NextStep vs Ascend
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NextStep
This app helps you track your progress towards personal and professional goals. Visualize your journey and stay focused on achievements with seamless device synchronization for convenience and security.
- Goal tracking
- Milestone management
- Progress visualization
- Habit tracking
- Cross-device synchronization
- Achievement celebration
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Take the NextStep toward achieving your goals and unlocking your potential! Whether you’re planning personal growth, professional success, or daily habits, NextStep is your trusted companion for tracking progress and celebrating every achievement. Visualize your journey and stay focused on what matters most with seamless synchronization across your devices for convenience and security.
Ascend
Build lasting habits and achieve your goals with this straightforward and motivating tracker. It offers unlimited habit creation, custom reminders, and visual progress tracking to help you stay consistent. Focus on your journey without distractions or unnecessary data collection.
- Unlimited habit creation
- Customizable reminders
- Visual progress tracking
- Daily goal support
- Flexible scheduling
- Skip days without penalty
- Simple, distraction-free design
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Build better habits, stay consistent, and reach your goals with Ascend — a simple, motivating habit tracker designed to keep you on track every day. Whether you want to drink more water, exercise regularly, read daily, or learn a new skill, Ascend makes it easy to create habits, set goals, and celebrate your progress. Features • Create Unlimited Habits – Track anything from health routines to personal goals • Custom Reminders – Get notified exactly when you need a nudge • Progress Tracking – Visualize your streaks and achievements over time • Daily Goal Support – Set how many times a day to complete each habit • Flexible Scheduling – Choose specific days or custom repeat patterns • Skip Days Without Guilt – Keep your habit list clean and motivating • Beautiful, Simple Design – Focus on your goals without distractions No accounts, no unnecessary data collection — just your habits, your progress, and your success. Why Ascend? Many habit trackers overwhelm you with features you don’t need. Ascend keeps it simple, powerful, and privacy-friendly so you can focus on building the life you want. Start small, stay consistent, and watch your habits — and your life — grow. For guidelines for use of our app refer to Apple's terms of service here: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: NextStep at none against Ascend's 2. NextStep also leads on device support (6 vs 2). Ascend's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, ratings volume and 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
Both are free to download. Ascend sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. NextStep asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for NextStep against 5.0 for Ascend. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively.
NextStep ships an update every 3 weeks, Ascend every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NextStep | Ascend |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 18.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 13 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Baptiste DAJON | Tanner Bennett |
Customer experience
NextStep
Ascend
In-app purchases
NextStep
No in-app purchases
Ascend
- Monthly$4.991 Month
- Yearly1 Month trial$19.991 Year









