Sparkle vs Self
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sparkle
This app helps you build a self-care routine by tracking activities that bring you joy. It offers daily check-ins, journaling prompts, and reminders to foster accountability and improve well-being.
- Track self-care activities
- Daily check-ins
- Journaling for self-reflection
- Inspiration for self-care
- Overview of past entries
- Personalized reminders
- Daily motivational quotes
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Sparkle is a simple tracker and journal for your self-care activities (= Sparkles). Create a list of all the things that make you happy. Track and document them daily to keep yourself accountable. Change your life by taking a better care of yourself - because you deserve it! This is what you get: - A FREE app to track what makes you the happiest - Daily check-ins to keep you accountable - Ideas & inspiration for your self-care practice - Self-reflection through simple journaling - Great overview of your past entries - Motivation through daily quotes - Personal reminders that work with your life “Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you.” - Katie Reed
Self
Access your self-care courses and community sanctuary on the go. This app brings your learning and practices directly to your mobile device, making self-care accessible anywhere.
- Access self-care courses
- Connect to The Self-Care Sanctuary
- Mobile learning
- On-the-go practices
- Personalized self-care tools
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Introducing Self-Caring, a new app from The Self-Care Institute. Now you can access your courses and The Self-Care Sanctuary right from your phone. Keep self-care in the palm of your hands and take your learning and practices with you wherever you go. END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Self at none against Sparkle's 1. Self also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 77%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Sparkle's advantage is ratings volume (106 vs 7). 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
Both are free to download. Sparkle sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Self asks for nothing beyond the download.
Self holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sparkle has 106 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Sparkle's written reviews are positive against 100% of Self's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sparkle | Self |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (106 ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 77.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 106 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 49 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SmartWOD GmbH | The Self-Care Institute |
Customer experience
Sparkle
Self
In-app purchases
Sparkle
- Sparkle Plus$2.99
Self
No in-app purchases
