Comparison

Kaizen vs SecondBrain

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

Head to head
About

Kaizen

This app combines a Kanban board, calendar, and AI assistant to help you organize your tasks and improve continuously. It offers voice commands and customizable aesthetics to create a focused and functional workspace.

Highlights
  • Kanban board for project management
  • Integrated calendar view
  • AI assistant with voice commands
  • Drafts calendar events and creates tasks
  • Material 3 theming and custom backgrounds
Features
Read full description

End your day feeling done — not buried. 88% of people go to bed feeling unaccomplished. Not because they didn't work hard, but because their tools fight them: a to-do list in one app, a calendar in another, a Kanban board in a third, and an AI chat in a fourth. Nothing talks to anything. Kaizen brings it all into one app that you actually want to open. → TIME-BLOCK YOUR DAY, NOT JUST LIST IT Drag tasks straight onto your calendar. See your real day — to-dos AND time blocks — side by side on a split screen (iPad/large screens). No more "I have 17 to-dos and 6 hours, what now?" — Kaizen shows you when, not just what. → AI THAT ACTUALLY KNOWS YOU You can use Kaizen's build in AI assistant or work with frontier models through MCP. Set persistent instructions ("Be blunt", "Push me on my side project", "Cut me slack on Fridays") and the AI shapes itself around you instead of you adapting to it. Brain-dump out loud, get a structured plan back. → KANBAN WHEN A LIST ISN'T ENOUGH Every project gets a board view. Drag tasks through Backlog → Doing → Done. Perfect for side projects, course work, and creative work where a flat list doesn't fit. → LIFE TIERLIST: SEE WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS Hidden behind a long-press on the calendar icon: rank the areas of your life — Career, Health, Family, Learning, Side Project, ... — into a visual hierarchy. When you don't know what to work on, your tierlist answers for you. No other planner does this. → MAKE IT YOURS — REALLY YOURS Backgrounds per page. Custom fonts, sizes, icons. Opacity and blur per element. Custom colors. Windowed mode on larger devices. Most planners give you "dark mode and three theme colors." Kaizen gives you a workspace that feels like it was built for your brain. WHO IT'S FOR • Employees juggling work, life and a side project • Founders and freelancers who can't afford a messy day • Students whose calendar and homework live in different worlds • Anyone who's tried five planners and bounced off all of them WHAT YOU GET WITH UNLIMITED - Unlimited tasks, folders, and task lists - Calendar with day, week, month views - Drag-and-drop time blocking - Kanban board per project - Habit-style recurring tasks and reminders - iOS, Android, and Web — synced - Life Tierlist - Deep customization (backgrounds, opacity, blur, custom fonts) - Import/export your data anytime AI UNLOCKS - Kaizen AI with persistent instructions + MCP for Claude/ChatGPT - Speech task creation WHY "KAIZEN" Kaizen (改善) is the Japanese practice of getting 1% better, every day. Not a productivity hack. A way of building a life that compounds. START TODAY Spend 60 seconds importing your existing tasks. Block tomorrow morning. Notice the difference by Friday. Have an idea? Tap "Suggest a feature" in settings — we read every one.

About

SecondBrain

This app automatically transcribes, titles, and files your spoken thoughts, creating a self-organizing note system. It can convert voice notes into calendar events, provide daily summaries, and allow you to chat with your saved information.

Highlights
  • Automatic transcription and titling
  • AI-powered self-organizing notes
  • Voice to calendar event creation
  • Daily morning briefing summaries
  • Chat with your notes for answers
  • 3D brain graph visualization
  • Full-text search
  • Cross-app sharing
Features
Read full description

Most of what you hear, think and plan today is gone by tomorrow. Speak your mind. SecondBrain writes it down, gives it a title, and files it for you. No folders to manage. No typing. Just talk, and your thoughts organize themselves. The AI note app for people who think out loud. WHY SECONDBRAIN • Capture in seconds: speak, type, or share a thought and it is saved instantly • Zero organizing: AI transcribes, titles, and files every note into a self-building folder tree • Voice to schedule: say "dentist Tuesday 4pm" and it creates real events in Calendar and Reminders • Morning briefing: wake up to a daily summary of your day and what matters • Ask your brain: chat with your notes and get answers from everything you have saved • Brain graph: explore your ideas as a living 3D map of connected notes • Search everything: full-text search finds any note in an instant • Share from anywhere: send text, links, images, or audio from any app into SecondBrain • 20+ languages: speak in your language and get replies in your language BUILT FOR BUSY MINDS Founder juggling clients, student capturing lectures, or just someone with too many thoughts to hold? SecondBrain is the frictionless place to put them all. Brain-dump on the go and let the AI do the filing. WORKS WHERE YOU DO Your notes sync to the web at app.secondbrain.icu. Pro users can connect SecondBrain as memory for AI assistants through the MCP connector. SECONDBRAIN PRO Go unlimited: unlimited notes, unlimited AI capture and answers, plus the AI assistant connector. Start with a free trial, then subscribe yearly or monthly. Cancel anytime. Payment is charged to your Apple ID. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy: https://secondbrain.icu/privacy

Screenshots

Kaizen4 screens
SecondBrain4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SecondBrain at 100% against Kaizen's 0%. SecondBrain also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.5) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks). Kaizen's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. Kaizen sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and SecondBrain sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SecondBrain holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Kaizen's written reviews are positive against 100% of SecondBrain's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Kaizen ships an update every 2 weeks, SecondBrain every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Kaizen versus SecondBrain: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKaizenSecondBrain
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.5 (2 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings26 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size132 MB73 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLennard ZietenFederico Cesarini

Customer experience

Kaizen

All ratings2 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

SecondBrain

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Kaizen

Subscriptions6
  • Kaizen Pro - Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Kaizen Unlimited14 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Kaizen AI14 Days trial$14.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Kaizen Pro - Annual$39.991 Year
  • Kaizen Unlimited14 Days trial$47.901 Year
  • Kaizen AI14 Days trial$69.901 Year
One-time1
  • Kaizen Pro - Lifetime$179.00
3 purchases

SecondBrain

Subscriptions3
  • SecondBrain Pro$8.991 Month
  • SecondBrain Pro Yearly3 Days trial$34.991 Year
  • SecondBrain Pro Yearly3 Days trial$44.991 Year

Questions

Is Kaizen free?
Kaizen is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SecondBrain free?
SecondBrain is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Kaizen or SecondBrain?
SecondBrain is rated higher. Kaizen averages 1.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while SecondBrain averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Kaizen or SecondBrain have ads?
SecondBrain shows ads; Kaizen does not.
Which is updated more often, Kaizen or SecondBrain?
Kaizen ships an update every 2 weeks, and SecondBrain every 3 days. Most recently, Kaizen was updated on October 8, 2026 and SecondBrain on October 24, 2026.

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