Comparison

Behave vs Thumsters

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

Head to head
About

Behave

This app helps parents motivate children towards good behavior by rewarding positive actions and coaching them to correct negative ones. Parents can customize rewards and track progress, leveraging technology to positively influence child development.

Highlights
  • Reward good behavior
  • Coach bad behavior
  • Customizable rewards
  • Behavior point system
  • Child psychology-based
  • Parental control
Features
Read full description

*** NEW UPDATE ALLOWS FOR FULL CUSTOMIZATION OF BEHAVIORS PER CHILD *** Behave is a mobile app designed to engage your kids by rewarding them for good behavior and coaching them to correct bad behavior. If you are the parent this is the app that you install. Your kids will install our Behave Buddy app and everything magically works together. Behave is designed to be extremely simple and easy to use, while being an effective tool to shape your child's behavior. Let's face it. Children are using devices. Period. As parents we need to embrace it and start using those devices to our advantage. We've taken years of child psychology studies and crafted an app to help motivate your children to exhibit good behavior. How? By motivating them to use good behavior and holding them accountable when their behavior is bad. It's this simple. When your child is misbehaving, tap on the red sad face and let us know what their misbehavior was. The behave app is constantly analyzing your child's behavior and will coach them on the areas that need improvement. As the parent you control whether your child earns good behavior points or has points taken away for bad behavior. What are behavior points you ask? Behavior points are what your kids earn to spend on rewards. we've come up with some great non-monetary rewards like (1 on 1 time with mom or dad, staying up past their bedtime, extra internet time, extra video game time, a chore free day) you get the gist... but we also realize that every family is different and has their own needs, so you can also create your own rewards that fit your families needs. We've asked thousands of parents for the top reasons their kids get in trouble and the top behavior traits they would like to see improved. We narrowed down to the top 10 suggestions for you to get started with. You can however fully customize Behave for how it will work best in your home. Our testing panels have shown significant improvement in kids behavior that use our app. We can't wait to hear stories from you on how behave has impacted your family.

About

Thumsters

This app helps parents foster positive behavior and build stronger connections with their children through a reward-based tracking system. It offers tools for habit formation, emotional coaching, and consistent parenting across multiple caregivers, designed for children aged 4-12.

Highlights
  • Real-time behavior tracking (thumbs up/down)
  • Kid-friendly chore list and reward system
  • Emotional coaching and awareness tools
  • Multi-device syncing for caregivers
  • Customizable reward system
  • Designed for ages 4-12
Features
Read full description

You didn’t sign up for tantrums, power struggles, or endless nagging. You just want your kids to listen, without losing your cool. Meet Thumsters – the award-winning parenting app that helps you build better behavior, calmer routines, and deeper connection with your kids. Whether you’re dealing with defiance, meltdowns, or chore resistance, Thumsters gives you a proven, easy-to-use system based on positive reinforcement and emotional coaching—not yelling or punishment. WHY PARENTS LOVE THUMSTERS Track behavior in real-time – Log thumbs up/down and reasons to see patterns at a glance. Create better habits – Reinforce routines and tasks with a kid-friendly chore list and reward system. Coach, don’t correct – Build your child’s confidence and emotional awareness with our Emotions Tracker. Stay consistent – Sync across multiple devices for caregivers, co-parents and therapists. Backed by science – Built with child professionals and recommended by therapists worldwide. HOW IT WORKS Use Thumsters to log your child’s behavior choices—good or bad. Assign tasks or daily routines. Set goals and rewards. Thumsters builds a clear picture of their progress, helping you parent with purpose and coach your child toward better emotional regulation and decision-making. BUILT FOR REAL FAMILIES Works with multiple kids & carers Includes a customizable reward system Designed for ages 4–12 Used by families, teachers, and therapists Recognized by the US National Library of Medicine for behavior support Join thousands of families who’ve said goodbye to chaos and hello to calm and connection. Download Thumsters today and transform your home—one thumbs up at a time. Terms of Use: https://www.thumsters.com/legal/terms-of-use

Screenshots

Behave4 screens
Thumsters4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Thumsters at 69% against Behave's 6%. Thumsters also leads on rating (4.7 vs 1.7) and ratings volume (873 vs 18). Behave's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Both are free to download. Behave sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Thumsters sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Thumsters holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Thumsters has 873 ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 6% of Behave's written reviews are positive against 69% of Thumsters's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Behave ships an update every 2 months, Thumsters fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Behave versus Thumsters: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBehaveThumsters
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.7 (18 ratings)4.7 (873 ratings) — better
Positive reviews5.9% of reviews68.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings18873 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB92 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperApplauz Media SolutionsKØBEN digital

Customer experience

Behave

All ratings18 ratings
Positive16.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative83.3%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive5.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative94.1%

Thumsters

All ratings873 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral5.0%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews134 reviews
Positive68.7%
Neutral14.9%
Negative16.4%

Bugs and requests

Behave

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Thumsters

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when adding child profiles
  • Sync issues between devices
  • Thumbs up/down disappearing or not registering properly
  • Inconsistent behavior after app updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow kids to track their own progress
  • Add more customization options for goals and rewards
  • Implement better reporting and analytics
  • Improve Apple Watch integration
  • Simplify the process of giving thumbs up/down

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Behave

One-time1
  • Upgrade to Remove Ads$1.99
7 purchases

Thumsters

Subscriptions7
  • Weekly Premium Subscription$1.997 Days
  • Monthly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Monthly Premium Subscription14 Days trial$12.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • 6 Month Premium Subscription3 Days trial$39.996 Months
  • Yearly Premium Subscription7 Days trial$47.991 Year
  • 6 month premium subscription14 Days trial$59.996 Months
  • ThumbsUp full account - 1 year14 Days trial$79.991 Year

Questions

Is Behave free?
Behave is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Thumsters free?
Thumsters is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Behave or Thumsters?
Thumsters is rated higher. Behave averages 1.7 out of 5 from 18 ratings, while Thumsters averages 4.7 from 873 ratings.
Do Behave or Thumsters have ads?
Neither Behave nor Thumsters shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Behave or Thumsters?
Behave ships an update every 2 months, and Thumsters fortnightly. Most recently, Behave was updated on October 6, 2026 and Thumsters on October 15, 2026.

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