Comparison

The Clocks vs ZenClock

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

Head to head
About

The Clocks

This app offers a variety of clock styles including flip, digital, and analog. It features customizable alarms with music options, a world clock for multiple locations, and several user-friendly controls for brightness, touch lock, and flashlight activation.

Highlights
  • Flip, Digital, and Analog clock types
  • In-app music alarms
  • World clock with 500+ cities
  • Customizable clock appearance
  • Adjustable snooze interval
  • Flashlight by shaking
Features
Read full description

The Clocks of Simplicity. Three fundamental clock types featuring in-app music alarms and a world clock. Clock Types: • Flip Clock • Digital Clock • Analog Clock • Detailed customization options for each clock Alarm Clock: • Supports up to 5 alarms • Adjustable snooze interval • Use your own iPod music as alarm sounds (while the app is running in the foreground) World Clock: • Displays times for 6 locations • Supports over 500 cities and countries Miscellaneous: • Touch lock • Intuitive gestures • Burn-in protection • Activate flashlight by shaking • User-friendly button interface • Adjustable brightness, scale, and position

About

ZenClock

This app transforms your iPad or iPhone into a visually appealing desk clock. It offers interactive time displays with customizable background color modes, including a unique spectrum that cycles through millions of colors over time.

Highlights
  • Minimalist design
  • Interactive time display
  • Widgets for quick access
  • Single background color modes
  • Color Clock modes with spectrum cycling
  • Optimized for desk stands
Features
Read full description

Zen Clock is a minimalist iPhone clock built around calm, legibility, and strong typography. Designed to work beautifully on a desk, nightstand, charging stand, or an always-nearby spare iPhone, it offers a full-screen time surface that never demands your attention. We intentionally avoided building a generic alarm, timer, or productivity app. Instead, Zen Clock’s promise is simple: make checking the time feel quiet, polished, and visually intentional. Signature Color Clock Modes Experience time as a living color, not just digits. Our signature Color Clock modes transform the current time into a shifting, live background gradient. Full Spectrum: Maps Unix time across the entire color spectrum. Day Mode: Maps the current day from midnight to night. Hour Mode: Maps the current hour from the top to the end of the hour. Curated Visual Themes & Typography Choose from seven striking visual themes, including White on Black, Black on White, White on Blue, Red on Black, and our signature Color Clock modes. Pair your theme with four distinct typographic styles (Zen, Rounded, Mono, and Serif) to make your clock feel airy, friendly, precise, or editorial. Composed for Your Space With our preview-first settings, you aren't just toggling options—you are composing a timepiece. Choose the layout that fits your environment: Pure: The ultimate minimalist experience. Time only. Calendar: Elegantly integrates the weekday and date. Editorial: A beautiful, designed asymmetric composition. Board: A restrained status surface that gracefully holds supporting information without overpowering the time. Supporting Context (Premium) For those who want a bit more at a glance, Zen Clock gracefully integrates extra details without the clutter. Add a curated World Clock rail to display up to two global cities (such as Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, or Sydney). Access live local weather conditions and temperatures seamlessly integrated into your composed layout while the app is open. Home Screen Widget Bring a touch of Zen Clock to your Home Screen with our included minimal clock widget, featuring a stark black background, crisp white text, and our signature aesthetic. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sociallycs.com/privacy.html

Screenshots

The Clocks4 screens
ZenClock4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: The Clocks at 4.5 against ZenClock's 4.0. The Clocks also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 50%) and ratings volume (22K vs 4). ZenClock's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, in-app purchases 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. The Clocks sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and ZenClock sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Clocks holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Clocks has 22K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of The Clocks's written reviews are positive against 50% of ZenClock's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Clocks ships an update every 2 weeks, ZenClock every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
The Clocks versus ZenClock: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe ClocksZenClock
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (22K ratings) — better4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews78.4% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings22K — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMeanterm Inc.Socially Conscious Software LLC

Customer experience

The Clocks

All ratings22,013 ratings
Positive87.8%
Neutral3.9%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews870 reviews
Positive78.4%
Neutral6.1%
Negative15.5%

ZenClock

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

The Clocks

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Clock style randomly changes
  • Alarm doesn't work when device is locked
  • App freezes or crashes occasionally
  • Time displayed on home screen is incorrect

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add timer and stopwatch functions
  • Allow custom alarm sounds/music
  • Improve alarm reliability and duration
  • Provide more clock face/style options
  • Add date display
Show 2 more
  • Improve orientation/rotation controls
  • Adjust brightness changes to be less disruptive

ZenClock

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

The Clocks

One-time1
  • The Clocks Premium Upgrade$3.99
2 purchases

ZenClock

Subscriptions2
  • Zen Clock Plus Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Zen Clock Plus Yearly$19.991 Year

Questions

Is The Clocks free?
The Clocks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ZenClock free?
ZenClock is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, The Clocks or ZenClock?
The Clocks is rated higher. The Clocks averages 4.5 out of 5 from 22K ratings, while ZenClock averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do The Clocks or ZenClock have ads?
The Clocks shows ads; ZenClock does not.
Which is updated more often, The Clocks or ZenClock?
The Clocks ships an update every 2 weeks, and ZenClock every 3 months. Most recently, The Clocks was updated on November 11, 2026 and ZenClock on November 1, 2026.

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