Comparison

Anchor vs CompactCalendar

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

Head to head
About

Anchor

Organize your day with flexible time blocking. Capture tasks, group them into focus blocks, and sync with your calendar. Manage projects with dividers and notes, and pick up where you left off on other devices.

Highlights
  • Flexible time blocking
  • Task capture with smart dates
  • Project organization with dividers
  • Calendar event integration
  • Cross-device syncing
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

A place for your tasks, projects, and daily plan. Anchor organizes your day around focus blocks. Group tasks into a block, give it some time in your calendar, and work through them at your own pace. When plans change, move things around. CAPTURE YOUR TASKS Type a task as it comes to mind. Use Smart Dates to add a date as you type, or hold New To Do and talk through several things at once. Anchor turns what you say into tasks, with projects, dates, and urgency levels, privately with Apple Intelligence.* KEEP PROJECTS ORGANIZED Keep related tasks in projects. Add dividers to separate sections, notes to hold the details, and urgency levels to show what needs attention. Drag tasks into the order that works for you. PLAN WITH FOCUS BLOCKS Bring tasks into a block alongside your calendar events. Set up repeating blocks for the regular parts of your week. Focus on one block at a time, and move unfinished tasks forward when you need to. PICK UP ON ANOTHER DEVICE Your tasks, projects, and focus blocks sync through your private iCloud. Anchor is also available on Mac, so you can continue there. CONNECTED TO YOUR DAY • Apple Calendar and Reminders sync • Widgets and Live Activity • Siri shortcuts • Repeating blocks and custom icons • Works offline • No separate Anchor account required Available in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese. MADE INDEPENDENTLY Anchor is designed and built by an independent developer. No ads, no venture capital. Just an app that keeps getting better with feedback from the people who use it. *Voice capture requires Super Anchor and a compatible iPhone with Apple Intelligence enabled, using a supported language. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

CompactCalendar

Display your calendar events and reminders directly on your Home Screen and Lock Screen with customizable widgets. See your day, week, or month at a glance, with options to integrate your chosen calendars and event colors.

Highlights
  • Home Screen widgets
  • Lock Screen widgets
  • Events & Reminders Together
  • Calendar Selection
  • True Colors
  • Tap to Open
Features
Read full description

See your calendar and reminders right from the Home Screen and Lock Screen! CompactCalendar shows your events and reminders in clean, beautiful widgets — for both the Home Screen and the Lock Screen. Home Screen widgets: • Today & This Month: A month calendar with today’s events • Daily Schedule: Your events for the next 6 days at a glance Lock Screen widgets: • Up Next: Your next or ongoing event on one Lock Screen line • Next 3 Days: Upcoming events for the next three days • 2-Week Calendar: A compact two-week mini calendar More features: • Events & Reminders Together: See calendar events and reminders in one widget • Calendar Selection: Choose which calendars each widget shows • True Colors: Your calendar colors appear exactly as you set them • Tap to Open: Tap a date to jump straight into the Calendar app CompactCalendar Pro: A one-time purchase unlocks rectangular Lock Screen widgets and medium-size Home Screen widgets — forever. Start a more beautiful calendar experience with CompactCalendar!

Screenshots

Anchor4 screens
CompactCalendar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Anchor at 100% against CompactCalendar's 38%. Anchor also leads on rating (4.8 vs 1.0) and ratings volume (29 vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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. Anchor sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and CompactCalendar sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Anchor holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Anchor has 29 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Anchor's written reviews are positive against 38% of CompactCalendar's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Anchor versus CompactCalendar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAnchorCompactCalendar
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (29 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better37.5% of reviews
Number of ratings29 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, MaciPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size97 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlessandro PludaSunghyun Kim

Customer experience

Anchor

All ratings29 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

CompactCalendar

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive37.5%
Neutral25.0%
Negative37.5%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Anchor

One-time2
  • Super Anchor Lifetime$29.99
  • Super Anchor Lifetime$49.99
1 purchases

CompactCalendar

One-time1
  • CompactCalendar Pro$3.99

Questions

Is Anchor free?
Anchor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CompactCalendar free?
CompactCalendar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Anchor or CompactCalendar?
Anchor is rated higher. Anchor averages 4.8 out of 5 from 29 ratings, while CompactCalendar averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Anchor or CompactCalendar have ads?
Neither Anchor nor CompactCalendar shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Anchor or CompactCalendar?
Anchor ships an update every 3 days, and CompactCalendar every 3 days. Most recently, Anchor was updated on November 7, 2026 and CompactCalendar on November 5, 2026.

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