Comparison

Stridekick Activity Challenges vs Empathetic ear

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

Head to head
About

Stridekick Activity Challenges

Engage in fun, free activity challenges with friends and family, regardless of their fitness tracker. Connect various devices or use your smartphone to compete in different challenge modes and track your progress over time. Upgrade for longer, private challenges and higher participant limits.

Highlights
  • Connects to multiple fitness trackers
  • Smartphone activity tracking
  • Manual activity entry
  • Create custom challenges (Leaderboard, Streak, Target)
  • Join community challenges (Journey, Teams, Group Target)
  • Social activity feed and friend leaderboards
  • Track progress over time (weekly, monthly, yearly)
Features
Read full description

Compete in free, fun activity challenges with your friends and family–no matter which fitness tracker they have. Sign-up for free, connect a wearable device or smartphone and get moving with others. CONNECT A VARIETY OF WEARABLE DEVICES Stridekick connects to a variety fitness trackers so you can compete with your friends no matter which device they use. Don’t have a fitness tracker? No problem. Connect using your smartphone or enter your activity manually. We connect with the following devices: Fitbit, Apple Watch, Garmin, Withings, Misfit, iPhone 5S+, Apple Health, Polar, and Xiaomi. CREATE YOUR OWN ACTIVITY CHALLENGES Choose from three challenge modes: Leaderboard, Streak, and Target. JOIN COMMUNITY ACTIVITY CHALLENGES Join bigger community challenges with other steppers on the Stridekick platform. Community challenges feature different modes of competition including Journey, Stick to it!, Teams, and even a collective Group Target! We're always adding new community challenges, so check back often. A SOCIAL COMMUNITY TO KEEP YOU MOVING Everything is more fun with others. Stay motivated with the community of Stridekick steppers. Add friends and follow each other's activity stats. Keep up with those you know best through our daily Friends Leaderboard. A VARIETY OF CHALLENGE GOALS, UNLIMITED FUN Our challenge types offer a variety of ways to compete. Whether you're seeking a highly competitive leaderboard, a daily activity goal, or a long-term step target, we’ve got you covered. Compete on steps or active minutes. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS OVER TIME View your weekly, monthly and yearly averages for steps, distance and active minutes. Keep track of your all-time best days and work to beat your personal records. Unlock activity levels as you increase your weekly activity average. Join for free to create challenges that - Last up to 7 days - Can include up to 10 people per challenge - Are public for anyone to join Upgrade your experience with a Pro subscription that includes - Longer challenges, up to 45 days - Higher participant limits - Private challenges for just your group - Priority support Terms of use: https://stridekick.com/terms-of-service

About

Empathetic ear

This app records and analyzes voice interactions to help users understand emotions and improve communication. It processes speech to provide insights based on emotional tone and communication patterns.

Highlights
  • Voice interaction recording
  • Speech processing
  • Emotional tone analysis
  • Communication pattern insights
Features
Read full description

Feeling disconnected? Like the days have gotten quieter and the world a little further away? Empathetic Ear is a daily AI companion that listens, remembers, and shows up for you, every single day. You choose Sam, a warm and patient listener, or Alex, a straightforward and encouraging presence. Either way, you get 15 minutes sessions, multiple times each day that are entirely yours. No appointments. No waiting rooms. No judgment. Most apps forget you the moment you close them but not Empathetic ear, It remembers... It remembers you memories and experiences. It remembers Sunday mornings. It remembers what you shared about last Tuesday, your family visit, and it asks how it went. Every session builds on the last. Over time, your companion gets to know the people in your life, the things that matter to you, the moments that were hard and the ones that made you smile. Speak or type - your choice. Some days you want to talk. Some days you'd rather write. Empathetic Ear works both ways, in your own time and at your own pace. The voice slows down for you. The text gets bigger if you need it. Everything is designed around how you actually communicate. Something to work toward. Each week your companion suggests a small, personal goal, something real and doable, tailored to your life. Not homework. Not therapy exercises. Just a gentle nudge toward the kind of moment that makes a day feel worthwhile. Reach out to an old friend. Sit in the garden. Write down one good thing. Your companion checks in on how it went. Celebrates the small wins. Adjusts when life gets in the way. Keep your people in the loop. After each session, Empathetic Ear creates a brief summary of your conversation. You can share it with a family member, a caregiver, or your care team so the people who love you know how you're doing, even from a distance. Your safety, always. If you're having a hard day, a really hard day, help is one tap away. Empathetic Ear understands and recommends immediate and urgent care like the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, always visible and never hidden. Who Empathetic Ear is for. Adults who feel the days have gotten quieter. People who live far from family. Those who are retired, widowed, or caring for a loved one. Anyone who could use someone to talk to without the complexity, the cost, or the commute. Works on any smartphone, no Wi-Fi or broadband required. Built with care. Backed by research. Empathetic Ear is being developed in active collaboration with senior psychiatry researchers to continuously improve the experience. Your conversations are powered by large language models (LLMs), the same technology behind today's most advanced AI and adapted specifically for adults. Your privacy matters. Your data stays in Google Cloud, encrypted, secure, and never sold. Your conversations are yours. We do not share, sell, or use your personal information for advertising. What you get. • 15-minute conversations with Sam or Alex • A companion that remembers your story across every session • Speak or type — always your choice • Weekly personal goals tailored to your life • Session summaries to share with family and your care team • Voice and text size options designed for your comfort • Works on any smartphone — no broadband needed • One-tap access to 988 when you need real support Disclaimer Empathetic Ear is a wellness companion. It is not a substitute for professional mental health care. This is not therapy, nor a replacement for therapy. It is not suitable for emergencies or immediate assistance. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call or text 988 or contact your healthcare provider immediately.

Screenshots

Stridekick Activity Challenges4 screens
Empathetic ear4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Empathetic ear at none against Stridekick Activity Challenges's 8. Empathetic ear also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Stridekick Activity Challenges's advantage is ratings volume (4.5K vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. Stridekick Activity Challenges sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Empathetic ear asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Empathetic ear holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stridekick Activity Challenges has 4.5K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Stridekick Activity Challenges ships an update every 6 days, Empathetic ear every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Stridekick Activity Challenges versus Empathetic ear: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStridekick Activity ChallengesEmpathetic ear
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (4.5K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews46.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4.5K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB30 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperStridekick IncEmpathetic ear LLC

Customer experience

Stridekick Activity Challenges

All ratings4,487 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral3.5%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews474 reviews
Positive46.0%
Neutral11.0%
Negative43.0%

Empathetic ear

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Stridekick Activity Challenges

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent app crashes and login issues
  • Syncing problems with various fitness devices
  • Inability to edit or manually add activities
  • Notification issues and unclear in-app notifications

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to create larger group challenges
  • More activity tracking beyond just steps
  • Push notifications for challenge updates
  • Integration with more fitness trackers
  • Archiving of past challenges

Empathetic ear

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Stridekick Activity Challenges

Subscriptions8
  • Stridekick Workouts–Echelon–Monthly7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Stridekick Pro–10$12.991 Month
  • Stridekick Pro–20$24.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Stridekick Pro–50$49.991 Month
  • Stridekick Workouts–Echelon–Annual$79.991 Year
  • Stridekick Pro–10$139.991 Year
  • Stridekick Pro–20$274.991 Year
  • Stridekick Pro–50$549.991 Year
None

Empathetic ear

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Stridekick Activity Challenges free?
Stridekick Activity Challenges is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Empathetic ear free?
Empathetic ear is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Stridekick Activity Challenges or Empathetic ear?
Empathetic ear is rated higher. Stridekick Activity Challenges averages 4.6 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while Empathetic ear averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Stridekick Activity Challenges or Empathetic ear have ads?
Neither Stridekick Activity Challenges nor Empathetic ear shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stridekick Activity Challenges or Empathetic ear?
Stridekick Activity Challenges ships an update every 6 days, and Empathetic ear every 9 days. Most recently, Stridekick Activity Challenges was updated on October 25, 2026 and Empathetic ear on October 18, 2026.

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