Comparison

Winter Arc by Coldstart vs Winter Arc

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

Head to head
About

Winter Arc by Coldstart

This app helps you achieve personal growth goals with a unique contract system. Create daily, weekly, or monthly tasks, sign and share your commitments, and track your progress with reminders and social sharing. Unlock unlimited tasks and notifications with a pro upgrade.

Highlights
  • Create custom or premade task contracts
  • Set daily, weekly, or monthly tasks
  • Sign and share goal contracts
  • Track progress with checklists
  • Receive reminders and inspirational quotes
  • Share progress on social media
Features
Read full description

Coldstart is the best app to help you accomplish all your goals for growth during the winter period. The beautifully designed and animated user experience is centered on helping you focus, and accomplish all of your goals. Here's how it works. 1. Create your task Choose from one of our premade contract or create your own from scratch. Set up daily, weekly or monthly tasks that you want to accomplish. Select how long your want your winter arc contract to go on for. 2. Sign and share your contract Once you're happy with your winter contract, sign it and then share it with friends and the rest of the world. 3. Start and finish your contract Open up the app and cross off tasks from your check list. Get reminders and inspiration from quotes and notifications that are there to remind you of your goal. Share your progress to social media and with friends to inspire them to continue. See how close you are to your goal and to completing your Winter Arc. Want to set up more tasks? Upgrade to our pro plan and get unlimited tasks and daily notifications so you can unlock your best version. Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at the confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless it is canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your account settings on the App Store after purchase. Terms of Service URL: https://www.winterarc.io/terms

About

Winter Arc

This app helps you build consistency by setting defined start and end dates for your goals. Track daily habits across chosen pillars and visualize your progress with a unique heat map. It offers flexible rules for missed days and private, offline operation.

Highlights
  • Set custom start and end dates for challenges
  • Define 3-5 pillars with daily habits
  • Binary daily check-offs (done or not done)
  • Flexible rules for missed days (streaks, consistency score, grace days)
  • Visual progress heat map
  • Optional before/after photos
  • Home screen widget
Features
Read full description

Winter Arc: Habit Tracker turns the last stretch of the year into one finite challenge. Pick a hard start and a hard end. Choose three to five pillars — the areas you actually want to move — and put a few daily non-negotiables under each. Then show up. Every day is binary: done, or not. Ninety days later you come out the other side, carrying momentum into January instead of writing resolutions from a cold stop. HOW IT WORKS • Set your dates. Ninety days by default, or any span you choose. • Choose 3–5 pillars, with one to three habits under each. • Check them off daily. No half marks, no partial credit. • Watch the arc fill in. CHOOSE YOUR RULES People don't all fail the same way, so you decide what a missed day costs. • Streaks — consecutive days where you completed everything. Simple and strict. • Consistency Score — the percentage of habit-days you completed against a target you set. Forgiving of the occasional miss. • Grace Days — a fixed budget of missed days. Spend them all and the arc is failed. You set the budget. SEE THE WHOLE ARC • A heat map of every day, so the whole arc is one picture. • Your consistency score, longest streaks, and a breakdown by pillar. • Tap any past day to see exactly what happened. • Weekly reflections, and a closing reflection when the arc ends. WHEN YOU MISS A DAY Missing a day isn't a crisis and the app doesn't treat it like one. You get one quiet note, the reason you started, and a clean slate. Run out of grace days and you choose what happens next: keep going with the arc marked failed, or restart with the same setup. BEFORE AND AFTER Add a photo at the start and another at the end, and see them side by side. Both stay on your device. Entirely optional. ON YOUR HOME SCREEN A widget shows the day you're on and how many habits are left, and updates as you check them off. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT No account. No sign-in. No analytics, no advertising, and no third-party code of any kind. The app has no networking at all, so nothing can leave your phone even by accident. Everything lives in the app's own storage, and Reset app data erases all of it. Winter passes either way. Finish the year strong.

Screenshots

Winter Arc by Coldstart4 screens
Winter Arc4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Winter Arc at none against Winter Arc by Coldstart's 7. Winter Arc also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 6 weeks). Winter Arc by Coldstart's advantage is ratings volume (99 vs 1) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). On price and device support 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. Winter Arc by Coldstart sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Winter Arc asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Winter Arc holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Winter Arc by Coldstart has 99 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Winter Arc by Coldstart ships an update every 6 weeks, Winter Arc every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 2 level
Winter Arc by Coldstart versus Winter Arc: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWinter Arc by ColdstartWinter Arc
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (99 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings99 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size71 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTheRoaming, IncVipin Pahwa

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Winter Arc by Coldstart

Subscriptions7
  • Winter Arc Pro$2.991 Month
  • Winter Arc Pro (Monthly)3 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Winter Arc Pro Weekly$9.997 Days
Show 4 more
  • Winter Arc Pro (6 months)$14.996 Months
  • Winter Arc Pro (Annual)$24.991 Year
  • Winter Arc Pro (Six Months)$24.996 Months
  • Winter Arc Pro Annual$49.991 Year
None

Winter Arc

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Winter Arc by Coldstart free?
Winter Arc by Coldstart is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Winter Arc free?
Winter Arc is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Winter Arc by Coldstart or Winter Arc?
Winter Arc is rated higher. Winter Arc by Coldstart averages 4.8 out of 5 from 99 ratings, while Winter Arc averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Winter Arc by Coldstart or Winter Arc have ads?
Winter Arc by Coldstart shows ads; Winter Arc does not.
Which is updated more often, Winter Arc by Coldstart or Winter Arc?
Winter Arc by Coldstart ships an update every 6 weeks, and Winter Arc every 3 days. Most recently, Winter Arc by Coldstart was updated on October 30, 2026 and Winter Arc on October 31, 2026.

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