Comparison

Steps vs Pacer

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

Head to head
About

Steps

Effortlessly track your daily walking progress, distance, and calories burned. Set personalized step goals, build streaks, and earn achievement badges to stay motivated on your fitness journey. Integrates with Apple Health for private, on-device tracking.

Highlights
  • Live step, distance, and calorie tracking
  • Customizable daily step goals
  • Achievement badges and streaks
  • 7-day trend and monthly calendar views
  • Home screen widgets
  • Apple Health integration
Read full description

Want to walk more and stay active? Steps makes it effortless — just carry your phone and watch your daily progress grow. WHY YOU'LL LOVE STEPS • Live step count, distance, and calories — updated in real time • Set your daily goal from 1,000 to 50,000 steps and build streaks • Earn achievement badges — from first-day milestones to lifetime goals • 7-day trend chart shows your weekly activity pattern • Monthly calendar view for quick daily check-ins • Yearly history with clear totals by month STAY MOTIVATED • Streak counter rewards consistency — don't break the chain • Track your best day, best week, and lifetime records • Celebrate milestones with badges you actually earned DESIGNED FOR YOUR LIFESTYLE • Home screen widgets: daily steps, distance, calories, and weekly trend • Color themes with matching app icon • Reads from Apple Health on-device — no account, no cloud, fully private Download Steps and start building a healthier walking habit today.

About

Pacer

Features
Read full description

Most step counters tell you you're behind at 10pm. Pacer tells you at 10am. Pacer spreads your daily step goal across your active hours and shows whether you're ahead or behind pace right now, on every glance. A 10,000-step goal isn't a midnight cliff. By 3pm you can know if you're on track. WHAT YOU GET • A live ahead/behind number on your wrist — "+420" or "-180", not a percentage. • Three watch-face complications: rectangular (steps + delta + pace bar), Pacer Steps (circular), and Pacer Delta (circular). • Custom active hours. Active from 10am? Winding down by 6pm? Set it once. • Gentle behind-pace nudges if you slip off pace PRIVACY Pacer collects nothing. HealthKit step counts stay on your watch — no servers, no accounts, no analytics, no third-party SDKs. DESIGNED FOR APPLE WATCH Built with SwiftUI and Swift 6 for smooth, battery-friendly performance. HOW IT WORKS Set a daily goal and an active window (default 9am–8pm). Every minute Pacer computes your on-pace target, a moving line from 0 at your start time to your goal at your end time. The delta between your actual steps and that target is your dashboard, your complication, your nudge. PERFECT FOR • Walkers who want nudges, not alarms • Shift workers with non-standard hours • Anyone trying to get their steps in for the day, every day

Screenshots

Steps4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Steps at Free against Pacer's $3.99. Steps also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Pacer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On 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

Steps is free to download; Pacer costs $3.99 up front. Steps sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pacer asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Steps ships an update every 3 weeks, Pacer every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 4 level
Steps versus Pacer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStepsPacer
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHieu DinhAditya Gupta

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Steps

One-time1
  • Premium$11.99
None

Pacer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Steps free?
Steps is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pacer free?
Pacer costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Steps or Pacer have ads?
Neither Steps nor Pacer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Steps or Pacer?
Steps ships an update every 3 weeks, and Pacer every 2 months. Most recently, Steps was updated on October 10, 2026 and Pacer on October 9, 2026.

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