Comparison

Scratchpad vs Time Stream

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

Head to head
About

Scratchpad

Capture fleeting thoughts and ideas instantly with a clean, distraction-free interface. This lightweight app offers quick drafting, word counts, and iCloud sync for seamless access across devices. It's designed for simplicity and speed, making note-taking effortless.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free interface
  • Lightning-fast and lightweight
  • iCloud sync
  • Word and character count
  • Linkifies URLs
  • Shortcuts and share sheet support
Features
Read full description

Capture your thoughts instantly in a single, always-accessible note. Perfect for brain dumps, quick drafts, one-off jots, and fleeting ideas. Your thoughts are just a tap away. • Clean, distraction-free interface • Lightning-fast and lightweight • Sync with iCloud, or not • Word and character count • Font settings • Linkifies URLs • Support for Shortcuts and share sheet Plain text only. Simple by design.

About

Time Stream

Visualize your daily routines and calendar events on a single timeline. This app helps establish consistent habits, manage complex schedules, and understand how your time flows with real-time estimates and conflict warnings.

Highlights
  • Visual timeline of routines and calendar events
  • Customizable morning, evening, and custom routines
  • Real-time dynamic completion estimates
  • Calendar integration
  • Conflict warnings for time thresholds and sleep schedules
  • ADHD-friendly interface
  • Local-first data storage
Features
Read full description

Take Control of your routines, no matter how your day flows Time Stream allows you to see how your routines and their activities flow with and around your calendar events, sleep schedule, and important times throughout the day in a single, visual timeline. Especially great if, like the developer team, you could use some help with time perception, establishing consistent routines, or balancing complex schedules. Establish consistent routines that stick * Create customizable morning, evening, and custom routines * Sequence activities with estimated durations * Mark activities complete, skip non-essential tasks, or reset progress * Pause and resume routines when interruptions occur See how your time flows * View dynamic completion estimates that update in real-time * Track progress with intuitive visual indicators * Receive warnings when activities exceed estimated duration * Understand exactly how your day is progressing at a glance * Monitor time between activities with buffer visualization Harmonize all of your time commitments * Integrate with your device calendars * Visualize how routines fit around existing calendar events * Set critical time thresholds with visual conflict warnings * Define wake and bed times * Get warnings if your routines might interfere with your planned sleep schedule Designed with accessibility in mind * Multiple colour themes and appearance options * Light/dark mode support * Reduced cognitive load through visual cues * ADHD-friendly interface with clear sequential progress * Privacy-focused with local-first data storage Built to provide the structure and visual clarity needed to transform how you interact with your time, your most precious resource. (And if you’re a Beeminder user, you can sync your activity completions to your Beeminder goals)

Screenshots

Scratchpad2 screens
Time Stream4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Time Stream at every 3 days against Scratchpad's every 2 weeks. Time Stream also leads on chart position (#193 vs unranked) and price ($7.99 vs $10.00). Scratchpad's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (25 vs 2). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Scratchpad costs $10.00 and Time Stream $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Scratchpad holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Scratchpad has 25 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 96% of Scratchpad's written reviews are positive against 100% of Time Stream's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scratchpad ships an update every 2 weeks, Time Stream every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Scratchpad versus Time Stream: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScratchpadTime Stream
Price$10.00$7.99 — better
Rating4.8 (25 ratings) — better4.5 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews96.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings25 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#193 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.018.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSindre SorhusWellman Micro(chip)managed Systems Inc.

Customer experience

Scratchpad

All ratings25 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive96.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative0.0%

Time Stream

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Scratchpad

No in-app purchases

None

Time Stream

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Scratchpad free?
Scratchpad costs $10.00, with no in-app purchases.
Is Time Stream free?
Time Stream costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Scratchpad or Time Stream?
Scratchpad is rated higher. Scratchpad averages 4.8 out of 5 from 25 ratings, while Time Stream averages 4.5 from 2 ratings.
Do Scratchpad or Time Stream have ads?
Neither Scratchpad nor Time Stream shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scratchpad or Time Stream?
Scratchpad ships an update every 2 weeks, and Time Stream every 3 days. Most recently, Scratchpad was updated on September 21, 2026 and Time Stream on September 6, 2026.

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