Comparison

Ikiru vs BigPlan

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Ikiru

Organize your life with this versatile app for creating lists, taking notes, and setting reminders. It helps you focus on what's important with a beautiful, user-friendly design and powerful features like nested lists and due dates.

Highlights
  • Create nested lists
  • Set due dates and reminders
  • Add photos to list items
  • Sort list items dynamically
  • Sync data via iCloud
  • Protect data with Touch ID/passcode
  • View items on Apple Watch
Features
Read full description

Ikiru is a simple but powerful app for making lists, keeping notes and setting reminders. It aims to help you live a productive and meaningful life, by enabling you to focus on the things that are most important to you. IKIRU IS VERSATILE Use it to create to do lists, shopping lists, take notes, store contact information, keep track of books to read, or movies to watch... or anything else you'd want to make a list for. IKIRU IS BEAUTIFUL With a clean and easy to use design, choose from over 2000 icons to assign to your lists. IKIRU IS POWERFUL - create lists within lists - assign a due date and reminder to list items - view all items with a due date in one convenient timeline - add a photo to list items - drag and drop to sort list items, or automatically keep a list sorted alphabetically, by modification date, completion date, and more - easily copy or move items from one list to another - mark items incomplete to return them to their original position in the list (this makes lists easy to reuse) - send a list via email, and the receiver can import your list into their copy of Ikiru - view items with due dates on your Apple Watch IKIRU KEEPS YOUR DATA SAFE - automatically back up and sync lists between iOS devices using iCloud - use Touch ID or a custom passcode to protect your information IKIRU HAS PURPOSE The word "ikiru" (ee-kee-roo) means "to live" in Japanese. It's also the title of an Akira Kurosawa film about a man who decides to do something meaningful with his life. Ikiru (the app) is my attempt at doing something meaningful with my life, and hopefully help others live meaningful and productive lives. IKIRU HAS HISTORY In 2010 I released a list-making app called "Paperless". From busy moms to airplane pilots to people who needed a little help remembering things after suffering a brain injury, Paperless has been used by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Ikiru is built upon that legacy - incorporating the best ideas from Paperless, greatly improving upon them, and adding big features that people have requested. IKIRU NEEDS LOVE If you find Ikiru useful, please rate and review it in the App Store. Thank you!

About

BigPlan

This app offers a visual planner to organize tasks, habits, and schedules on a single timeline. It helps users focus, manage projects with nested tasks, and personalize their planning space with custom themes and backdrops. Enjoy seamless synchronization across Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Visual timeline for tasks, habits, and events
  • Habit tracking and progress visualization
  • Nested tasks for project breakdown
  • Customizable themes, colors, and backdrops
  • iCloud sync across Apple devices
  • Drag-and-drop interface
  • Quick search and multi-edit capabilities
Features
Read full description

An intuitive visual planner that helps you focus every day on what you want to do, organize your time, and follow good habits. Find calm and focus in your day. Make plans and see all your tasks, habits, and schedule come together on a single timeline. Struggling to focus, juggling all the important stuff, or just keeping your head clear? Reclaim your headspace from all the distraction. – Simplify Your Day – Designed to bring you focus and clarity at a glance: - See Your Schedule Beautifully: Map out your entire day on an intuitive timeline that combines your to-dos, habits, and events. - Build Lasting Habits: Create and track repeatable tasks to build momentum and visualize your progress over time. - Never Miss a Thing: Stay on top of deadlines, meetings, and birthdays with custom reminders. – A Planner Just For You – Make your planning space a place you love: - Custom Colors: Personalize with a color palette that fits your style. - Big Themes: See the entire app transform with special color palettes that magically adapt to your chosen theme. - Serene Backdrops: Set your productive scene with beautiful backgrounds. – Easy Organization – From grocery lists to big projects, have the tools to handle it easily: - Tackle Projects: Break down big things into smaller, manageable steps with nested tasks and lists. - Gain Powerful Perspectives: Use Labels to categorize and quickly filter everything from work assignments to personal errands. - Capture Every Detail: Add notes quickly to your tasks so important information is always right where you need it. – Built For Your iPhone and iPad – - Widgets: See plans at a glance and seamlessly complete your to dos. - iCloud Sync: Your data is always saved and syncs automatically and securely across all your Apple devices. - Drag & Drop: Fluidly plan your day and reorganize with interactive drag-and-drop. - Quick Search: Swiftly find what you need - any task, note, or project. - Multi-Edit: Save time by editing multiple lists and tasks at once. - Dark mode Ready to focus? Get BigPlan now and start easily.

Screenshots

Ikiru4 screens
BigPlan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: BigPlan at 100% against Ikiru's 54%. BigPlan also leads on price (Free vs $4.99) and rating (5.0 vs 3.9). Ikiru's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (101 vs 4). On update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

BigPlan is free to download; Ikiru costs $4.99 up front. BigPlan sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Ikiru asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BigPlan holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ikiru has 101 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of Ikiru's written reviews are positive against 100% of BigPlan's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ikiru ships an update every 3 weeks, BigPlan monthly. The most recent releases landed on August 30, 2026 and June 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Ikiru versus BigPlan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIkiruBigPlan
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (101 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews54.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings101 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.1 — better18.5
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB35 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperJames RhoadesJesse Spencer

Customer experience

Ikiru

All ratings101 ratings
Positive68.3%
Neutral13.9%
Negative17.8%
Written reviews131 reviews
Positive54.2%
Neutral18.3%
Negative27.5%

BigPlan

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Ikiru

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Reminders not working properly
  • Syncing issues causing data loss
  • Crashes after iOS updates
  • Inability to disable Face ID lock

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more formatting options (bold, italic, etc.)
  • Improve search to allow searching within sublists
  • Provide more customization options for themes and icons
  • Add location-based reminders
  • Implement better backup and restore functionality

BigPlan

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Ikiru

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

BigPlan

One-time1
  • Nova$12.00

Questions

Is Ikiru free?
Ikiru costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is BigPlan free?
BigPlan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ikiru or BigPlan?
BigPlan is rated higher. Ikiru averages 3.9 out of 5 from 101 ratings, while BigPlan averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Ikiru or BigPlan have ads?
Neither Ikiru nor BigPlan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ikiru or BigPlan?
Ikiru ships an update every 3 weeks, and BigPlan monthly. Most recently, Ikiru was updated on August 30, 2026 and BigPlan on June 11, 2026.

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