Why get a habit tracker?
What is a habit tracking app?
Habits aren't easily kept. But you want to keep an eye on the good and bad ones. According to a study by Philippa Lally and University College London, the average time it takes to embed a habit is around 66 days. Many people need apps to help them track habits as they motivate them to see them visually and decide what to focus on for the day ahead.
The thing about habit tracking is that it makes the invisible visible. You think you're meditating regularly, but when you look at the calendar view and see you only did it 4 times last month, that's a wake-up call. Same goes for the bad habits you're trying to break. Seeing a streak of smoke-free days builds momentum that's hard to give up.
So many things can help when using a habit tracking app, some of them: Helps you address good habits and bad habits. Incentivizes you to keep a streak and positive momentum. Good for bad habits too like smoking, poor routines, and beyond. Helps visually address your goals. Habit-tracking apps help many to be more accountable.
Honestly, the biggest value is accountability. When you've got a 30-day streak going, you don't want to break it over something stupid. That psychological trick works way better than willpower alone. Plus, many of these apps let you share progress with friends or join challenges, which adds social pressure (the good kind) to keep going.
They can help achieve goals by laddering towards an objective. Used for good and bad habits to track progress towards goal. If you're building a morning routine, tracking each component (exercise, meditation, journaling) helps you see which pieces you're actually sticking to and which ones need work.
1. Habitify
Best for All Round Use: Habitify
Habitify is one of the more all round habit trackers. Many people like it as it is available on iOS, Android, macOS and even web too, which makes it super accessible. It allows you to track habits, see progress with statistics and streaks.
You can create habits like routines allowing you to see a morning set of habits, evening and so on to your typical day. This is where Habitify really shines compared to simpler trackers. Instead of just a flat list of habits, you can organize them by time of day or context. Your morning routine might include meditation, exercise, and journaling, while your evening routine has reading and skincare. Seeing them grouped this way makes it easier to build actual routines instead of random scattered habits.
The detailed statistical breakdown is a good one and you can see your streaks appear on every task motivating you onwards. You get charts showing completion rates over time, best streaks, current streaks, and even which days of the week you're most consistent. This data is stupidly useful if you're trying to figure out why you keep failing at certain habits (spoiler: it's probably Mondays).
A lot of people like Habitify, as you can join with friends and share challenges which can be tracked via a leaderboard. This social aspect is optional, but if you're competitive or just need external accountability, it helps. Comes on iOS, Android, Mac and Web. Customize your areas for each part of the day or routine. Track streaks and data points like best stretch of habit.
Share challenges and have your family or friends join. Connects with Zapier and IFTTT for better connections, which is great if you're already using those tools for automation. Adds mood tracking, timer and logs to help the emotional side of the journey. Being able to log how you felt when completing (or skipping) a habit gives you insights into patterns you might not notice otherwise.
The free plan allows you to track up to 3 habits. All the features are unlocked beyond just habit tracking for premium. Three habits is honestly enough if you're just starting out or focusing on a few key changes. But if you're the type who wants to track 15 different things, you'll hit that limit fast.
Premium is $29.99 per year or $2.49 per month. If you want to go lifetime, you can get it for $59.99 and never pay again. That lifetime deal is pretty solid if you know you're going to use this long-term. Paying once and forgetting about it beats subscriptions any day. Good for all round use. Budget conscious, as it is $30 per year. The basics, not too many power or unique features. It doesn't try to be everything (no built-in task management or calendar), which keeps it focused.
2. Habitica
RPG Habit Tracker
Habitica is one of the easiest and fun ways to track habits. It makes a game-like experience for your habits by giving you a character and a way to track tasks, habits, and goals for them to achieve by playing a game.
You can use it on the web or on iOS and Android to track habits and earn rewards to add armor, clothing, and equipment to build your character. Complete your meditation habit and your avatar gains experience points. Skip your workout and your character takes damage. It sounds ridiculous, but for people who grew up playing RPGs, this actually works.
People love using this as it feels like a game but allows you to manage your habits effectively and grow your skills in and out of the game. Track habits whilst collecting gems and upgrading areas of the game. Full scale gamification of your habits and tasks. Good for sharing with other people who like this sort of RPG game. You can join guilds, fight bosses as a party, and compete in challenges. If your friends are also using Habitica, you can hold each other accountable by teaming up for quests where everyone's habits affect the group's success.
Track tasks alongside your habits, perfect for keeping tally. The app doesn't just do habits. You can add one-off tasks (like "file taxes"), daily tasks (like "take vitamins"), and long-term goals. Everything feeds into the same reward system, so your entire productivity life becomes part of the game.
Manage tasks in Kanban views and recurring tasks too. Good for sharing with others as you can set challenges. The community aspect is surprisingly active. There are guilds for everything from writers to parents to people with ADHD. If you're the type who benefits from community support, this is one of the few habit trackers that really delivers on that.
It is free to use with not real limits (you get less gems and less collectables). There's no feature you don't get as part of premium that you don't get with free. The free version is fully functional. Premium just gives you more cosmetic options and bonus gems. For most people, the free version is plenty. Yearly pricing for more gems, collectables and all sorts is $48.99 per year. This is more for the hardcore habit tracker, the people who want every pet, mount, and costume option.
Those who want to make their habits and task management fun. Easy to use and relaxed nature. If you've tried boring habit trackers and bounced off them, Habitica's game mechanics might be exactly what you need to stick with it. Though fair warning: if you're not into RPGs or fantasy themes, this will feel extremely cringe.
3. Griply
Good for All Round
Griply is mainly a to-do app like TickTick However it has a good planner, life planning system & habit tracking abilities. Many people like Griply for the combination of planning your goals alongside the everyday habits that you might have.
The habits allow you to track items and see statistics about each habit, for example streaks and see them withinyour to-do list.
Griply works well on iOS as a way to see how your habits are progressing with little widgets that appear within the app to help see what you're strengths are - these a good at a glance to see how you're doing. LifeOS planning alongside your habits. Goal management feeds into habit tracking system.
Good for seeing things at a glance to see if you're trending upwards, or not.
Plan tasks on a board, calendar & timeline view for goals. Griply is free to use You can use it for $29.99 per year, billed yearly. But there is a lifetime pricing too to consider at $89.99
4. Not Boring Habits
Fun iOS App
Not Boring Habits is an interactive way to track a habit. People love it because it is an easy and fun way to celebrate habits. Build structure and see a visual map of the habits you've success so far. Many people like a fun app to do this to better entertainingly manage their habits and get the habit's consumption rolling.
The app is also part of a series of iOS apps called Not Boring Software, which is fun and easy to use to track things like habits, weather, and more.
A gamified habit builder application that build new habits and breaks old ones.
5. Everyday Habits
Web Habit Tracker App
Everyday Habits is probably one of the better habit-tracking apps for the web. It is a visual chart that helps you see your habits and allows you to see instantly how many streaks you have and the progress you're making.
There is a Chrome tab extension that you can use to ensure that your habit tracking is front and center when using Everyday Habits.
It works really well for ensuring that you focus on the habits you do daily.
Everyday Habits helps you track habits, streaks and success with your daily habits.
6. Streaks
Simple Habit Tracker
Streaks is a dead simple, easy-to-use, and cheap one-off app that you can download and get started with habit tracking. Many people say this is one of the better, more superficial habit tracker apps designed to make it easy to manage and start habits daily. It's easy and simple for the most basic habit tracking needs.
This is a long-standing iOS app and has been recommended more towards those who want something all on one page, so they don't have to open multiple screens and works for iPad too.
7. TickTick
Task App with Habits
TickTick is a task management app with habit-tracking capabilities that you can use to manage your habits. The habit-tracking abilities are simple but allow you to add as many as you like as part of the premium subscription. They work efficiently for tracking habits on the go, as you can switch between tasks and habits easily.
TickTick is also a notably good task management app that should be considered. Each habit can be logged with a swipe. You can see what days you have completed with a streak. You can add a fun icon and emoji to each habit. Manage your tasks alongside your habits & a pomodoro timer. Comes with iOS widgets for seeing progress of habit.
8. Awesome Habits
Fun Habit Tracking
Awesome Habits is an easy-to-use habit-tracking app. With the iOS app, you can use the iOS widgets feature to track them using your home screen, which many people will like who want the habits front and center. It comes as part of the Setapp experience for handling your habits, so that it will be available as part of that subscription.
Part of the Setapp subscription. One of the more approachable tools for habit tracking. Comes on iOS and mac for access all over devices. Connects with Apple Health (only some do this).
Awesome Habits wants to be your base for habit tracking with fun, easy tracking.
How to Choose the Right Habit Tracker
What matters when picking a habit tracking app?
Picking a habit tracker comes down to what actually motivates you. If you're a data person who gets excited by charts and completion rates, go with something like Habitify that gives you detailed analytics. If you need the dopamine hit of leveling up a character, Habitica is your best bet.
Pricing matters too. Free plans are great for testing things out, but they usually limit you to 3-5 habits. That's fine if you're focusing on one or two big changes. But if you're tracking morning routines, exercise, work habits, and evening wind-down, you'll hit those limits fast. The $30 per year range (Habitify, Griply) is pretty reasonable if you're serious about this. Lifetime deals can be worth it if you know you're the type to stick with one app long-term.
Platform availability is huge. If you're switching between iPhone, laptop, and Android tablet throughout the day, you need something that syncs everywhere. Web-based options like Everyday Habits or Habitica work anywhere but might not have the polish of native apps. iOS-only apps like Streaks and Not Boring Habits are beautifully designed but useless if you ever switch to Android.
Think about whether you want social features. Some people thrive on sharing progress with friends or joining challenges. Others find that pressure annoying and just want to track privately. Habitify and Habitica both do social well if that's your thing. Streaks and Not Boring Habits are more solo experiences.
The biggest mistake is downloading five different habit trackers and not sticking with any of them. Pick one, commit to it for at least a month, and actually use it. The best habit tracker is the one you'll actually open every day.
Let's recommend more
Here are more additional habit tracking apps:
Eden is a habit tracker with a garden theme, flowers grow when you complete habits.
Final Thoughts on Habit Trackers
Making habit tracking work for you in #year#
Habit tracking apps work because they make abstract goals concrete. Instead of vaguely trying to "be healthier," you're tracking whether you exercised today. That specificity makes all the difference.
The 66-day average for habit formation means you need something you can stick with for at least two months. Don't pick the app with the most features. Pick the one with the interface you'll actually enjoy opening every single day. If looking at your habit tracker feels like a chore, you've already lost.
For most people starting out, we'd recommend trying Habitify or TickTick. Both have solid free plans that let you test the concept without commitment. If you find yourself wanting more features after a few weeks, then consider upgrading or switching to something more specialized.
If you're someone with ADHD or executive function challenges, the visual progress and streak mechanics in these apps can be incredibly helpful. Many users in ADHD productivity communities swear by habit trackers as external accountability systems. The key is finding one that works with your brain, not against it.
Remember that the app is just a tool. It can't build habits for you. But it can make the process visible, give you data to work with, and provide that little hit of satisfaction when you check something off. Sometimes that's enough to tip the scales from "I should do this" to "I actually did it."