Comparison

PawSteps vs Sumo Steps

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

Head to head
About

PawSteps

This app encourages a healthy walking habit by letting you adopt and care for a virtual dog companion. Earn rewards, track your progress, and enjoy personalized notifications as you achieve daily step goals.

Highlights
  • Adopt and care for virtual dog breeds
  • Daily step goals and missions
  • Earn treats and feed your dog
  • Streak tracking and login bonuses
  • Personalized dog notifications
  • Home screen widget for progress
  • HealthKit integration for automatic tracking
Features
Read full description

PawSteps turns your daily walk into quality time with an adorable dog companion — no ads, no gacha, just a healthy walking habit. Pick your favorite dog character and walk together every day. Complete morning and afternoon step goals to earn treats, feed your dog for a joyful reaction, and keep your streak alive. WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT - Choose from multiple dog breeds, each with its own personality and voice - Daily missions reward you with treats for your dog - Login bonuses and streak tracking keep you motivated - Your dog sends personalized notifications when you hit your goals - Home screen widget shows your dog and today's progress at a glance - No ads. No gacha. Just you and your dog, walking together. Getting started is simple: grant HealthKit access, pick a dog, and start walking. PawSteps reads your step count automatically — no manual logging required. Note: The in-app interface (menus, dog dialogue, notifications) is currently in Japanese only. English support is planned for a future update.

About

Sumo Steps

Features
Read full description

Turn your daily steps into sumo bouts. Start at Jonokuchi, the lowest division, and walk your way up to Yokozuna, the grand champion. Reach the day’s step target and you win the bout; fall short and you lose. A basho (tournament) lasts 7 days from Jonokuchi to Makushita and 15 days in Juryo and Makuuchi, with a bout every day. Finish with more wins than losses (kachi-koshi) to move up the banzuke, the sumo ranking; finish with more losses (make-koshi) and you move down. Promotion and demotion follow rules built from real banzuke data: over 3,000 rank changes from a full year of tournaments. ■ Features • Step targets based on your age and rank. The higher you climb, the more you need to walk. • Ozeki and Yokozuna are as hard to reach as in real sumo: about 33 wins over three basho in sanyaku (Sekiwake and Komusubi) for Ozeki, and two straight yusho, or the equivalent, as Ozeki for Yokozuna. • A league of 590 rikishi (wrestlers). Bouts are scheduled for every rikishi every day, and the yusho (championship) goes to the best record. • Pairings follow real tournament patterns: a Yokozuna meets a Komusubi on Day 1, and the Yokozuna face each other on Senshuraku, the final day. • Kimarite (winning techniques) such as Yorikiri and Oshidashi, chosen by how far you beat or missed your target. Browse all 87 with descriptions and see how often you’ve won with each. • Banzuke and results tables, with history for every past basho. • A new banzuke announced after each basho, with promotions, demotions and championships. • Your own shikona (ring name): keep it in your own alphabet, or turn it into kanji from suggested candidates. • Other rikishi keep their kanji shikona, and you can show romaji readings. • In English, Spanish, French and Japanese. Change the language anytime in Profile > Display. • Your day ends at midnight in the time zone where you registered. • A daily reminder at the time you choose. ■ Steps and privacy • Uses step data from your iPhone (Motion & Fitness). The last 7 days are read each time you open the app. • No account, no ads. Your steps and records are stored only on your device.

Screenshots

PawSteps3 screens
Sumo Steps3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sumo Steps at none against PawSteps's 4. PawSteps's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. PawSteps sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Sumo Steps asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PawSteps ships an update every 9 days, Sumo Steps every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
PawSteps versus Sumo Steps: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPawStepsSumo Steps
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB78 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShintaro IshikawaTOMOKI PATIENCE

In-app purchases

4 purchases

PawSteps

One-time4
  • Little Treat$0.49
  • Treat Plate$0.99
  • Reward Meal$2.99
Show 1 more
  • Special Feast$5.99
None

Sumo Steps

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PawSteps free?
PawSteps is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sumo Steps free?
Sumo Steps is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do PawSteps or Sumo Steps have ads?
Neither PawSteps nor Sumo Steps shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PawSteps or Sumo Steps?
PawSteps ships an update every 9 days, and Sumo Steps every 3 weeks. Most recently, PawSteps was updated on November 12, 2026 and Sumo Steps on November 10, 2026.

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