The Marimo vs Gecko Pet
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Marimo
Care for a virtual green ball creature that grows over time. Keep its environment clean and provide light to ensure its survival. Customize its appearance and interact with it through various gestures.
- Virtual pet care
- Growth simulation
- Environment maintenance
- Customization options
- Interactive controls
- Social sharing
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Thank you 1,130,000 download!! [About Marimo] Marimo means a plant like a green ball which grow in Hokkaido, Japan. You can raise a Marimo. A marimo will grow up little by little every day. When water become dirty, you need to refresh water. If you don't take care of a Marimo long time, Marimo will wither. [Other Features] - You can rename Marimo, and change background. - Drag to move Marimo. - Double tap to pick tap Marimo. - Rotate marimo with two finger. - Marimo moves by the direction of the device. - You can upload image of Marimo on Twitter/Facebook. - Photosynthesis occurs in a bright place.
Gecko Pet
Raise a virtual gecko on your phone with simple care tasks like feeding and cleaning. Enjoy its smooth animations and relaxing music as it grows daily. This game is ideal for busy individuals or those new to gaming.
- Raise a virtual gecko
- Simple feeding and cleaning mechanics
- Real-time growth updates
- Customizable pet name
- Relaxing music and animations
- Notifications for care tasks
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Completely free! This is an application to make a gecko a pet. You can easily raise a cute gecko in your phone. The smooth animation of the gecko's cute movements will heal you. The music is also very relaxing. This game is an app to raise geckos in your phone. It's very easy to take care of them. All you have to do is feed it and clean it! It is recommended for people who are not good at playing games and busy people. Please enjoy watching the gecko grow day by day. The game's contents You can feed the gecko, clean it, and take care of it easily. The gecko grows a little bit every day. Touch the screen, and the gecko will come to that place. You can watch the gecko while listening to music. You can give the gecko a name of your choice. (The name can be changed at any time.) The size of the gecko is updated every second so that you can see its size in real time. When you start the app, it will report how much it has grown since the last time. Notifies you of the timing of feeding and cleaning.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: The Marimo at every 3 months against Gecko Pet's every 32 months. The Marimo also leads on monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases). Gecko Pet's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (131 vs 16). On price, review sentiment, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Gecko Pet holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Gecko Pet has 131 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of The Marimo's written reviews are positive against 82% of Gecko Pet's.
The Marimo ships an update every 3 months, Gecko Pet every 32 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Marimo | Gecko Pet |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (16 ratings) | 4.7 (131 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 79.6% of reviews | 81.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 16 | 131 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 32 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 46 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kosuke Ogawa | sio honda |
Customer experience
The Marimo
Gecko Pet
In-app purchases
The Marimo
No in-app purchases
Gecko Pet
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Marimo free?
Is Gecko Pet free?
Which has better reviews, The Marimo or Gecko Pet?
Do The Marimo or Gecko Pet have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Marimo or Gecko Pet?
Other comparisons
