If you're hunting for Habitify alternatives, it's usually for one of two reasons: the free plan now stops at three habits, or you've decided you want a tracker that works the way your head works. Habitify is a clean, cross-platform habit app, and for plenty of people it does the job. It isn't the only good option though, and the right one depends far more on how you want the tracking to feel than on any feature list.
This roundup covers apps like Habitify, sorted by the kind of person each one suits. Every app has its platform and pricing spelled out, hedged where prices move, and honest cons alongside the good bits. Meadow, our own app, sits at the bottom as the calm, no-numbers option, and we're upfront about who it's for.
First, a fair word on the app you might be leaving.
What Habitify does well, and where it pinches
Habitify is tidy. You get calendar streaks, year-long heatmaps, success-rate stats, notes and mood logging, plus links to Apple Health and Google Fit, and it syncs across iPhone, Android, Mac, the web and Apple Watch. If you like looking back and seeing the shape of a month, it rewards you.
The friction is the free tier. It caps you at three habits with one reminder each, and the unlimited habits and deeper features live behind Premium, which at the time of writing runs about $2.49 a month billed annually or a one-time $59.99, though it's worth checking current pricing on the Habitify site as the tiers have shifted. Three habits is the sorest point in App Store reviews, since most people who bother installing a tracker want to log more than three things. Beyond that, the recurring gripes are that too much sits behind the paywall, with the odd bug reported in widgets, Apple Watch and sync.
None of that makes Habitify a bad app. It means a different tool might fit you better. Here are eight worth a look.
1. Streaks: best if you live in Apple's world and hate subscriptions
Streaks is an Apple Design Award winner built around a chain of consecutive days. You mark a task done, the run grows, and the pull of an unbroken chain does the nudging. It handles up to 24 tasks and pulls from Apple Health, so water, steps and workouts can tick themselves off when your phone already knows you did them.
The draw is the price. Streaks is a one-time purchase, around $5.99 with no subscription at the time of writing, and it runs across iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.
Best for: committed Apple users who'd rather pay once than add another monthly bill. Worth knowing: a streak-first design can sting if a broken chain is the exact thing that makes you give up.
2. Loop Habit Tracker: best free, no-strings pick on Android
Loop is the answer to a Habitify free tier that feels tight. It's open source, ad-free, and needs no account or internet connection, so your data never leaves your phone. On top of a normal streak it works out a habit strength score, so a few missed days after a long run weaken a habit a little instead of wiping it, which is a kinder model than a chain that snaps.
Everything is free with no in-app purchases at all. Loop Habit Tracker is Android only, on Google Play and F-Droid.
Best for: Android users who want a private, free tracker with clever scoring and zero upsell. Not for you if: you're on iPhone or you need cloud sync, a web version or an Apple Watch app, none of which Loop offers.
3. TickTick: best if you want habits and to-do lists in one place
TickTick is a task manager with a habit tracker bolted in, and that's the appeal. If your habits sit right next to your tasks, calendar and reminders, one app covers the lot. The habit side gives you streaks, completion rates and trend stats, which is plenty for a handful of routines.
The habit feature works on the free plan but is capped at around five habits, and the fuller experience needs Premium, roughly $35.99 to $49.99 a year depending on where you look, so check current pricing. TickTick runs on iPhone, iPad, Android, web, Windows and Mac.
Best for: people who already want a to-do app and would happily fold habits into it. Not for you if: habits are your main focus, since the analytics are shallower than a dedicated tracker and there's no deep heatmap.
4. Habitica: best if a game gets you moving
Habitica turns your habits into a role-playing game. You build a character, real tasks earn gold and experience, and skipping them costs health. Join a party with friends and your slacking affects the group, which adds a social pull on top of the fantasy.
It's free to use, with an optional subscription around $4.99 a month or $47.99 a year that adds convenience and cosmetic extras while the core tracking stays free. Habitica runs on iPhone and iPad, with a matching Android app and a web version.
Best for: people who light up at rewards and levelling up. Not for you if: the game upkeep would feel like one more chore.
5. Finch: best for self-care sitting alongside habits
Finch pairs habit tracking with a self-care companion. You look after a little bird by doing small daily things, from a breathing exercise to a short walk to a mood check-in, so the app leans as much towards looking after yourself as towards productivity. If plain checklists leave you cold, the softer framing helps.
Finch is free to download on iPhone and Android, with an optional Finch Plus subscription for extra features, commonly around $9.99 a month or $39.99 a year, though the price shifts and is worth checking in your own store.
Best for: people who want warm wellbeing prompts, not performance metrics. Not for you if: you want cold, precise progress data.
6. Way of Life: best for spotting trends over time
Way of Life has been going for years and centres on colour-coded trends. You mark each habit yes, no or skip, and the charts show whether a habit is heading the right way, which helps for chipping away at something you want to do less of as well as more of.
Way of Life is free for up to three habits, with a premium subscription commonly around $4.99 a month to lift the cap, and prices vary by plan and region. It's on iPhone, iPad and Mac, with an Android version too.
Best for: people who think in trend lines and want to break bad habits as well as build good ones. Not for you if: you'd find a spreadsheet-like app off-putting.
7. HabitNow: best generous free tier on Android
HabitNow gets recommended constantly on the Android side, and the free tier is a big reason. You can track up to seven habits before paying anything, with flexible logging by checkbox, number or timer, and routines to group your day.
A one-time premium purchase, around 5 to 6 dollars at the time of writing, removes the cap, which many people prefer to a subscription. HabitNow is Android only, with no iPhone version.
Best for: Android users who want room to grow for free and a single payment later. Not for you if: you're on iPhone, or you want polished task management as well.
8. Productive: best for timed routines and strong reminders
Productive suits mornings and evenings that follow a set order. You group habits into routines, pin them to times of day, and lean on flexible reminders and location prompts to catch you at the right moment. The stats are clear without drowning you.
Productive is free to start on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac. Premium runs around $10.99 a month or $79.99 a year with no lifetime option, so it's the pricier subscription here across a full year.
Best for: people who want their day mapped into timed routines. Not for you if: a simple daily list is all you're after.
A gentler option if the pressure is the problem
If the thing pushing you away from Habitify is the pressure and not the price, Meadow takes a different tack. It's an iPhone app that grows a wildflower meadow from your real-life efforts. Log a walk or a few minutes of movement, tick off small habits like drinking water or getting outside, note your mood and energy, and a new flower blooms each day you show up. There's a breathwork feature built in as well, so you can practise your breathing alongside the meadow you've grown. Best of all for anyone burned by a broken chain, there are no streaks: miss a day, a week or a month and nothing resets and no flowers wilt.
Meadow is a paid app, so it won't be the pick if a free tracker was the whole point, and it's iPhone-only. Little and Often is run by the Meadow team, so we'll say plainly that it earns its place for the sort of reader this site is written for and leave the choice with you. You'll find Meadow on the App Store.
How to choose the one for you
Start with how you react to a missed day, because that's where most habit tracking falls apart. If a broken streak makes you want to quit, steer clear of the apps built on unbroken chains and pick one that treats a gap kindly, like Loop or Meadow. If a broken streak fires you up instead, a streak-first app such as Streaks works in your favour.
Then weigh money against hardware. On Android and want to pay nothing? Loop is free forever and HabitNow gives you seven habits before it asks. Deep in Apple's world and allergic to subscriptions? Streaks costs one small payment. Want your habits beside your tasks? TickTick. After warmth over numbers? Finch or Meadow.
Here are the honest shortcuts:
- Free forever: Loop Habit Tracker, or Habitica if you like a game.
- Pay once, no subscription: Streaks, or HabitNow on Android.
- Habits plus to-do lists: TickTick.
- Trends and charts: Way of Life.
- Timed routines: Productive.
- Kindest on a bad week: Meadow.
Whichever you land on, the act of tracking has evidence behind it. A meta-analysis of 138 studies found that prompting people to monitor their progress towards a goal improved how often they reached it, across many different goals. That doesn't prove any single app will make a habit automatic, but it does mean keeping count earns its keep, whatever tool you keep it in. If you want a closer look at what a good habit tracker should do, or an iPhone-specific shortlist, our best habit tracker app for iPhone guide goes deeper.
The app is only half the story though. Sticking with it is the harder part, and our guide to how to be consistent covers that once the download is done.
Before you close this tab, pick one app from the list, add a single habit tied to something you already do each day, and set the reminder. That one move is your new tracker, already running.
AUTHOR
Co-founder of Meadow.
Ash is co-founder of Meadow, a habit and movement tracking app that turns small acts of self-care into a growing wildflower meadow.
Little and often, with Meadow
Consistency, not intensity.
Meadow turns the movement you enjoy and the habits that help you feel good into a meadow of wildflowers. No streaks to break, and your flowers never wilt.
Download Meadow
