Comparison

Gola vs Catalyst

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

Head to head
About

Gola

This app helps you set and track various types of goals with customizable widgets and reminders. It offers AI-powered advice and personalized recommendations to accelerate your progress. Achieve your aspirations with interactive charts and motivational features.

Highlights
  • Seven goal types
  • Customizable widgets
  • AI-powered advice
  • Interactive charts
  • Reminders and notifications
  • Goal templates
Features
Read full description

Elevate your goal-setting game with Gola! Our app lets you create and track seven goal types, with customizable widgets and reminders to keep you on track. Plus, our AI provides expert advice to help you reach your goals faster. Download Gola now and take control of your success! ■ Pick one of 7 different goal types Whether you want to save up for a dream vacation, hit a fitness milestone, or learn a new skill, Gola has got you covered. SINGLE GOAL → This is the generic single-task goal (e.g., Learn a new skill) TASKS → You need to finish multiple goals to complete this. PROGRESS GOAL → A goal on which you will make progress as the year passes (e.g., Run 43KM) VALUE GOAL → Same as progress, but you need to give each input a title and date (e.g., Read 12 books) OPEN PROGRESS → This progress goal completes when the year is finished (e.g., Swim as much as possible) COUNTDOWN → Set a start and end date and let this goal count down till it’s completed (e.g., Don't drink alcohol for one month) STREAK → Track a streak of consecutive completions (e.g. Daily meditation) ■ Get help achieving your goals with the power of AI One of the best things about Gola is that it harnesses the power of AI to help you achieve your goals. With personalized recommendations and targeted support, the app can help you stay on track and make meaningful progress towards your goals. Whether you need a little extra motivation or some practical advice on getting started, Gola is the app for you. AI will also help you generate small, actionable tasks that you can do right now to make progress on any of your goals. ■ Interactive Widgets Widgets in Gola are now configurable and interactive! Before, you could only show a random goal. Now you can set it to a random goal OR configure it to a fixed goal, so you’ll never lose track of it. In summary, if you're looking for a powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use goal-setting app, look no further than Gola. With a range of features and tools designed to help you achieve your goals, it's the perfect app for anyone looking to make meaningful progress and positive changes in their lives. So why wait? Download Gola today and start making your goals a reality! ■ More Features - Many available templates to help you challenge yourself - Interactive charts: See your progress in a clear manner with new charts - Create different types of goals - Get reminded via notifications whenever you want - Add icons or emojis to your goals for more joy - Use shortcuts or ask Siri to check in on your goals - See how far the year progresses as we go - Add widgets to your Home Screen & Lock Screen to see the year's progress, to open Gola quickly or to show a random goal - Select one of the many available themes to use the app in a color that you like. - Sort your goals by Creation Date or Last Updated - Hear fun little sounds as you make progress and create goals - Confetti when you complete a goal! - Accessible to everyone - Control if you like haptics or not - Have goals that you only want visible to your own eyes? Now you can set them up as private. And this is just the beginning... There are a lot of fun new features planned to be added really soon! The free version of Gola is free forever and ad-free. If you’re looking for the best way to track a few of your bigger goals, downloading this app is a great place to start. With an in-app subscription to Gola Pro or a one-time purchase, you’ll get the following things: unlimited goals, more types of goals, advanced settings, and access to all future features. Terms & Conditions: https://www.craft.do/s/IQv3Opu45bg39i Privacy policy: https://www.craft.do/s/g7sQraD8OQUEQx

About

Catalyst

This app uses financial consequences to help users achieve their goals. Users commit money to a 30-day cycle, earning it back with a bonus for completion or losing it if they fail. Mastermind groups provide social accountability.

Highlights
  • Financial commitment for goals
  • Daily reflection tracking
  • 30-day goal cycles
  • Mastermind accountability groups
  • Consequence-based motivation
  • Goal progress feed
Features
Read full description

Catalyst is a social accountability platform for people who are serious about their goals. No confetti. No badges for showing up. A system built on the one thing that actually changes behavior: consequences. HOW IT WORKS Set a goal that matters. Catalyst breaks it into daily tasks. Then you prove your execution every day with a Daily Reflection: what you did, what you didn't, and what happens tomorrow. Your reflections become your track record. THE CYCLE When you're ready to make it real, start a 30-day Cycle: - Commit a Participation Fee — from $50 to $500. It's non-refundable. - Submit a Daily Reflection every day for 30 days. You get two lives — miss two days and the Cycle fails. - Complete all 30 days and you earn every dollar back as a Completion Bonus. - Quit or fail, and the money is gone. The only way to see that money again is to earn it. That's the point. THE MASTERMIND Every Cycle places you in a mastermind group of up to 10 people at your commitment level, in it at the same time as you. They see your reflections. They notice when you go quiet. Accountability you can't mute. THE FEED No influencers. No motivational wallpaper. A feed of real people doing real work, one day at a time — and posting proof. WHO IT'S FOR People with money on the line behave differently. If you need a gentle nudge, this isn't your app. If you're done negotiating with yourself — welcome. SUBSCRIPTION Catalyst requires an auto-renewing subscription: $49.99/month or $14.99/week. Payment is charged to your account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your account settings after purchase. Terms of Service: https://catalyst.life/docs/terms_and_conditions.html Privacy Policy: https://catalyst.life/docs/privacy_policy.html Community Guidelines: https://catalyst.life/docs/community_guidelines.html Cycle Agreement: https://catalyst.life/docs/cycle_agreement.html Support: support@catalyst.life

Screenshots

Gola4 screens
Catalyst4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Gola at free with in-app purchases against Catalyst's subscription. Gola also leads on ratings volume (158 vs 2). Catalyst's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, 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. Gola sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 3 months and Catalyst sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Catalyst holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Gola has 158 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Gola ships an update every 3 weeks, Catalyst fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Gola versus Catalyst: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGolaCatalyst
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (158 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings158 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size186 MB97 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperModum B.V.BlackShift LLC

Customer experience

Gola

All ratings156 ratings
Positive87.8%
Neutral3.8%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews107 reviews
Positive74.8%
Neutral4.7%
Negative20.6%

Catalyst

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

Bugs and requests

Gola

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Widgets don't work
  • Sub-goal can't check in on the Apple Watch
  • Reset goal button doesn't work
  • Random suggestions for goals
  • Scrolling becomes sluggish and unresponsive
Show 7 more
  • Search only finds the first two goals
  • Progress gets deleted when editing a goal
  • Goals disappear and reappear as unerreached
  • Sync issues between iPhone and iPad, and Apple Watch
  • Goals keep changing on their own (title, icon, type)
  • Countdown goal end date not selecting the correct date
  • GPT integration never loads

Requested features

14 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard
  • Recurring goals
  • Habit tracking / task option for regular recurring tasks
  • Calendar view to assign goals for the day/week/month
Show 9 more
  • Log view to see progress on checked off items
  • Image attachments for goals
  • Scratch pad for time-stamped notes and ideas
  • Reminders for each goal set
  • Schedule the goal by certain days only
  • Apple Health integration
  • Drag and drop features for manual sorting when editing a goal
  • Sign-up features/account creation (especially using Apple Account)
  • Deadline features

Catalyst

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Gola

Subscriptions2
  • Gola Pro Quarter$2.993 Months
  • Gola Pro Yearly3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Gola Pro$19.99
2 purchases

Catalyst

Subscriptions2
  • Catalyst Weekly$14.997 Days
  • Catalyst7 Days trial$49.991 Month

Questions

Is Gola free?
Gola is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Catalyst free?
Catalyst is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Gola or Catalyst?
Catalyst is rated higher. Gola averages 4.5 out of 5 from 158 ratings, while Catalyst averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Gola or Catalyst have ads?
Neither Gola nor Catalyst shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Gola or Catalyst?
Gola ships an update every 3 weeks, and Catalyst fortnightly. Most recently, Gola was updated on November 7, 2026 and Catalyst on October 31, 2026.

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