Habit Star vs Way of Life (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Habit Star grades higher than Way of Life: 3.2 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Habit Star grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Way of Life grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Habit Star
Habit and routine app for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch
Way of Life
Color-coded habit tracker for building and breaking habits
Which one is for you
Pick Habit Star if
- Fits if you want your habits sorted into morning, afternoon and evening
- Works for people who'd rather pay once than subscribe
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you use Android or Windows, as it's Apple devices only
- Tight if you want sync, trends or Apple Watch for free, since they need Pro
- Watch out: data stays on your device, so backups depend on your own iCloud
- Watch out: the browser demo doesn't sync
Pick Way of Life if
- Fits if you want to log a lot of habits in a few taps a day, on a phone
- Works for breaking habits as well as building them
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a clear price, as Premium is listed at three amounts with no billing period
- Not for you if you switch between iPhone and Android, since their data formats don't match
- Tight if you're staying free, because the habit limit isn't stated anywhere
- Not for you if you want habits on a laptop too, as there's no web or desktop version
- Watch out: on Android, cloud backup also needs Premium
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAHabit StarVery good | 2.6GPAWay of LifeGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | APro is $9.99 once with no renewal, under a year of the $4.99 middle subscription. The free part covers unlimited habits too. | CNo usable price is published: the App Store lists Premium at $4.99, $14.99 and $29.99 without saying which is monthly, yearly or one-time, and Google Play shows $4.99 to $6.49 per item. It sits at a C because we can't tell you what a year costs. |
| Free plan and trial | AUnlimited habits and reminders, goals, widgets and Siri, free, with no account or ads. Pro also has a 14-day trial. | CFree gives you chains, charts, the scoreboard, notes, reminders, tags and export, but only for a limited number of habits, and the store listings don't say how many. In a habit tracker that's the cap you'll hit first. |
| Features | BHabits by time of day, break habits, streak shield, widgets, Siri and a Watch app. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the basics, though Health and sync sit in Pro. | BIt covers the whole job: habits to build and habits to break, chains, a weekly and monthly scoreboard, charts with trend lines over years, notes, flexible reminders, a passcode lock and export as CSV, Excel or JSON. Nothing here its rivals don't also do. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record. No account to make, so you install it and start. | A4.8 from about 5,300 App Store ratings, above the A bar. You mark each habit green or red, and Way of Life says keeping it up to date takes under a minute a day. |
| Platforms and integrations | CiPhone, iPad and Apple Watch with Apple Health and iCloud. No Android or web version. | CPhones only: iPhone and Android, with Siri and Shortcuts on the iPhone side and no web or desktop version listed. The two apps don't even share a data format, so moving between them means asking the vendor for a manual conversion. |
| Best for | habits by time of day on iPhone | marking each day green or red and reading the trend |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Habit Star and Way of Life. How we grade
Where they differ
- Habit Star also covers daily notes and reports.
At a glance
| Habit Star | Way of Life | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $9.99 once for Pro | $4.99 (lowest Premium in-app purchase; billing basis not shown) |
| Free plan | Unlimited habits and reminders, areas, streak shield, stars, goals, widgets, Siri, Shortcuts and 18 themes, with no account or ads. | Chains, charts, notes, reminders, tags and export for a limited number of habits. The store listings do not state the limit. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of Pro, nothing charged and nothing renews | None listed |
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Habit Star | Way of Life ApS |
| Price read from | habitstar.app | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Habit Star
- iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch only; the browser demo is for demonstration and does not sync.
- Routines, Apple Watch, Apple Health, iCloud sync and trends all need the Pro purchase.
- Data stays on your device, so sync and backups depend on your own iCloud.
Way of Life
- The free version limits the number of habits, and the store listings do not state the limit.
- The App Store lists Premium at $4.99, $14.99 and $29.99 without saying which is monthly, yearly or one-time.
- iOS and Android data formats are not interchangeable; the vendor offers a manual conversion on request.
- Apps are listed for iPhone and Android only; no web or desktop version is listed.
Key features
Habit Star
- Habits by time of day
- Routines for morning, evening and other parts of the day show one habit at a time with a single reminder.
- Break habits and pauses
- Quit habits with slip counts and daily limits, and pause or skip a habit when sick or traveling.
- Streak shield and stars
- A shield covers a missed day when most of the last two weeks were kept, and stars are earned along the way.
- Apple Health
- Pro checks off habits from Health data such as steps, sleep, workouts and mindful minutes. Access is read-only.
- Widgets, Siri and Watch
- Check off habits from widgets, Siri phrases, Shortcuts, and with Pro the Apple Watch app.
- Trends and journal
- Pro shows when you usually do each habit, a month view, a timeline and a searchable journal.
Way of Life
- Color-coded daily tracking
- Each day is marked green or red for every habit. The vendor says updating takes less than a minute a day.
- Chains and scoreboard
- Chains challenge you not to break a streak, and a scoreboard gives weekly and monthly feedback.
- Charts
- Pie charts, bar graphs with trend lines and a frequency distribution chart show positive and negative trends over weeks, months or years.
- Notes and reminders
- A note can record what went well or what triggered a bad habit, and reminders support flexible schedules and custom messages.
- Lock, backup and export
- The iOS app can be locked with a passcode, Face ID or Touch ID, backed up to a cloud storage provider of your choice, and exported as CSV, Excel or JSON.
- Widgets, Siri and Shortcuts
- The iOS app adds widgets, Siri and Shortcuts support, and URL schemes for working with other apps.
Plans
Habit Star
Free$0
Unlimited habits and reminders, areas, goals, widgets, Siri and Shortcuts, and a daily backup to your own iCloud.
Pro$9.99
one-time purchase, no renewal
Adds routines, workouts, timers, Apple Watch, Apple Health, iCloud sync, trends, calendar, journal and extra themes.
Way of Life
Free$0
Chains, charts, scoreboard, notes, reminders, tags and data export for a limited number of habits. The limit is not stated.
Premium$4.99 to $29.99
billing basis not shown on the App Store listing
Unlocks unlimited habits. Google Play lists in-app purchases from $4.99 to $6.49 per item, and on Android cloud backup also needs Premium.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Habit Star or Way of Life?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Habit Star starts at $9.99 once for Pro, and Way of Life starts at $4.99 (lowest Premium in-app purchase; billing basis not shown).
Which has a free plan, Habit Star or Way of Life?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Habit Star and Way of Life have a free plan.
Which platforms do Habit Star and Way of Life run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Way of Life lists an Android app. Both list an iOS app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.