Comparison

Pastival vs Orbit

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

Head to head
About

Pastival

Features
Read full description

Memories fade, and with them, the essence of who we are. Most people struggle to document their lives meaningfully, leading to a silent erosion of stories, insights, and emotions. Pastival uses generative AI to transform voice, text, photos, and video into a coherent, searchable, and insightful timeline - offering personal reflection, emotional connection, and smart memory management. Privacy Policy: https://pastival.app/legal Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Orbit

Features
Read full description

Write messy. Find the patterns later. Orbit is a calm place to dump every thought โ€” work, life, half-formed ideas โ€” and make sense of them later. Not a diary. Not a wellness app. A mind you can search. Most notes go somewhere to be forgotten. Orbit is built for the opposite: the more you write, the more it gives back. CAPTURE WITHOUT FRICTION Open Orbit and write. No folders to pick, no tags to invent, no blank-page ceremony. Get the thought down โ€” from the app, the Share Sheet, or a Home Screen widget โ€” and move on. ASK YOUR OWN MIND ANYTHING Later, ask Orbit a real question โ€” "what have I been worried about lately?", "what did I decide about the launch?" โ€” and get an answer drawn from everything you've written, alongside the entries it came from. FIND THE PATTERNS YOU'D MISS Orbit quietly surfaces the themes running through your thinking โ€” the ideas you keep circling back to, the worries that recur โ€” so you can see what's hard to notice one entry at a time. A WEEKLY LOOK BACK Each week, Orbit reflects your thinking back to you: what you focused on, what shifted, what's worth returning to. BUILT TO BE CALM One clear thing to do on every screen. A warm, editorial design that feels more like paper than a dashboard. No streaks, no badges, no guilt. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Only you can see what you write. Orbit is a place for your real, unfiltered thinking. Write messy. Orbit finds the patterns later. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.useorbit.ink/privacy

Screenshots

Pastival4 screens
Orbit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Orbit at every 9 days against Pastival's every 5 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Pastival sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Orbit sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pastival ships an update every 5 weeks, Orbit every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Pastival versus Orbit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPastivalOrbit
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 9 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad โ€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 โ€” better17.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size61 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGuy LevyRuntime Labs LLC

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Pastival

Subscriptions2
  • Pastival Pro - Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Pastival Pro - Yearly$59.991 Year
2 purchases

Orbit

Subscriptions2
  • Orbit Pro (Monthly)$4.991 Month
  • Orbit Pro (Yearly)$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Pastival free?
Pastival is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Orbit free?
Orbit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Pastival or Orbit have ads?
Neither Pastival nor Orbit shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pastival or Orbit?
Pastival ships an update every 5 weeks, and Orbit every 9 days. Most recently, Pastival was updated on September 16, 2026 and Orbit on September 22, 2026.

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