Comparison

BrainDrain vs Glug

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

Head to head
About

BrainDrain

This app offers a quick, structured journaling experience designed to help individuals with ADHD and anxiety clear their minds in just one minute. It transforms mental clutter into peace through quick journaling, mindfulness, and task management, promoting focus and calm.

Highlights
  • 1-minute journaling sessions
  • Thought dumping and sorting
  • Task creation and reminders
  • Mindfulness exercises
  • ADHD-friendly structure
  • Anxiety relief tools
  • iCloud syncing
Features
Read full description

Too many thoughts at once? Give them sixty seconds. BrainDrain is a 60-second brain dump for busy, anxious, or ADHD-wired minds. Type or speak what's on your mind, then sort it by what you can control. Make a plan when it helps, or let a thought go. No blank page, no pressure to turn every thought into a task. Your thoughts stay on your device or in your own iCloud. HOW IT WORKS • Drain: start the timer and pour it all out for 60 seconds. Type it or speak it. No prompts, no blank page staring back. Just a deadline. Let it all out. • Sort: swipe each thought where it belongs. Within my control, need someone's help, outside my control, or just a happy thought. • Act: turn a thought into a reminder or a calendar event, send it to someone who can help, or let it go for good. BUILT FOR BUSY, ANXIOUS, or ADHD-WIRED MINDS • One minute is the feature. Short enough to actually do, bounded enough to feel safe. • Every thought gets a decision. BrainDrain doesn't file your worries away. Each one lands somewhere: an action, a person, or a deliberate letting go. • Sorting by control is the calm. What you can act on becomes action. What you can't, you release. BRAINDRAIN PLUS Sixty seconds a day is always included. Plus is for the days that need more: unlimited drains, sixty more seconds when a thought needs the runway, your patterns read back to you by on-device intelligence, recurrence that spots what keeps coming back, progress by month and year, and your streak on your Watch and widgets. Everything stays on your device or in your own iCloud. Plus is an auto-renewing subscription billed to your Apple Account. It renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel any time in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions. YOUR THOUGHTS STAY YOURS Everything, including the intelligence behind Insights, runs on your device. AI journals send your thoughts to a server to be understood. BrainDrain never does. Private iCloud sync, no account, no ads. Give it sixty seconds. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://braindrain.app/privacy Support: https://braindrain.app/support

About

Glug

This app uses a virtual pet fish to motivate you to drink water. Your fish's survival depends on you meeting your daily hydration goals, with consequences for missing them. Unlock decorations and expand your fish's world as you stay hydrated.

Highlights
  • Virtual pet fish survival mechanic
  • Personalized daily water goals
  • Log water intake to fill tank
  • Unlockable tank decorations
  • Push notifications with consequences
  • Widgets for tracking
Features
Read full description

Meet your fish. Your fish needs you to drink water. Glug is a hydration tracker with a virtual fish that lives or dies based on how much you drink. When you hit your water goal, the tank fills and your fish thrives — happy, glowing, swimming laps. Miss a day? Watch them gasp. Miss two? They're belly-up. Three? Skeleton. This isn't a step counter. It's a consequence. Here's how it works: • Set your goal — Glug calculates a personalized daily target from your weight, age, activity level, climate, and what else you drink. • Drink water, fill the tank — log each drink and watch the water level rise. Every oz counts. Your fish is watching. • Unlock their world — keep your streak alive to unlock decorations: rocks, plants, a castle, a treasure chest, a sunken ship, and a companion fish. The more you drink, the richer the tank. Your fish has six health states: thriving, happy, worried, gasping, belly-up, and skeleton. The push notifications don't pull punches. Expect: "YOUR FISH IS GASPING", "POV: you killed [name]", and "fish is currently flopping. log something." You set their name. That makes it worse. Glug Pro unlocks the app — the tank, the fish, decorations, widgets, and every future update. $4.99/month · $19.99/year with a 7-day free trial · $29.99 lifetime, one time. Download Glug. Your fish is counting on you. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://glug-privacy.pages.dev

Screenshots

BrainDrain4 screens
Glug4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: BrainDrain at every 4 days against Glug's every 6 weeks. BrainDrain also leads on ratings volume (5 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). Glug's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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. BrainDrain sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and Glug sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Glug holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BrainDrain has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BrainDrain ships an update every 4 days, Glug every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
BrainDrain versus Glug: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainDrainGlug
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (5 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings5 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size85 MB22 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperRDub Studios, LLCTHOMAS JOHN GIRGASH

Customer experience

BrainDrain

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Glug

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

8 purchases

BrainDrain

Subscriptions6
  • Plus Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Plus Weekly7 Days trial$3.997 Days
  • BrainDrain Plus Monthly3 Days trial$3.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Plus Yearly$29.991 Year
  • Plus Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Plus Annual Special Offer1 Year trial$49.991 Year
One-time2
  • Pro Lifetime$79.99
  • Pro Lifetime$99.99
3 purchases

Glug

Subscriptions2
  • Glug Pro$4.991 Month
  • Glug Pro7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Glug Pro - Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is BrainDrain free?
BrainDrain is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Glug free?
Glug is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, BrainDrain or Glug?
Glug is rated higher. BrainDrain averages 4.8 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Glug averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do BrainDrain or Glug have ads?
Neither BrainDrain nor Glug shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BrainDrain or Glug?
BrainDrain ships an update every 4 days, and Glug every 6 weeks. Most recently, BrainDrain was updated on October 25, 2026 and Glug on October 28, 2026.

Other comparisons