Comparison

Ripples vs Dots

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

Head to head
About

Ripples

This app helps you build and maintain new habits and achieve your goals. It offers a visual calendar grid to track your progress, detailed metrics, and the ability to log specific amounts for each action. You can also add notes, use Siri shortcuts, and view your progress with widgets.

Highlights
  • Visual calendar grid progress tracking
  • Vital metrics and analytics
  • Track specific amounts and custom units
  • Notes and journal entries
  • Siri shortcuts and automation
  • Interactive widgets
Features
Read full description

Build habits with a visual tracker that makes daily progress easy to see—and easier to continue. Ripples turns every check-in into a clear, color-coded picture of your routines, goals, and consistency. SEE THE PATTERN Use flexible calendar grids to spot streaks, gaps, and trends at a glance. Organize habits into dashboards and create a view that fits your routine. TRACK MORE THAN CHECKMARKS Record simple check-ins or quantities such as pages, minutes, water, distance, money, and custom units. Add a note to any entry and review your history in the Journal. STAY CONSISTENT WITH LESS FRICTION Set multiple reminders, check in from interactive widgets, and build Shortcuts or Siri automations for the routines you repeat every day. UNDERSTAND YOUR PROGRESS See current and best streaks, consistency metrics, totals, averages, and daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly charts. Compare years to understand what changed and where you are improving. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your habits and goals remain visible only to you and sync through end-to-end encrypted iCloud. Start with one habit. Watch the pattern grow. Privacy Policy: https://www.ripples.day/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Dots

This is a free habit tracker focused on simplicity and visual progress. It offers clean design and customizable home screen widgets to help users build consistency and stay motivated with their daily routines.

Highlights
  • Free habit tracking
  • Customizable home screen widgets
  • Visual progress tracking with dots
  • Clean and focused design
  • Weekly and monthly heatmaps
Features
Read full description

Dots. is a habit tracker and daily routine planner designed for simplicity, clarity, and consistency. Build better habits with a clean, simple tracker and beautifully designed home screen widgets that make your progress instantly visible. Turn small daily actions into lasting routines — a lightweight habit tracker and productivity widget, all in one simple app. [Why Dots?] • Simple Habit Tracker Start tracking your daily habits with an intuitive, distraction-free habit tracker built around ease of use. • Beautiful Home Screen Widgets Add a minimal widget to your Home Screen and track habits at a glance. Monthly and weekly heatmap widgets make progress clear and motivating. • Visual Habit Tracking Every action becomes a dot. Watch your streaks grow with a simple visual tracker that highlights consistency. • Clean & Focused Design A simple habit tracker with no clutter — just the tools you need to build better routines. • Gentle Motivation A calm, simple tracking experience designed to support long-term habits without pressure. • Stats & Yearly Recap Your whole year at a glance — a heatmap of every habit, monthly charts, your records, and a recap you can share. [Dots Pro] Dots lets you track 3 habits for free. Dots Pro lifts the limit — monthly, yearly with the first month free, or a one-time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled and can be managed or cancelled in the App Store at any time. Everything else stays free for everyone: widgets, the Apple Watch app, reminders, recaps, icons and colours. People who were already using Dots keep unlimited habits, for good. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Ripples4 screens
Dots4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Dots at free against Ripples's free with in-app purchases. Dots also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Ripples sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Dots sells 3 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

Dots holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 235 and 224 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 93% of Ripples's written reviews are positive against 98% of Dots's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ripples ships an update fortnightly, Dots every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Ripples versus Dots: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRipplesDots
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (235 ratings)4.9 (224 ratings) — better
Positive reviews92.8% of reviews98.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings235 — better224
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS18.617.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size43 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMykola HarmashJuyong Bak

Customer experience

Ripples

All ratings230 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral1.3%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews138 reviews
Positive92.8%
Neutral2.2%
Negative5.1%

Dots

All ratings224 ratings
Positive99.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.4%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive98.2%
Neutral1.8%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Ripples

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Notifications not working reliably
  • UI bugs causing app to become unusable
  • Restore purchases not functioning
  • Pro features not unlocking after purchase
  • Lifetime purchase redemption not working

Requested features

12 requests
  • Check-in reminders/notifications
  • Apple Watch app and complications
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Weekly and monthly habit tracking
  • Filtering by categories or tags
Show 7 more
  • Smaller board sizes for better screen visibility
  • Easier bulk check-in for past dates
  • Notes field for individual check-ins
  • Habit reordering functionality
  • Compact main menu view
  • Track amounts with custom units (e.g., pages read)
  • Square widgets

Dots

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Ripples

Subscriptions2
  • Plus Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Plus Yearly$9.991 Year
One-time3
  • Powerpack$9.99
  • Powerpack Family$17.99
  • Ripples Plus Lifetime$24.99
3 purchases

Dots

Subscriptions2
  • Dots Pro — Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Dots Pro — Yearly1 Month trial$11.991 Year
One-time1
  • Dots Pro — Lifetime$24.99

Questions

Is Ripples free?
Ripples is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dots free?
Dots is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ripples or Dots?
Dots is rated higher. Ripples averages 4.7 out of 5 from 235 ratings, while Dots averages 4.9 from 224 ratings.
Do Ripples or Dots have ads?
Neither Ripples nor Dots shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ripples or Dots?
Ripples ships an update fortnightly, and Dots every 5 days. Most recently, Ripples was updated on October 24, 2026 and Dots on October 24, 2026.

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