Habit tracker with no subscription: what to check before you download

Why almost every habit tracker is a subscription

Search the App Store for a habit tracker and you'll notice a pattern. The download is free. The first time you open the app, a screen full of prices appears, usually monthly or yearly, often with a free trial up front. Paying once and being done with it is rare.

There's a fair reason for that. An app needs years of upkeep, every new version of iOS means work, and a one-time purchase only pays once. If a company keeps your data on its own systems, it pays for that every month, and a subscription is often the right fit.

A habit tracker usually doesn't need any of that. At its core, it remembers which days you did something. Your iPhone can store that on its own, no account required. So with this kind of app, it's worth asking what exactly you'd be paying for each month.

How to spot a subscription before you download

If the button says Get instead of showing a price, only the download is free. What comes after that is listed elsewhere. Three places tell you.

• Next to the Get button, it says In-App Purchases. So there's something to buy, but you don't know yet whether it's a subscription or a one-time purchase.
• Further down the app page, under Information, you'll find In-App Purchases again. It lists every purchase with its price. Names like Monthly, Yearly or Premium (1 Year) mean a subscription.
• If there's a single price with a name like Pro or Lifetime, it's usually a one-time purchase. You only know for sure once the app says so on its purchase screen.

Watch out for free trials in particular. Many subscriptions start with seven or 14 free days and then renew automatically. If you've started one, open Settings on your iPhone, tap your name at the top, then Subscriptions. You can cancel it there too, ideally at least a day before the trial ends.

What a subscription costs over the years

A habit tracker isn't a one-month app. If it works, you'll use it for years, and that's exactly when the price starts to matter.

Here's an example with round numbers. A $3 monthly plan costs $36 a year and $108 after three years. A $30 yearly plan comes to $90 over the same period. A $5 one-time purchase stays at $5, however long you use it.

That doesn't make a subscription the wrong choice by default. If an app has features you really need and can't get anywhere else, it can be worth the money. Just do the math before the trial ends, not after.

There's one more thing people rarely think about. With some subscription apps, you only see part of your history after you cancel. If you've been tracking habits for three years, that's worth knowing before you sign up. The answer is usually in the app's help pages or FAQ.

12 Challenges has no subscription: the basics are free, and Pro is a one-time purchase. See it on the App Store →

Subscription vs. one-time purchase

Habit trackers with a subscription

• Ongoing costs for as long as you use the app
• A free trial that renews unless you cancel
• Depending on the app, limited access to old entries after you cancel

Habit trackers you pay for once, or not at all

• A fixed price you know upfront
• Nothing to cancel and nothing that quietly renews
• Purchases you can restore on a new iPhone with the same Apple Account
• Often fewer features, since there's no recurring income

You don't have to see that last point as a downside. An app you pay for once tends to stick to what you downloaded it for. The more features pile up, the more of a chore the daily check-off becomes.

What's free in 12 Challenges, and what isn't

12 Challenges is an iPhone app for monthly challenges. You pick a goal, check it off for 30 days and watch your chain grow in the calendar. I built the app on my own and decided against a subscription. Here's exactly what you get for free and what you don't.

Free, for good

• Several challenges at once, checked off and tracked in the calendar
• Reminders, with a separate time for each challenge if you like
• Syncing through your iCloud if you use more than one device
• The home screen widget, so you can check off right there

With the Pro upgrade

• The Apple Watch app
• Statistics, such as a year overview and your best streaks
• The full archive. Without Pro, it shows your last two finished challenges

Pro is a one-time purchase that comes in two versions. In the US, Standard costs $4.99 and Supporter $8.99. In the UK it's £4.99 and £8.99, in Canada CA$6.99 and CA$11.99, and in Australia A$7.99 and A$14.99. In other countries, the App Store shows you the price before you buy.

Both versions unlock every Pro feature. Supporter is for anyone who wants to back the app a little more, and it adds two exclusive app icons. After installing, you can try Pro for seven days. The trial simply ends: nothing renews and there's nothing to cancel.

There are no ads in any version. You don't need an account either. Your data stays on your iPhone and, if you want, in your iCloud.

Checklist: how to find the right habit tracker

Price is only one question. A cheap tracker you stop opening after two weeks is still too expensive.

• Check In-App Purchases for a subscription before you download.
• Count how many steps a check-off takes. If it's more than two taps, you won't keep doing it every evening.
• See if there's a widget. Checking off without opening the app makes it easier to stick with.
• Think about what happens when you miss a day. If the app resets everything to zero, every slip feels like the end.
• Ask yourself whether you want an account. A list of checkmarks rarely needs one.
• Find out where your data lives: on your iPhone, in your iCloud or with the company behind the app.
• Make sure you keep your old entries if you stop paying.

I deliberately left room for missed days in 12 Challenges. A challenge counts as done once you reach 85 % of the days, which is 26 out of 30. Why that works better than all or nothing is explained on the method page.

Can you do it without an app?

Yes. A wall calendar and a pen cost next to nothing and have worked for decades. Every day you get it done gets an X, and after a few days you won't want to break the chain.

A calendar has just three weak spots. It stays at home when you're out. It doesn't remind you at 21:00 that you haven't done anything yet. And with several goals at once, it gets messy fast.

A notes app or a spreadsheet solves the first problem, but not the other two. That's what a tracker is for, and it doesn't need a monthly fee to do it. If you're still looking for a goal, the challenge ideas library has 72 suggestions, each with a reason.

Questions about habit trackers with no subscription