Cuckoo vs HourChime
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cuckoo
This utility app simulates a cuckoo clock, chiming every hour and half-hour. Users can toggle the cuckoo sound on or off and customize alarm modes. Additional sounds and background images are available for purchase, along with an option to remove ads.
- Hourly and half-hourly cuckoo chimes
- Customizable alarm modes
- Add-on purchases for sounds and backgrounds
- Ad removal option
- Toggleable cuckoo sound
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This is "Cuckoo Clock". When this app running, Cuckoo sing every hour and every 30minutes. When you want hear Cuckoo Singing, press the switch button inside of bottom.Cuckoo Singing about 30 Hour. If you don't need Cuckoo, please switch off again. You can change Alarm mode and Custom. And can buy add-on for additional sounds, background images also remove Ad. App URL scheme is: cuckoo://
HourChime
This app provides hourly or 30-minute voice cues and sounds to help you stay focused and on track. It features customizable quiet hours and a clean, battery-friendly interface. The app is designed for reliable background operation.
- Hourly/30-minute chime intervals
- Spoken time announcements
- Customizable mute schedule
- Background operation
- Battery-friendly design
- Light/Dark Mode support
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Chime your day into focus. Hourly or every-30-minute voice cues that keep you on track. Quiet when you need it—powerfully simple when you don’t. HourChime is a focused time-management app that keeps your rhythm with hourly or every-30-minute chimes and optional spoken time, delivering notifications reliably in the background. Set quiet hours with a mute schedule for sleep, meetings, or deep work. A clean, intuitive UI is optimized for Light/Dark Mode and designed to be battery-friendly with no unnecessary background tasks. Features • Chime interval: hourly or every 30 minutes • Spoken time announcement (on/off) + bell sound toggle • Mute Schedule: per time window/day for sleep & meetings • AM/PM or 24-hour display switch • Works reliably in the background after permission • One-time in-app purchase removes ads & unlocks all features (Restore Purchases supported) • Minimal data use; privacy-minded by design Perfect for • Focus sessions, study blocks, and Pomodoro-style routines • Office hours, standups, and calendar-free time awareness • Gentle timekeeping at home and bedtime wind-downs Download now and give your day a clear, calm cadence.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: HourChime at 4.7 against Cuckoo's 3.4. HourChime also leads on ads (none vs shown). Cuckoo's advantage is ratings volume (16 vs 3). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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. Cuckoo sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and HourChime sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
HourChime holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cuckoo has 16 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 68% of Cuckoo's written reviews are positive against 62% of HourChime's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Cuckoo ships an update every 3 months, HourChime every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cuckoo | HourChime |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (16 ratings) | 4.7 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 68.0% of reviews — better | 61.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 16 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Toshihiko Tambo | Mitsuhiro Hashimoto |
Customer experience
Cuckoo
HourChime
In-app purchases
Cuckoo
- Cuckoo Premium Feature$0.99
HourChime
- Premium$1.99









