Beeminder vs Coach.me

Beeminder

• People who are motivated by having real money at stake
• Quantifiable goals fed automatically by a fitness tracker or another app
• Tinkerers who want an API and Zapier or IFTTT hooks on a free plan

Coach.me

• People who want a free tracker with no cap on the number of habits
• Anyone motivated by encouragement from others working on the same habit
• Those willing to pay for daily one-on-one accountability from a human coach

Beeminder

• Derailing a goal charges your pledge to Beeminder, on the free plan as well as on the paid ones.
• The free Core plan tracks a limited number of goals; the limit rises each time you pay for a derailment.
• Goals with no pledges and the option to send half of a pledge to charity are limited to Beemium at $81 per month.
• The SMS bot works with US numbers only and needs Bee Plus or Beemium.

Coach.me

• Coaching is a separate recurring charge that bills weekly or monthly until canceled, and each coach you hire is priced separately.
• A habit done several times a day needs a separate habit for each instance, and streaks count only consecutive days even when a weekly target is set.
• The App Store lists the iOS app as iPhone-only, and the Google Play listing is marked as containing ads.
• Chat coaching does not include therapy, medical advice, or phone or in-person sessions; phone consultations are sold separately.

Beeminder

Bright Red Line graphs

Every goal gets a graph with a Bright Red Line showing the rate you committed to. The steepness can be adjusted as you go, and you can walk away from a goal with one week's notice.

Pledges on every goal

Crossing the line charges your pledge, which then rises through a fixed schedule from $5 to $2,430 unless you cap it. The FAQ says the first attempt is free.

Autodata integrations

Dozens of integrations report data automatically, including Fitbit, Garmin, Strava, Apple Health, Duolingo, Todoist and RescueTime. All are included in the free plan.

Several ways to report

Enter numbers on the web dashboard, in the iOS or Android app, by replying to the bot's emails or in Slack. An SMS bot for US numbers comes with Bee Plus.

API, IFTTT and Zapier

A public API and connections to IFTTT and Zapier allow custom automation, and are part of the free Core plan.

Breaks and safety buffer

Breaks can be scheduled and pledges capped on any plan. After a derailment the goal restarts with a week of safety buffer by default.

Coach.me

Daily check-ins and streaks

Add habits to a dashboard and check in on each day you complete one, with an optional note. Check-ins can be back-dated up to seven days from the dashboard, or further back from a habit's calendar.

Weekly targets and reminders

Set how many times a week a habit should happen, and pick the days and times for push or email reminders on each habit.

Community Q&A and props

Every habit has a Q&A section and an activity feed of the people working on it. Friends and other members can give props and comment on check-ins, and a habit can be set to private.

Trends and milestones

Weekly and monthly trends show progress on each habit, and reaching a milestone is marked with a high-five.

Habit coaching by chat

Hire a coach for asynchronous coaching in a private chat inside the app on iOS, Android or the web, with check-ins nearly every day on a schedule you agree together.

Step-by-step plans

Coaches publish plans with daily instructions for goals such as meditation or exercise, for people who want more guidance than a checklist.

Beeminder

• Core Beeminder$0

  A limited number of goals with unlimited data, pledge caps, scheduled breaks, every app and integration, and API access. Derailments charge your pledge.

• Infinibee$8

  per month, billed monthly

  Unlimited goals, exotic goal types and a subscription that stops renewing by itself if you stop using Beeminder.

• Bee Plus$16

  per month, billed monthly

  Everything in Infinibee, plus auto-ratchet, custom goals, weekends off, the graph editor and an SMS bot for US numbers.

• Beemium$81

  per month, billed monthly

  Everything in Bee Plus, plus goals with no pledges, pledge short-circuiting, a 50% charity option and chat access to the developers.

Coach.me

• Habit Tracker$0

  Unlimited habits with daily check-ins, weekly targets, reminders, streaks and trends, plus community Q&A and props.

• Habit Coaching$25

  per week, or $87 per month

  Daily one-on-one coaching in a private chat with a coach from the directory. Bills weekly or monthly until canceled; each coach is priced separately.

• Leadership Coaching$150

  per month

  A leadership program with twice-monthly live lessons, a peer lab and weekly leadership lessons.

• Custom Individual & Group CoachingCustom

  Packages that some coaches offer at rates they set themselves; pricing is shown on each coach's profile page.

• Phone consultationCustom

  A 30-minute call with a coach, charged once per call at a rate that varies by coach.

Beeminder

• Annual discount

  14% off when paying yearly

  The pricing page's discount slider gives 14% off premium plans paid yearly, and the discount grows with longer payment intervals, up to two years.

• Education

  Student and senior discounts on request

  The premium FAQ says Beeminder has student and senior discounts and asks those who may qualify to get in touch. It does not state the amounts.

• Other savings

  Discounts for jobseekers and non-OECD residents

  The same FAQ lists discounts for jobseekers and for people living in non-OECD countries, also arranged by contacting support.

Coach.me

No public discounts listed.