Comparison

Card Decks vs ChainRoutine

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

Head to head
About

Card Decks

Create and share custom card decks for various uses, from team meetings and planning to personal expression and task management. Configure individual cards with display times for timers or reminders, and easily share decks via email or messages.

Highlights
  • Configurable colored text cards
  • Group cards into decks
  • Create custom card sets
  • Timer and countdown functionality
  • Share decks via email/messages
  • Open source
Features
Read full description

Card Decks is a small utility application for your iPhone and iPad which brings you simple, configurable, colored, multi-line text cards that are grouped into card decks. A card deck can be used to show your vote or estimation on a certain topic in a meeting, e.g. in a planning meeting used in agile software development methods like Scrum or Extreme Programming. If the pre-configured cards don't fit your needs, just extend the existing cards or build your own set of cards, e.g. including special estimation numbers like "Pi" or "?". Or, if you are the chair of a session on a conference, you can use a card deck to remind a speaker of the remaining time for the presentation. Or, as a speaker, use a timer card deck to track the remaining minutes. Or, just use your cards to show your opinion, argument, or mood, in a simple, non-verbal way. Or, use the shuffle feature to randomly select a task from a card deck with tasks, or randomly assign tasks to students, team members, etc. Card Decks contains some pre-configured card decks with voting cards, simple colored cards, cards with numbers, colored cards which show remaining minutes, and some timers. Individual card decks can be created with the built-in editor. Each card in a card deck can be configured with a display time. This way, you can build your own countdown timer with individual numbers, texts, reminders, etc. Example timers for 15 and 60 minutes are pre-configured. Additionally, Card Decks supports sending and receiving card decks via e-mail, messages, etc. for sharing your card decks with your friends or colleagues. Either as an URL, or via a JSON-based document. Found a bug? Missing a feature? Drop a line to carddecks@0xc0.de, or open an issue in the project on GitHub. Card Decks is open source and licensed under the terms of the MIT license. Its source code is hosted on GitHub.

About

ChainRoutine

Features
Read full description

Struggling to build habits? ChainRoutine makes it different. ChainRoutine is an innovative habit tracker that links multiple habits into one seamless routine. Connect small habits like Drink Water → Stretch → Meditate into a chain, and completing one naturally leads to the next. ▸ Why ChainRoutine? • Habit Chaining: Connected routines boost success rates • Conditional Branching: Auto-switch to alternative habits based on your condition • Smart Insights: AI-powered personalized improvement suggestions • Visual Flow: Node-based editor to see your routine at a glance • Apple Watch: Execute routines right from your wrist ▸ Key Features 【Build Routines】 Choose from 100+ habit templates or create your own. Categories include Health, Fitness, Productivity, Mindfulness, Learning, and more. 【Smart Analytics】 Analyze completion patterns by day and time. Discover when you perform best and identify bottleneck habits. 【Motivation System】 Stay motivated with streak tracking, badge system, and evolving routine phases. 【iCloud Sync】 Automatic sync across iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Continue your routines anywhere. ▸ Perfect For • Building morning/evening routines • Developing exercise, meditation, or reading habits • Managing multiple habits at once • Data-driven habit improvement ▸ Premium Features • Detailed statistics & trend analysis • Pattern analysis (by day/time) • Conditional branching • Badge system • Unlimited routines • Ad-free experience Start building better habits with ChainRoutine today! Terms of Use: https://jinseok-ios.vercel.app/ChainFlow/Terms

Screenshots

Card Decks4 screens
ChainRoutine4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Card Decks at none against ChainRoutine's 3. Card Decks also leads on ads (none vs shown). ChainRoutine's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 5 months). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. ChainRoutine sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Card Decks asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Card Decks ships an update every 5 months, ChainRoutine daily. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Card Decks versus ChainRoutine: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCard DecksChainRoutine
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews77.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsDaily — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperArne HarrenJINSEOK OH

In-app purchases

None

Card Decks

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

ChainRoutine

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Premium$1.991 Month
  • Yearly Premium$12.001 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$19.99

Questions

Is Card Decks free?
Card Decks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ChainRoutine free?
ChainRoutine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Card Decks or ChainRoutine have ads?
ChainRoutine shows ads; Card Decks does not.
Which is updated more often, Card Decks or ChainRoutine?
Card Decks ships an update every 5 months, and ChainRoutine daily. Most recently, Card Decks was updated on October 23, 2026 and ChainRoutine on October 18, 2026.

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