Comparison

Ben's Virtues vs The Franklin Chart

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

Head to head
About

Ben's Virtues

This app helps you cultivate personal growth by tracking your adherence to thirteen virtues, inspired by Benjamin Franklin's original plan. Review your day nightly and mark transgressions to improve your conduct over time.

Highlights
  • Thirteen virtue tracking chart
  • Weekly virtue focus
  • Daily transgression marking
  • Yearly cycle completion
  • Personal conduct regulation
Features
Read full description

Follow Benjamin Franklin's 13-week virtue system used for nearly 300 years to build discipline, honesty, moderation, industry, humility, and more. • Focus on one virtue each week • Takes one minute every evening • Free, no ads, and no account necessary • Apple Watch and widget make it even easier to track your virtues In 1726, while on an 80-day ocean voyage from London to Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin developed a plan and corresponding chart for regulating his future conduct. He based his plan on a chart of thirteen virtues. He committed to giving strict attention to one virtue each week - placing a mark on his chart each time he transgressed that week’s virtue.  After thirteen weeks he moved through all thirteen virtues. He would repeat the course four times a year. Use this modern incarnation of Benjamin Franklin’s original chart to improve and regulate your daily conduct. Every evening review your day. Tap the day's date to place a mark if you transgressed the week's virtue. One virtue is highlighted every week and the whole chart should be completed four times in a year. The goal is to live your days - giving strict attention to each virtue - without having to place any marks on your chart. Thank you for checking out Ben's Virtues. If you like the app please let me know what virtue you are currently focusing on by leaving a quick review.

About

The Franklin Chart

Features
Read full description

In 1726, on a long voyage home from London, Benjamin Franklin set himself a quiet project: to become a better man — not by grand resolution, but by patient daily attention. He chose thirteen virtues, gave one his full attention each week, and kept a small chart, marking each day he fell short. The goal was never a perfect record. It was the satisfaction of watching the marks grow fewer. The Franklin Chart brings that practice, faithfully, to your iPhone. THE METHOD - Thirteen virtues, from Temperance to Humility, in Franklin's own order and words. - One virtue under close attention each week — the focus rotates, completing the full course every thirteen weeks. - A weekly chart where you mark a fault on any day you slip. A mark is information, never a verdict. THE EVENING EXAMINATION Franklin sat each day with two questions — one in the morning, one at night. The app guides that short reflection and lets you note, in a line, where the day went. MAKE IT YOURS Write what each virtue means for you, in your own words and your own life. A virtue you can picture is a virtue you can keep. SEE IT DIMINISH A gentle progress view shows your faults week by week, and where your attention is owed next — so you can watch the line tend downward over time. PRIVATE BY DESIGN The Franklin Chart collects nothing. Everything you record stays on your device. No accounts, no advertising, no tracking — and it works entirely offline. It is, like the practice itself, yours alone. "I was surpris'd to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish." — Benjamin Franklin

Screenshots

Ben's Virtues4 screens
The Franklin Chart3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Ben's Virtues at 4 against The Franklin Chart's 2. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Ben's Virtues versus The Franklin Chart: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBen's VirtuesThe Franklin Chart
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (37 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings37 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperReason InteractiveCIPRIAN ALEXANDRU FRASINESCU

Bugs and requests

Ben's Virtues

Reported bugs

25 issues
  • Blank screen
  • Crashes every time it's opened
  • App no longer works
  • Keeps resetting and losing progress
  • Data doesn't get stored or saved
Show 20 more
  • App doesn't work
  • Can only choose one virtue line
  • Updates remove data
  • Keeps losing progress
  • Dots don't appear on any other virtues except the highlighted one
  • History/tracking deleted on iOS update
  • Impossible to put marks on any of the virtues except the one highlighted
  • Impossible to put more than one mark on a virtue per day
  • Rewording of Franklin's description of Chastity
  • Chart boots out after 3 or 4 weeks
  • Doesn't move forward each day
  • No way to manually set the calendar date
  • App completely reset itself
  • Randomly resetting itself and deleting prior progress
  • Keeps randomly reseting itself and deleting prior progress
  • Just freezes immediately on opening
  • App doesn't work...at all
  • Wil not run on ipad
  • Didn't work on my iPad
  • Not working right now

Requested features

23 requests
  • Allow setting custom start day
  • Enable marking all virtues daily
  • Allow adding custom virtues
  • Improve visibility of virtue tracking
  • Option to export data
Show 18 more
  • Include samples of Ben Franklin's tracked virtues
  • Allow multiple marks per day
  • Support for more than one virtue focus at a time
  • Add ability to cycle through thirteen weeks with marking on other virtues
  • Make it able to put dots in EVERY spot per day
  • Add ability to change "virtues" to add your own
  • Add tab with passage from Franklin's bio
  • Allow user to set start day
  • Add ability to put more than one mark on a virtue per day
  • Allow tracking of multiple virtues
  • Add option to create custom virtues
  • Set alarm/push notification for daily rating
  • Include video and autobiography section
  • Update app to 4.0
  • Allow marking any virtues on any given day
  • Include option of creating your own list of virtues
  • Add higher level of personalization
  • Add more discussion on each virtue

The Franklin Chart

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Ben's Virtues

No in-app purchases

None

The Franklin Chart

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Ben's Virtues free?
Ben's Virtues is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Franklin Chart free?
The Franklin Chart is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Ben's Virtues or The Franklin Chart have ads?
Neither Ben's Virtues nor The Franklin Chart shows ads.

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