Comparison

Finalist vs hey!

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

hey!

This app helps you manage phone usage with a virtual companion who encourages breaks and rewards them with in-app currency. Earn coins by taking breaks to buy items for your companion or decorate their room. Track your progress and mood without pressure to maintain streaks.

Highlights
  • Virtual companion for focus
  • Earn coins for breaks
  • Decorate companion's room
  • Track mood and sessions
  • Focus Filter integration
  • No streaks or pressure
Read full description

You opened your phone to check one thing. Somehow, you're still here. hey! is a little taro pal called Taro. He lives in a room on your phone and watches only the apps you choose. When time in them runs long, he asks: "Hey, you still with me?" Take a break and he adds 5 coins. Keep using and he steps out of the way. Nothing is ever locked. MEET TARO Taro's mood goes okay, good, glowing. Breaks lift it, snacks lift it, and it drifts back to okay on its own — it never drops lower. There's nothing you can do to make it worse, and nothing to lose by coming back after a week away. Check in with your own mood any time; Rhythm remembers it. COINS FOR EVERY BREAK Every break you take earns 5 coins, and the check-in says so before you choose. Coins do one thing: they buy things for Taro. WORK TOGETHER Sit down with Taro for a light session: 25 minutes on, 5 off, for one, two or four rounds. Pick what you're working on. Finish and earn 30 coins, plus 10 more for finishing every round you planned. End early and you keep what you finished. Pause whenever you need to. During a round Taro checks in the moment you open one of your apps, instead of waiting out the usual delay. Keep using still works. SNACKS AND KEEPSAKES Spend coins in the Shop. Treats — a strawberry, a rice ball, a cookie — lift Taro's mood a little, and water is free once a day. Keepsakes like a mug, a plant, a lamp or a cushion go into his room and stay there for good. GIFTS YOU CAN'T BUY Sometimes Taro finds you something: a pebble by the door, a pressed leaf, a seedling he grew while you worked. Gifts are never for sale. They sit on the From Taro shelf with the day they arrived. YOUR WEEK, NOT YOUR SCORE Rhythm shows the breaks you took, how you've been feeling, the sessions you ran and every gift on the shelf. No streak to break. No day that counts against you. Nothing resets. ON FOR FOCUS Add hey! as a Focus Filter in iPhone Settings. Taro wakes when that Focus turns on and rests when it turns off. The app walks you through setup. Manual sessions are there when you'd rather start one yourself. YOUR APP CONTENT STAYS PRIVATE Apple's Screen Time tools count use in the apps and websites you select. hey! doesn't read your messages, your photos or the videos you watch. No account. No advertising. Optional usage sharing helps us improve setup and check-ins; it never includes what you do in other apps. TRY IT FREE FOR 14 DAYS Eligible new subscribers get 14 days free when they choose a monthly or yearly plan and confirm with Apple. Every plan includes all features. After the trial, your selected subscription renews automatically at the price shown before you confirm unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends. Manage or cancel in App Store settings. Lifetime access is a separate one-time purchase with no subscription trial or renewal. Local prices appear in the app. Restore purchases with the Apple Account used to buy. HELP SHAPE HEY Suggest a feature and vote on ideas at tryhey.app/feedback. Need a hand? Reach us at hello@tryhey.app. Requires iPhone with iOS 18 or later and Screen Time permission. Check-ins depend on Apple's usage signals and can arrive a little late. Time adds up across the apps and websites you select while a Focus or session is active. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Finalist4 screens
hey!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Finalist at 497 against hey!'s 1. Finalist also leads on device support (5 vs 1). hey!'s advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Finalist sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and hey! sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

hey! holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Finalist has 497 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Finalist ships an update every 11 days, hey! every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Finalist versus hey!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFinalisthey!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (497 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings497 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 11 daysEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size121 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDiversion Marketing IncX1 Consulting LLC

Customer experience

Finalist

All ratings497 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral2.6%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews112 reviews
Positive76.8%
Neutral6.3%
Negative17.0%

hey!

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

hey!

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
3 purchases

hey!

Subscriptions2
  • hey Monthly14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • hey Yearly14 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • hey Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is Finalist free?
Finalist is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is hey! free?
hey! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Finalist or hey!?
hey! is rated higher. Finalist averages 4.7 out of 5 from 497 ratings, while hey! averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Finalist or hey! have ads?
Neither Finalist nor hey! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Finalist or hey!?
Finalist ships an update every 11 days, and hey! every 9 days. Most recently, Finalist was updated on October 22, 2026 and hey! on October 5, 2026.

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