Comparison

Don't Break The Chain! vs Nereus

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

Head to head
About

Don't Break The Chain!

This app helps you build positive habits and achieve your goals by visually tracking your progress. Mark each day you complete a task towards your objective on a calendar, creating a chain of 'X's. The goal is to never break the chain, fostering consistent effort and motivation.

Highlights
  • Visual goal tracking with a calendar
  • Daily task commitment marking
  • Habit formation and bad habit breaking
  • Clean and intuitive interface
  • Motivation technique for goal achievement
Features
Read full description

Have you ever heard of the “Don’t Break The Chain” (DBTC) motivation technique used by the famous American stand-up comedian and director Jerry Seinfeld? The idea behind this motivation technique is so simple and easy to achieve: Define a goal and try to constantly do actions towards your goal. So, no matter you are going to learn a new language, learn how to play Guitar, break a bad habit, write a new book, or any other activities, the “Don’t Break The Chain” enables you to be on the right track and forces you to keep doing whatever it takes to reach your goal. Interested in the idea and want to know how DBTC works? Well, download the application for free on your iOS device, add your goals and start tracking your activities on a daily basis. What to expect from the Don’t Break The Chain? DBTC, the motivation app to track your commitment to your goals and resolutions, comes with a clean and neat design and the interface is so user- friendly that you’ll get the whole idea after writing down your first goal and marking the first X on the calendar. What is X? Well, you have access to a large year-at-a-glance calendar and at the first day of your motivation program, you get to mark that day with a red X, if you manage to do the committed task toward your goal. In other words, did you do the task you were supposed to do? If so, mark that day with an X, otherwise, you have broken the chain and you prove your self your not motivated enough. And the chain starts. Congratulations on starting your chain. You have to keep doing the tasks every day and mark the calendar with an X to make sure you never break the chain and you are getting closer to your goal day by day. After a while, you’ll develop a good habit of doing worthy actions and you’ll see how motivated you are. Don’t forget that your chain of red Xs cannot be stopped unless you reach the pre-defined goal, and you cannot mark a day with an X unless you’ve done what you were supposed to do. Don’t Break The Chain main features at a glance: * Clean and neat design with fresh and intuitive interface * Learn how to break a bad habit and replace it with a good one * Track how committed you are to your goals and resolutions * Easy to learn motivation technique * Useful for anyone who cares about not wasting their times So, download DBTC for free, start your first chain and try to be as committed as it takes to your goal to make sure you never break the chain. The moment you start a chain, there is no going back and you need to show others you are strong and confident enough that you never cross the line and always respect the process. Stay tuned and let us know about any bugs, questions, feature requests or any other suggestions. Read more about this motivation technique at: http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret/ Steve Pavlina's 30 Days to Success is also a very similar technique: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/04/30-days-to-success/

About

Nereus

This app helps you focus by blocking distracting applications on your iPhone during dedicated work sessions. It syncs with a desktop application to automatically lock down your phone, allowing you to choose which apps to block and stay productive.

Highlights
  • Blocks distracting apps
  • Deep Work mode
  • Cross-device sync
  • QR code pairing
  • Customizable app blocking
Features
Read full description

~REQUIRES NEREUS DESKTOP APP~ Nereus helps you do your best work by blocking distracting apps on your iPhone during Deep Work sessions. DEEP WORK MODE When you're ready to focus, Nereus shields distracting apps so you can't access them until your session ends. No willpower needed - just scan the QR code from the Nereus Mac app and your phone locks down automatically. CROSS-DEVICE SYNC Pair your iPhone with the Nereus desktop app via QR code. Start a session on your Mac or Windows and your phone blocks until you complete your focus session. APP BLOCKING Select exactly which apps distract you most. Social media, messaging, games - block what you need, keep what matters. STAY DEEP Stay where digital distractions aren't - at the bottom of the sea.

Screenshots

Don't Break The Chain!4 screens
Nereus1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Nereus at none against Don't Break The Chain!'s 4. Nereus also leads on ads (none vs shown). Don't Break The Chain!'s advantage is ratings volume (1.4K vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, update cadence 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. Don't Break The Chain! sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Nereus asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Nereus holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Don't Break The Chain! has 1.4K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Don't Break The Chain! ships an update every 3 months, Nereus every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Don't Break The Chain! versus Nereus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDon't Break The Chain!Nereus
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.4K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.4K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperROUGE41Joseph Balkan

Customer experience

Don't Break The Chain!

All ratings1,422 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral1.8%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews233 reviews
Positive83.7%
Neutral7.7%
Negative8.6%

Nereus

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

Bugs and requests

Don't Break The Chain!

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App crashes on launch after iOS 13 update
  • Calendar view not properly scaling on larger screens

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to track multiple chains/goals
  • Implement customization options for colors, fonts, etc.
  • Introduce reminders and notifications
  • Add option to view progress over longer time periods (years)
  • Integrate with other productivity/fitness apps

Nereus

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Don't Break The Chain!

One-time4
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$3.99
  • Go Pro!$5.99
Show 1 more
  • Large Tip$11.99
None

Nereus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Don't Break The Chain! free?
Don't Break The Chain! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Nereus free?
Nereus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Don't Break The Chain! or Nereus?
Nereus is rated higher. Don't Break The Chain! averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.4K ratings, while Nereus averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Don't Break The Chain! or Nereus have ads?
Don't Break The Chain! shows ads; Nereus does not.
Which is updated more often, Don't Break The Chain! or Nereus?
Don't Break The Chain! ships an update every 3 months, and Nereus every 2 months. Most recently, Don't Break The Chain! was updated on October 31, 2026 and Nereus on October 2, 2026.

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