Comparison

RescueRef vs Spoons

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

Head to head
About

RescueRef

This app helps animal shelter staff and volunteers manage animal inventory and share observations. It offers visual tracking, tagging, and search features to easily find and monitor specific animals.

Highlights
  • Visual animal inventory
  • Observation sharing
  • Animal tagging
  • Following animals
  • Facet-based search
Read full description

A productivity app for animal shelter volunteers and staff. RescueRef provides a visual inventory of all the animals in the shelter and in foster care so that staff and volunteers can get the current information for any animal and share new observations about them. With tagging, following, and facet-based search, RescueRef makes it easy to discover and track specific groups of animals. RescueRef is currently available only for select Central Texas animal shelters.

About

Spoons

This app helps manage your daily energy levels by assigning tasks a 'spoon' cost. It visually tracks your available energy and task commitments, preventing overcommitment and promoting a guilt-free approach to productivity, especially for those with chronic conditions or fatigue.

Highlights
  • Spoon-based energy tracking
  • Manual task placement
  • Honest bucket caps
  • Calm task carryover
  • Low Energy Mode
  • Projects, tags, priorities
Features
Read full description

Plan your day around the energy you actually have — not the energy you wish you had. Spoons is an energy-aware task planner built around Spoon Theory. Set your capacity for the day, give each task an energy cost, and see what you can realistically take on before you've overcommitted. Spoon theory was named by Christine Miserandino, who used a handful of spoons to explain to a friend what living with lupus felt like. The idea is simple: every task costs energy, and you only have so much to spend each day. Spoons turns that idea into a practical planner. HOW IT WORKS Each morning, tell Spoons how many spoons you have today. Rate tasks from 1 to 5 based on how much energy they take, then decide where they belong: • Today • Tomorrow • Next Day • Soon • Someday • On Hold Each bucket has a spoon cap, so you can see how much of your available energy you've committed. If you're taking on too much, Spoons gently pushes back — rebalance your day, or consciously decide that today is a bigger day than usual. Anything you don't finish rolls forward automatically. No guilt. No streaks. No shame. WHY SPOONS IS DIFFERENT • Plan around energy, not just time. See what you can realistically fit into the capacity you have today. • You stay in control. Place tasks where you want them. No algorithm decides what your day should look like. • See your limits before you hit them. Spoon caps show how full your day is. • Unfinished tasks roll forward instead of becoming another thing to feel guilty about. • Built for low-energy days. Low Energy Mode hides everything that isn't Critical or High priority when you need to simplify your day. • Projects, tags, due dates, and priorities give you the fundamentals of a task manager — without the pressure. • Light and dark themes follow your system settings. FREE FOREVER The full task manager is free. You don't need an account to use Spoons, and your tasks are stored locally on your device. There is no paywall blocking the core task-planning experience. Use Spoons for as long as you want without paying for Premium. PREMIUM When you're ready for more: • Cloud sync across iPhone, iPad, and soon the web • Recurring tasks — daily, weekly, monthly, or every X days • Full-text search across tasks, notes, and tags • Completion statistics and a yearly heatmap to see your patterns • Quick-add bar — add a task without opening a detail screen Premium is $3.99/month or $29.99/year and includes a 7-day free trial. WHO IS SPOONS FOR? • People living with chronic illness, fatigue, or pain conditions • People with ADHD who need a smaller, more realistic to-do list • Anyone recovering from burnout • Anyone who regularly plans more than they can realistically accomplish • Anyone who's tired of ending the day feeling like they "didn't do enough" Your energy isn't unlimited. Your planner shouldn't pretend that it is. PRIVACY Free users never need to sign in, and your tasks stay on your device. Spoons collects basic, anonymous usage analytics — such as app opens, daily check-ins, and task activity — tied to a private device ID rather than your name or email. This helps us understand whether Spoons is helping people and improve the app. There is no advertising, third-party analytics SDKs, ad tracking, or data brokerage. Premium cloud sync is opt-in and runs through Supabase. Subscriptions are managed through RevenueCat and Apple, which receive your purchase and subscription status. We don't sell your data. Spoons is inspired by Christine Miserandino's essay at butyoudontlooksick.com. Spoon theory belongs to the community; this app is a love letter to it. Subscription terms: Spoons Premium automatically renews until cancelled. Manage or cancel through your Apple ID subscription settings. Cancelling stops future renewals; existing paid periods are not refunded. The free trial converts to a paid subscription unless cancelled at least 24 hours before it ends.

Screenshots

RescueRef4 screens
Spoons4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: RescueRef at none against Spoons's 2. Spoons's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 4 months). On price, rating, ratings volume 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

Both are free to download. Spoons sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. RescueRef asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for RescueRef against 5.0 for Spoons. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 4 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RescueRef ships an update every 4 months, Spoons every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
RescueRef versus Spoons: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRescueRefSpoons
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings34 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB40 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperHyperhoundMatthew Beste

Customer experience

RescueRef

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Spoons

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

RescueRef

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Spoons

Subscriptions2
  • Spoons Premium Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Spoons Premium Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is RescueRef free?
RescueRef is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Spoons free?
Spoons is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, RescueRef or Spoons?
RescueRef and Spoons are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 4 ratings respectively.
Do RescueRef or Spoons have ads?
Neither RescueRef nor Spoons shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RescueRef or Spoons?
RescueRef ships an update every 4 months, and Spoons every 9 days. Most recently, RescueRef was updated on September 26, 2026 and Spoons on September 30, 2026.

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