Bible—Logos is a great tool. While the library of resources is extensive, the tools for inductive study are why I recommend it to so many. For those who are teaching and preaching in a large church, leading a small church in a retirement community, teaching large adult Bible classes, women’s or men’s study, or simply those who have caught the joy of personal study—Logos is a great tool.

Whether an individual is in vocational ministry or helps lead a Bible study, Logos has something to offer to help them encounter God in His Word, allowing the biblical text to speak for itself.

So, an honest disclosure—I have benefited from the use of Logos for a long time and have been thankful for it. I have also struggled at times with some of the changes in major Logos updates (most notability when the notes system was changed in Logos 8). I am a fan—so while this review may have a few concerns or at least a wish list, I can wholeheartedly recommend Logos 10 to anyone who desires to study the Bible for themselves.

I can wholeheartedly recommend Logos 10 to anyone who desires to study the Bible for themselves

Part of this review

Context

While there are other Bible study resources, none offer the extensive resources and combination of computer (desktop, laptop) and mobile (apps for phones and tablets) options that Logos offers.

Both the mobile and desktop versions of Logos allow you to highlight and take notes at the word level, not just the verse level.

Once you create an account, you can have the software on all your devices.

Example: I study using my laptop, but when I am in a church service and someone else is preaching, I can take notes on my phone right in the app.

All that functionality even before mentioning the available library of resources.

Overall Logos review

• Your Bible and resources are always with you

With the advent of smaller and more portable laptops which many of us carry everywhere or the power of mobile apps on a smartphone. Your Bible study tools and library are not confined to a shelf.

If you have to wait at a doctor’s office or for your child’s practice—you can read and study.

• Taking and keeping notes organized in one place

Even if you do not buy a major package, the Logos notes and highlighting system is a powerful way to keep learning.

Whether you are seeking to encounter God in His Word personally, preparing a lesson, or listening to a sermon—you can take notes and highlight for greater retention and therefore greater impact.

And you no longer have to search for your paper notes.

One specific form of note-taking that I find especially useful is the “anchor” feature.

If I find a repeated term or concept that I want to study and track through different chapters or books, I simply write a note and anchor additional passages as I study.

Do a word study on “apostle” and anchor it to Romans 1:1; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1; et. al.

Notice that the word translated “instruct” in Titus 1:9 is translated “urge” in Titus 2:6 and “exhort” in Titus 2:15, anchor one note to all three locations.

• Allows for more in-depth study because of the ease

When doing inductive Bible study, the goal is to allow the biblical text (the Bible) to speak for itself. To seek to understand what the original author intended the original audience to understand.

We have a different language and culture, different worldview and perspective, and live in different locations. Therefore, there are elements in the text that require more than instinct or assumption.

With Logos, you can quickly identify where a word is used—since context determines meaning, and words have a range of meaning based on usage—even if you do not know the original language.

And while we are blessed with many good English translations, with Logos you can follow the repetition of a word, in the original language, while comparing how different translations reveal the nuance in a specific context.

You could do this with physical books. You might be able to do some of this with a combination of other resources. But Logos makes this easy—therefore making it more likely that you will do it!

For anyone who wants to read, study, and engage deeply with the Word of God, Logos is a wonderful, powerful tool. And while the more you spend the more resources and tools are available to you, even the free version or low-cost Foundations package will improve your study.

First impressions of Logos 10

For those who have used Logos before, the first change you will note is the location of the title bar has been moved to the side (sidebar)—which can be collapsed to allow more focus for study.

Some elements have been moved from the header to the footer—update circle, layouts, story, and account.

I particularly appreciate the intent behind this redesign—to let the Biblical text be the focal point.

As I seek to help people learn to study the Bible for themselves and recommend Logos as a key tool, I usually recommend a layout that places the biblical text as the primary panel, rather than a resource. With the goal of allowing personal study of the Bible to drive the process before accessing resources.

After a couple of weeks of regular usage

Once running, Logos 10 should be familiar to most users. And will not require much of a learning curve.

New users, should take advantage of the training available on the Logos website and the video tutorial to accelerate their comfort with the software. This will allow Logos to be a tool, not the focus.

A few updates I appreciated

First, the look and feel

• Bible search window—the order of search elements has been organized to be more natural

• With the added icons for additional search functions without having to access the panel menus

—Match case
—Match all forms
—reference matching (Narrow, Default, Broad)

Second, the functionality—advanced searching is more natural and easier to use.

Logos Bible search for a specific word or for two specific words (using the “AND” operator) or a phase search using quote marks has always been easy. But more complex searches required the user to remember keystrokes or when to use morph or syntax searching.

The addition of “fuzzy” search a few years ago was a help.

The Logos 10 allows you to do more natural searching.

A quick easy example, I was looking for a specific reference about the Spirit leading Jesus into the wilderness.

I simply typed the phrase—the Spirit led Jesus into, using my default translation, ESV.

Result: Matthew 4:1

That is simple but shows that Logos is easy to use.

While you might be able to do that in Google, that is as far as Google can take you.

Do that search in Logos and the power of Bible study software is now a click of your mouse.

Logos 10 also makes more complex searches easier and with less search syntax to remember.

Want to know when Jesus referred to Moses?
person:Moses IN speaker:Jesus

Want to know when the Greek word for “word” is “logos” not “rema”?

The search window in Logos has reminders to make this easier.

Feature review

• Question and Answer resources

Logos has a dataset of “questions and answers” that makes getting good answers to biblical and theological questions easier.

• Search your own printed books, digitally.

Exciting new features I look forward to using, but currently will only be available for those who own Logos 10 Gold or above, is called “Print Library Catalog.”

In the near future, you will be able to tell Logos that you own a physical, printed book and when you do a search, if that book is in the Logos library (even if you do not own it in Logos)—Logos 10 will return search results from your book. Allowing you to quickly find it—though you will have to get it off your shelf.

• Translate

For those whose first language is not English, Logos has a translation feature. Which I hope will enable more to use the abundance of English resources.

• My wish list

I would like more options than normal, light and dark for appearance. The light is a bit too light on a tablet (Surface Pro) but dark makes reading my notes and highlights difficult. This may be a function of the Windows 11 presets. I am thankful that I can set the resource panel background to “gray” while using the light appearance.

For more descriptions of the features in Logos 10 to the new landing page.

Installation review

In order to do a fair or at least thorough review (though not an exhaustive one), I installed Logos 10 first on my personal “commuter laptop.”

Microsoft Surface Pro 7, running Windows 11 (21H2)
Intel(R) Core (TM) i5-1035G4 CPU @ 1.10GHz   1.50 GHz
Ram    8.00 GB (7.60 GB usable)
SSD    264 GB

And I installed it on my work laptop.

Dell Latitude 3420, running Windows 10 Pro (21H2)
11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz   1.69 GHz
Ram    32.00 GB (31.7 GB usable)
SSD    1 TB

I installed Logos 10.0 started with Beta 8, then Beta 9, and finally 10.0.0.214

Install

The first install on the Surface Pro 7, was simple and quick. As is customary, the software then required an update—which used most of the CPU for 3-4 minutes before completing the restart.

This also happens when switching between light and dark modes.

On the Surface Pro 7 it takes about 30 seconds from starting until usable. And at times there is a lag while Logos is updating—including using a high proportion of the available CPU. (If you have a computer with limited storage space, during the installation, you can install only a portion of your resources.)

On the Dell Latitude 3420, with a much faster CPU and more available RAM, the process was unbelievably quick.

For those with a MAC, Logos 10 has native support for the new M1 processor.

Mobile App Review

Wow. Logos hit it out of the park with the update to the mobile app.

The mobile app will require a separate review—but for now…

Click on a word or verse in a Bible and look at all that is available
Quickly share
Write a note
Search in the text you are in
More in-depth search
Do a word study

All one click away

Purchasing options

I could never be a salesman, but when it comes to Logos, I have no problem recommending that individuals invest. But the level they invest is both an economic and wisdom issue.

Basic and Foundations are free or small investment ($50)

Foundations includes the ESV and CSB Bible—both of which I use extensively. Plus, some basic commentaries, Bible Dictionaries, Audio Bible, and two good study Bibles.

For the rest of these packages, there is an introductory 30% discount, plus a few extra resources.

My assumption is that Logos will release a Logos 10 Foundations soon.

Starter (Currently $250, after discount)

Packages (you can see all of them here)

Reminder

• Base Packages are the most cost-effective way to build a library
• Once you own a book in Logos, you own it–never need to buy it again
• Each time Logos has a major update they add more books to different Base Packages, which is wonderful, but also adds to the cost of upgrading
• Individual books and audiobooks are available–the cost of individual books is often the same as purchasing for Kindle, but with much more functionality

Feature sets–the tools available

• There are different tools available based on the Base Package you own
• You can purchase features without adding more books

For those in Lancaster, Pennsylvania–I’m glad to help you determine which package is best for you.