Bits vs Tight Five
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bits
This app helps professional stand-up comedians organize their writing process. Quickly capture ideas, add notes, build and reorder sets, and use on-stage mode for performances. Organize jokes with labels and track their status.
- Quickly capture joke ideas
- Add detailed notes to each bit
- Build and reorder performance sets
- On-stage mode for live shows
- Organize bits with custom labels
- Track bit status (draft, done, gold)
- Estimate and time bit performance
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Bits is an app for professional stand-up comedians. It’s designed to keep your writing process fast and organized so you can focus on your comedy instead of the tools. Here's what it offers: *WRITE BITS* Whenever a funny thought pops into your brain, you can quickly add it to your infinite bits list. Just open the app, hit that plus button, and start writing. All your bits are saved securely*, instantly, and automatically so you won’t have to worry about that. *ADD NOTES* Writing the perfect bit comes with lots of experimentation and small details to remember. To help you with the ongoing process of adjustments, each bit has its section of notes. Bits and notes always come together so you won’t be able to lose important notes you’ve written to yourself. *BUILD SETS* We all wish for the perfect set. The set will catch the crowd on its first bit and finish with resounding laughter. This glory set is the easiest to build and manage. You can add bits to existing sets or create a new set and add bits to it. Simply drag & drop to reorder the bits and have them ready one by one. Move jokes up and down, remove and add until you find that perfect balance of laughs. *ON STAGE MODE* The old days of paper pages on a stool are over! When you’re up there on stage, you can switch to the on-stage mode and have your set ready for your performance. The screen will remain turned on and all black. While you perform, you can swipe right or left to indicate if the joke did well or not so you can come back to it later and reshape it the way you think best. *ORGANIZE WITH LABELS* Planning a Christmas set? And how about those airport bits? Or where did you put all of your funny bits about your dad? Oh, they’re all labeled! Label each bit with any label(s) you want. Either apply labels from the bit screen or add bits to an existing label from the labels screen. Access by bit the themes you think are most suitable for your next set. *SET STATUSES* Writing a bit is a process. It starts with a thought and moves up the ladder until it’s done. Draft, done, or gold - these are predefined statuses for your bits which will help you plan ahead and easily see which bits need more work, which can be performed and get laughs, and which are so good that you can close and get max cheers from your crowd. *TIME YOUR BITS* You got only 5 minutes, 5:10 at most. Which bits can be squeezed in to fit that time limitation? Oh, that’s easy. Each bit is generated with an approximate time it’ll take you to perform it, but you can always tweak it and make sure you can plan every bit to fit perfectly into its time slot. ---- --- *Please note that material backup, bit feedback, and custom icons are available to paid subscribers only. ---- --- I’d love to answer your questions or just hear what you think about Bits. Find me online at: amitay@thebits.club Twitter: @standUpBitsApp ---- --- Privacy Policy: https://www.thebits.club/privacy-policy Terms & Conditions: https://www.thebits.club/termsnconditions
Tight Five
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Keep your set on time with Tight Five: Stage Timer—a focused timer for performers, presenters, open mic hosts, and show producers. CLEAR AT A GLANCE Large, steady white digits sit on a black background. A yellow glow signals your warning time; a red glow marks overtime. Clear labels identify each state. Gentle movement respects Reduce Motion, and Big Number Mode gives the digits extra weight. YOUR PRESETS, READY TO GO Save up to 12 timer presets. Choose your duration, warning time, and whether to count up or down. Start, pause, resume, and reset with simple controls. Edit, duplicate, and reorder your presets for the way you work. SOUNDS YOU CAN RECOGNIZE Choose from seven named alert sounds and preview them before selecting. Set separate warning and overtime sounds, or keep things silent. Background notifications use your selected sounds when notification permissions and device settings allow. KEEP THE TIMER VISIBLE The screen stays awake while a timer is running or paused with the app active. Visual and audio warnings can be enabled independently for each preset. MADE FOR IPHONE AND IPAD Use portrait or landscape to suit your setup. Tight Five: Stage Timer works offline, with no account to create. A simple timer for the moments when timing matters.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Bits at Free against Tight Five's $5.99. Bits also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 7 months). Tight Five's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 16). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Bits is free to download; Tight Five costs $5.99 up front. Bits sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Tight Five asks for nothing beyond the download.
Bits ships an update fortnightly, Tight Five every 7 months. Both last shipped on October 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Bits | Tight Five |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $5.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (228 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 79.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 228 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 18.5 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 263 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Amitay Tweeto | Ryan Parker |
Bugs and requests
Bits
Reported bugs
11 issues- App fails to save edits and loses material
- Cross-platform synchronization not working properly
- Entire joke libraries deleted without warning
- Writing streak counter resets unexpectedly
- Bits randomly dropped from sets
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- Text formatting jumps to bottom of page when adding line breaks
- Sets page pops up repeatedly when trying to navigate back
- Gags stuck scrolled to top when editing
- Keyboard stays on screen blocking text visibility
- Showtime swipe function has unintuitive directional logic
- Data loss on app updates or device transfers
Requested features
17 requests- Font size adjustment for visually impaired users
- Better web version functionality
- iPad-optimized version
- Dark mode option
- Ability to record and playback jokes
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- Keyword search functionality for set building
- Performance tracking with worked/didn't work indicators
- Gag title feature for better organization
- Bullet points and checkbox formatting within gags
- Drag-and-drop custom gag organization
- Social component to connect with other comedians
- Timer with toggle visibility during showtime
- Better text formatting and color highlighting
- Improved showtime display with larger text
- Filter and sort gags by status (drafts, completed, etc.)
- Ability to edit gags while in a set
- Auto-correct and spell-check functionality
Tight Five
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Bits
- Monthly Written Back Up7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Monthly Written Back Up7 Days trial$5.991 Month
- Monthly Written Back Up7 Days trial$7.991 Month
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- Yearly Written Back Up1 Month trial$9.991 Year
- Monthly Written Back Up7 Days trial2 variants$9.991 Month
- Monthly Written Back Up3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Monthly Written Back Up7 Days trial$11.991 Month
- Yearly Written Back Up1 Month trial$29.991 Year
- Yearly Written Back Up14 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Yearly Written Back Up1 Month trial2 variants$39.991 Year
- Yearly Written Back Up14 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Yearly Written Back Up1 Month trial$49.991 Year
- Yearly Written Back Up7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Yearly Written Back Up1 Month trial$59.991 Year
Tight Five
No in-app purchases









