Comparison

quitSTART vs Cigarette Counter

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

Head to head
About

quitSTART

This app supports individuals aiming to quit smoking by offering personalized tips, inspiration, and challenges based on their smoking history. It helps users prepare for quitting, track progress with badges, manage cravings, and stay motivated on their journey to a healthier, smokefree life.

Highlights
  • Personalized quitting tips
  • Progress monitoring and badges
  • Craving and mood management
  • Distraction games and challenges
  • Customizable Quit Kit
  • Social media sharing
Features
Read full description

quitSTART is a free app made for people who want to quit smoking. This app takes the information you provide about your smoking history and gives you tailored tips, inspiration, and challenges to help you become smokefree and live a healthier life. quitSTART helps you: • Get ready to quit with tips and information to prepare you for becoming smokefree • Monitor your progress and earn badges for smokefree milestones and other achievements • Get back on track if you slip and smoke • Manage cravings and bad moods in healthy ways • Distract yourself from cravings with games and challenges • Store helpful tips, inspirations, and challenges in your Quit Kit • Share your progress and favorite tips through social media quitSTART is a product of Smokefree.gov, a smoking cessation resource created by the Tobacco Control Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute in collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and input from tobacco control professionals, smoking cessation experts, and ex-smokers.

About

Cigarette Counter

This app helps you quit nicotine by personifying your addiction as a villain who deteriorates as you progress. Track cigarettes, vaping, or pouches, crush cravings, and visualize your savings and recovery timeline. Optional premium features offer an AI coach and personalized insights.

Highlights
  • Track cigarettes, vaping, and nicotine pouches
  • Gamified villain deteriorates with progress
  • Real-time craving management with interactive crushing
  • Visualize money saved and recovery timeline
  • Optional AI coach and personalized insights
  • Data stays on device, no account required
Features
Read full description

Quitting nicotine is hard. Stub Out makes it personal. Meet Nik — your addiction, personified. He's a smug little villain (a cigarette, a vape, or a nicotine pouch — whichever hooked you), and every hour you resist, he visibly falls apart. Your job: shrink him to a stub. QUIT ONE HABIT — OR ALL OF THEM • Cigarettes, vaping, nicotine pouches — track any of them, or all at once • One clock, one enemy: your streak, money saved and health all in one place • Picked up a habit later? Add it anytime — your progress never resets WATCH NIK FALL APART • Nik declines through 6 stages as your streak grows — cocky, sweating, cracking, begging, done • He appears as what YOU quit: cigarette, vape or pouch — switch anytime • Tap him for a taunt. He's bitter about your progress. It's delightful. CRUSH CRAVINGS IN REAL TIME • A craving hits? Open the app and crush Nik with your own hands — 16 taps of pure catharsis • Or breathe through it with a guided exercise • Every craving beaten is logged. Your record grows. His doesn't. SEE WHAT YOU'RE WINNING • Money saved, counting up live — every cigarette, pod and pouch you skip • Savings goals: turn the money into something real • A recovery timeline that fits what you actually quit • Best-streak record to beat after a slip — progress is never wasted PREMIUM (optional) • AI coach: chat 24/7 with a supportive coach who knows your journey • AI roasts: Nik gets personal — funnier, sharper, aimed at your habit • Nik's moods: Savage tough love or Sweetheart love-bombing • Craving insights: your toughest hours and days, so cravings stop surprising you • Trophy room, savings goals and more PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your data stays on your device. No account, no tracking, no selling your story. One villain. Three faces. Zero mercy. Start shrinking Nik today. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

quitSTART2 screens
Cigarette Counter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: quitSTART at none against Cigarette Counter's 2. quitSTART also leads on ratings volume (2.4K vs 15) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). Cigarette Counter's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Cigarette Counter sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. quitSTART asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cigarette Counter holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: quitSTART has 2.4K ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of quitSTART's written reviews are positive against 100% of Cigarette Counter's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

quitSTART ships an update every 4 months, Cigarette Counter weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
quitSTART versus Cigarette Counter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterquitSTARTCigarette Counter
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (2.4K ratings)5.0 (15 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.4K — better15
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size69 MB43 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperICF InternationalROBERTAS GUDELIUNAS

Customer experience

quitSTART

All ratings2,422 ratings
Positive91.1%
Neutral5.7%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews163 reviews
Positive71.8%
Neutral13.5%
Negative14.7%

Cigarette Counter

All ratings15 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

quitSTART

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Distract me games not loading
  • Challenges not working properly
  • Inconsistent behavior across devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more mood options for check-ins
  • Allow editing of quit date and settings
  • Improve navigation and make it more intuitive
  • Provide instructions and a help section

Cigarette Counter

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

quitSTART

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Cigarette Counter

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is quitSTART free?
quitSTART is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cigarette Counter free?
Cigarette Counter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, quitSTART or Cigarette Counter?
Cigarette Counter is rated higher. quitSTART averages 4.6 out of 5 from 2.4K ratings, while Cigarette Counter averages 5.0 from 15 ratings.
Do quitSTART or Cigarette Counter have ads?
Neither quitSTART nor Cigarette Counter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, quitSTART or Cigarette Counter?
quitSTART ships an update every 4 months, and Cigarette Counter weekly. Most recently, quitSTART was updated on November 10, 2026 and Cigarette Counter on November 7, 2026.

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