Comparison

Zen Idle vs Exponential Idle

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

Head to head
About

Zen Idle

Engage in a relaxing physics-based puzzle game where you can choose to play actively or passively. Upgrade your game elements, collect powerful cards, and strategize to maximize your progress. Earn idle income even when you're away.

Highlights
  • Upgrade balls and stages
  • Collectible cards for bonuses
  • Evolving perk system
  • Prestige system for bonuses
  • Strategic card and perk combinations
  • Idle income generation
Features
Read full description

Play passively or actively. Plenty of deep strategy to try or simply sit back and relax. Some main features include - Upgrading balls and stages to increase income - Collectible cards - provides massive permanent bonuses to your game - Perk system - evolves every playthrough - Prestige - reset and begin again with massive bonuses to push further - Strategize - test strategies to see which cards and perks work best together - Game progresses while away, earn idle income See how far you can progress in this physics based, relaxing idle game. Choose to idle and take the zen path. Or develop a strategy and maximize productivity. 1000's of upgrades to buy! The game will continue to evolve and receive updates based on user feedback. From the creator of Idle Planet Miner and Idle Tap Zoo.

About

Exponential Idle

Engage in a math-inspired incremental game where you strategically stack virtual money through exponential growth. Advance through time, make variable changes, and purchase upgrades to accelerate your earnings and unlock achievements.

Highlights
  • Exponential growth mechanics
  • Time progression
  • Change of variables
  • Buy upgrades
  • Earn virtual money
  • Unlock achievements
Features
Read full description

Play Exponential Idle, a math-inspired incremental game. Your goal is to stack up money by taking advantage of exponential growth. To do so, you have to step through time by tapping the equation or simply let the time follow its course. You can perform change of variables to accelerate the process, buy upgrades, get rewards, and unlock achievements while earning virtual money.

Screenshots

Zen Idle4 screens
Exponential Idle4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Exponential Idle at 92% against Zen Idle's 55%. Exponential Idle also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.6) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). Zen Idle's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Zen Idle sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Exponential Idle sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Exponential Idle holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.9K and 4.2K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of Zen Idle's written reviews are positive against 92% of Exponential Idle's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zen Idle ships an update every 10 days, Exponential Idle every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Zen Idle versus Exponential Idle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZen IdleExponential Idle
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (2.9K ratings)4.9 (4.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews54.6% of reviews91.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.9K4.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size117 MB95 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTech Tree Games LLCGilles-Philippe Paille

Customer experience

Zen Idle

All ratings2,864 ratings
Positive90.1%
Neutral3.9%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews335 reviews
Positive54.6%
Neutral15.5%
Negative29.9%

Exponential Idle

All ratings4,139 ratings
Positive98.2%
Neutral0.8%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews270 reviews
Positive91.9%
Neutral2.2%
Negative5.9%

Bugs and requests

Zen Idle

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Exponential Idle

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Puzzle mini-games not loading correctly
  • Offline progress issues after updates
  • Occasional app crashes

Requested features

5 requests
  • More mini-games and challenges
  • Better explanations for advanced mechanics
  • Adjustable color schemes and visual customization
  • Improved offline progress tracking
  • Smoother performance and optimization

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Zen Idle

One-time10
  • Gem Pack 1$4.99
  • Starter Pack$9.99
  • Remove Ads$9.99
Show 7 more
  • Gem Pack 2$9.99
  • Gem Pack 3$19.99
  • Epic Pack$29.99
  • Gem Pack 4$29.99
  • Card Pack 1$29.99
  • Prestige Pack$29.99
  • Gem Pack 5$49.99
4 purchases

Exponential Idle

One-time4
  • Donate$0.99
  • Permanent Ad Reward$1.99
  • Donate$1.99
Show 1 more
  • Donate$3.99

Questions

Is Zen Idle free?
Zen Idle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Exponential Idle free?
Exponential Idle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Zen Idle or Exponential Idle?
Exponential Idle is rated higher. Zen Idle averages 4.6 out of 5 from 2.9K ratings, while Exponential Idle averages 4.9 from 4.2K ratings.
Do Zen Idle or Exponential Idle have ads?
Both Zen Idle and Exponential Idle show ads.
Which is updated more often, Zen Idle or Exponential Idle?
Zen Idle ships an update every 10 days, and Exponential Idle every 3 weeks. Most recently, Zen Idle was updated on November 3, 2026 and Exponential Idle on November 7, 2026.

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