Comparison

Finalist vs Sternly

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

Head to head
About

Finalist

This app combines your calendar, tasks, reminders, and weather into a single, visually appealing timeline. It integrates with your journal and activity data to inspire your planning. Enjoy a beautiful and joyful planning experience without complex workflows.

Highlights
  • Unified timeline view
  • Calendar, task, and reminder integration
  • Weather forecast display
  • Journal and activity ring integration
  • Customizable themes
  • Native Apple technology integration
Features
Read full description

Inspired by paper planners, Finalist shows your calendar, tasks, notes, reminders and weather forecast in one beautiful timeline. It even pulls in your Journal Suggestions and Activity Rings to keep you inspired. Gorgeous themes make planning a joy, not a chore. Finalist is built for people who finish things, no complex workflows or productivity theater. NOTES, IN YOUR PLANNER Your planner remembers what you wrote. A dedicated Notes tab gives you notebooks, tags and search. Keep native notes that sync over iCloud, or connect a folder of plain markdown files, including your Obsidian vault, and edit them in place. Tasks inside your markdown files become real Finalist tasks: dated, tagged and checkable anywhere in the app. YOUR DAY, ON YOUR WRIST The Apple Watch app puts your whole day one glance away: events, tasks, reminders and habits in one scrollable view, topped by a Now card that always knows what matters next. Check off pinned lists from the wrist, grocery list included, and add tasks by keyboard, scribble or dictation. Complications and a Smart Stack widget round it out. (Requires watchOS 26.) DESIGN YOUR DAY Choose between two Daily designs: Daybook, the classic stacked layout, or Broadsheet, a newsprint-inspired look that shines on iPad and Mac. Rearrange sections with the layout editor and save your own presets. On the rebuilt Timeline, drag tasks onto the grid to sketch your day in pencil, then commit when it's real. "I've tried dozens of planning apps, this is the one that finally works." - Beta user "The integration of Reminders and Lists reduces the apps I need daily and makes planning actually fun." - Beta user Built with native Apple technologies: no accounts to create, syncs over iCloud, supports Family Sharing, and runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro and Mac. Full database backup, export and import via JSON and OPML. Finalist is a love letter to paper planners. Give it a try, it feels great :) Purchasing information To get the full functionality in Finalist you will need to either purchase a subscription or a one time In-App Purchase for Lifetime access. The purchase amount will be applied to your iTunes account. Subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime with your iTunes account settings. Lifetime purchase is a one-time fee. For more information, see our Terms of Use at https://finalist.works/eula/ and our Privacy Policy at https://finalist.works/privacy-policy/

About

Sternly

Build and maintain positive habits with a focus on daily consistency. Track progress, grow streaks, and stay motivated through a simple, no-fluff interface. Unlock achievements and utilize a library of pre-set or custom habits.

Highlights
  • Daily habit tracking
  • Streak tracking
  • Progress calendar
  • Achievements
  • Habit library
  • Custom habits
Features
Read full description

Sternly helps you build the habits that matter — and actually stick to them. Pick the habits you want to master. Check them off every day. Watch your streaks grow. Stay motivated with progress tracking, achievements, and a daily score that keeps you honest. No fluff. No overwhelm. Just you, your habits, and the discipline to show up every single day. FEATURES - Track your daily habits — start small, grow over time - Daily score and completion ring - Streak tracking — never break the chain - Weekly, monthly and all-time progress calendar - 28 achievements to unlock - 50+ habit library across 5 categories - Create custom habits with your own icons

Screenshots

Finalist4 screens
Sternly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sternly at none against Finalist's 7. Sternly also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). Finalist's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (528 vs 1). On price and ads 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. Finalist sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Sternly asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sternly holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Finalist has 528 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Finalist ships an update every 10 days, Sternly every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Finalist versus Sternly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFinalistSternly
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (528 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings528 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#205 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size121 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDiversion Marketing IncSambodh Choudhary

Customer experience

Finalist

All ratings519 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.7%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews126 reviews
Positive76.2%
Neutral6.3%
Negative17.5%

Sternly

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Finalist

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Settings/preferences crash the app
  • Pro subscription not recognized after canceling auto-renewal
  • Weather widget fails to display without manual toggling
  • App freezes and becomes unresponsive on iPad
  • Empty tasks cannot be permanently deleted
Show 4 more
  • App crashes when accessing certain reminder lists
  • Slow performance after force closing and reopening
  • Widget functionality discontinued or broken
  • macOS version crashes and lacks performance

Requested features

18 requests
  • Apple Watch native app
  • Recurring/repeating tasks and reminders
  • Subtasks functionality
  • Task tagging and filtering
  • Event location and travel time details
Show 13 more
  • Natural language input for tasks and events
  • Snooze reminder functionality
  • Task comments and checklist support
  • List grouping and archiving options
  • Menubar-only mode for macOS
  • Early/advance reminders for tasks
  • Notes section for daily journaling
  • School/team collaboration version
  • Chinese language support
  • Dark mode option
  • Family sharing features
  • Multiple calendar visibility in month view
  • Invite others to meetings and add conferencing

Sternly

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Finalist

Subscriptions5
  • Finalist Pro Weekly3 Days trial$2.997 Days
  • Finalist Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Finalist Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Finalist Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Finalist Pro Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Finalist Lifetime$59.99
  • Finalist Pro Lifetime$59.99
None

Sternly

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Finalist free?
Finalist is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sternly free?
Sternly is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Finalist or Sternly?
Sternly is rated higher. Finalist averages 4.7 out of 5 from 528 ratings, while Sternly averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Finalist or Sternly have ads?
Neither Finalist nor Sternly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Finalist or Sternly?
Finalist ships an update every 10 days, and Sternly every 5 months. Most recently, Finalist was updated on November 3, 2026 and Sternly on October 31, 2026.

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