Comparison

Positive Discipline vs Thumsters

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

Head to head
About

Positive Discipline

Offers parenting tools that teach children valuable life skills like self-discipline and responsibility without punishment or rewards. Focuses on fostering intrinsic motivation for children to become self-reliant and successful.

Highlights
  • Alternatives to punishment
  • Teaches social and life skills
  • Fosters self-discipline and responsibility
  • Promotes intrinsic motivation
  • Meets Five Criteria for Positive Discipline
  • Develops self-reliance and capability
Features
Read full description

These Positive Discipline Parenting Tools provide many alternatives to punishment that also teach children valuable social and life skills such as self-discipline, responsibility, cooperation, and problem-solving skills. These skills help children develop a sense of self-reliance and capability that will serve them throughout their lives. You’ll notice that none of these tools include any kind of punishment, rewards, or praise (all extrinsic motivators that research keeps showing over and over again do not work). These are tools that provide intrinsic motivation to develop self-reliant children that become happy, successful, contributing members of society. Every tool meets all of the Five Criteria for Positive Discipline: 1. Helps children feel a sense of connection? (Belonging and Significance) 2. Is kind and firm at the same time (Respectful and Encouraging) 3. Is effective long-term, (See the following two criteria) 4. Teaches valuable social and life skills for good character? (Respect, concern for others, problem-solving, cooperation) 5. Invites children to discover how capable they are? (Encourages the constructive use of personal power and autonomy) For more information or customer service, please go to our contact information at www.positivediscipline.com where you will also find other Positive Discipline products.

About

Thumsters

This app helps parents foster positive behavior and build stronger connections with their children through a reward-based tracking system. It offers tools for habit formation, emotional coaching, and consistent parenting across multiple caregivers, designed for children aged 4-12.

Highlights
  • Real-time behavior tracking (thumbs up/down)
  • Kid-friendly chore list and reward system
  • Emotional coaching and awareness tools
  • Multi-device syncing for caregivers
  • Customizable reward system
  • Designed for ages 4-12
Features
Read full description

You didn’t sign up for tantrums, power struggles, or endless nagging. You just want your kids to listen, without losing your cool. Meet Thumsters – the award-winning parenting app that helps you build better behavior, calmer routines, and deeper connection with your kids. Whether you’re dealing with defiance, meltdowns, or chore resistance, Thumsters gives you a proven, easy-to-use system based on positive reinforcement and emotional coaching—not yelling or punishment. WHY PARENTS LOVE THUMSTERS Track behavior in real-time – Log thumbs up/down and reasons to see patterns at a glance. Create better habits – Reinforce routines and tasks with a kid-friendly chore list and reward system. Coach, don’t correct – Build your child’s confidence and emotional awareness with our Emotions Tracker. Stay consistent – Sync across multiple devices for caregivers, co-parents and therapists. Backed by science – Built with child professionals and recommended by therapists worldwide. HOW IT WORKS Use Thumsters to log your child’s behavior choices—good or bad. Assign tasks or daily routines. Set goals and rewards. Thumsters builds a clear picture of their progress, helping you parent with purpose and coach your child toward better emotional regulation and decision-making. BUILT FOR REAL FAMILIES Works with multiple kids & carers Includes a customizable reward system Designed for ages 4–12 Used by families, teachers, and therapists Recognized by the US National Library of Medicine for behavior support Join thousands of families who’ve said goodbye to chaos and hello to calm and connection. Download Thumsters today and transform your home—one thumbs up at a time. Terms of Use: https://www.thumsters.com/legal/terms-of-use

Screenshots

Positive Discipline3 screens
Thumsters4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Thumsters at Free against Positive Discipline's $2.99. Thumsters also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 9 months) and ratings volume (874 vs 9). Positive Discipline's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and review sentiment (80% vs 69%). On rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Thumsters is free to download; Positive Discipline costs $2.99 up front. Thumsters sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Positive Discipline asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Positive Discipline against 4.7 for Thumsters. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Thumsters has 874 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 80% of Positive Discipline's written reviews are positive against 69% of Thumsters's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Positive Discipline ships an update every 9 months, Thumsters fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Positive Discipline versus Thumsters: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPositive DisciplineThumsters
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (9 ratings)4.7 (874 ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews — better68.7% of reviews
Number of ratings9874 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB92 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperPositive DisciplineKØBEN digital

Customer experience

Positive Discipline

All ratings9 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative15.0%

Thumsters

All ratings873 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral5.0%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews134 reviews
Positive68.7%
Neutral14.9%
Negative16.4%

Bugs and requests

Positive Discipline

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Thumsters

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when adding child profiles
  • Sync issues between devices
  • Thumbs up/down disappearing or not registering properly
  • Inconsistent behavior after app updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow kids to track their own progress
  • Add more customization options for goals and rewards
  • Implement better reporting and analytics
  • Improve Apple Watch integration
  • Simplify the process of giving thumbs up/down

In-app purchases

None

Positive Discipline

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Thumsters

Subscriptions7
  • Weekly Premium Subscription$1.997 Days
  • Monthly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Monthly Premium Subscription14 Days trial$12.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • 6 Month Premium Subscription3 Days trial$39.996 Months
  • Yearly Premium Subscription7 Days trial$47.991 Year
  • 6 month premium subscription14 Days trial$59.996 Months
  • ThumbsUp full account - 1 year14 Days trial$79.991 Year

Questions

Is Positive Discipline free?
Positive Discipline costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Thumsters free?
Thumsters is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Positive Discipline or Thumsters?
Thumsters is rated higher. Positive Discipline averages 4.7 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while Thumsters averages 4.7 from 874 ratings.
Do Positive Discipline or Thumsters have ads?
Neither Positive Discipline nor Thumsters shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Positive Discipline or Thumsters?
Positive Discipline ships an update every 9 months, and Thumsters fortnightly. Most recently, Positive Discipline was updated on October 27, 2026 and Thumsters on October 26, 2026.

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