Comparison

Borrow vs troth

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

Head to head
About

Borrow

This app helps you regain control of your screen time by setting daily limits and making each unlock a deliberate choice. It offers features like Focus Mode, customizable time budgets, and an Allowlist for essential apps. Track your usage patterns and take back your time.

Highlights
  • Daily time budget
  • Focus Mode
  • Allowlist for essential apps
  • Protected and Strict modes
  • Live Activity countdown
  • Siri Shortcuts
Read full description

You already know. You pick it up without thinking. Another evening gone. You meant to put it down an hour ago. Borrow doesn't judge you. It gives you a daily budget and makes every unlock a conscious choice. Focus Mode blocks everything on your phone. When you actually need it, you borrow time. You choose how long, you choose why, and when the time's up everything locks again. No streaks. No guilt. Just a limit that means something. Set your daily budget anywhere from 1 minute to 8 hours. Every borrow counts against it. When it's gone, it's gone. Resets at midnight. Each unlock asks you two things: how long, and why. Talk to someone. Something specific. Just need a break. The reason matters, and over time the patterns become obvious. If you need Focus Mode to actually stick, you can set it to Protected mode with a 30-second cooldown before you can turn it off, or go full Strict and lock yourself in until your commitment ends. No exceptions. Your bank app, phone calls, Maps, anything you need always available through the Allowlist. Sessions let you unlock specific apps for a set window. Schedules handle recurring blocks for work hours or evenings. There's a Live Activity countdown on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, home screen widgets, and Siri Shortcuts if you need them. Your Screen Time data never leaves your device. No servers, no account, no analytics, no ads. Take back your time. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Protected mode, Strict mode, and the Allowlist require Borrow Pro, an optional subscription.

About

troth

This app helps you keep your promises and commitments by allowing you to write them down, check in daily, and receive a summary letter at the end of the month. It focuses on non-linear progress and offline functionality.

Highlights
  • Write and track promises
  • Daily one-tap check-ins
  • Monthly summary letters
  • Non-linear progress tracking
  • Offline functionality
  • Cross-device sync
Features
Read full description

Some promises are easy to make and hard to keep. The gym on the morning you don't want to. The thing you swore off. The person you're not texting back. troth is for those. Write the promise in your own words. On day 30, the you who meant it is still there to say why. Then check in once a day. One tap. Quit promises count themselves, so a day you never opened the app can't break a promise you actually kept. Hold On is for the hard hour: your own words, your streak on the line, and 90 seconds of breathing. "I held on" gets logged. So does "I slipped." Note how the day felt, and troth shows you whether your promises held on the heavy days. When the month closes, troth writes you a short letter about it: what you held, what came back, what you didn't. Written on your phone, from your own record, and sent nowhere. Progress isn't always linear, and the charts know it. A bad week bends the line. It doesn't erase it. There are no points to chase. Works offline. Syncs to your other devices. Widgets for your home screen. No ads, no tracking. Keep your promises. troth remembers why you made them.

Screenshots

Borrow4 screens
troth4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: troth at none against Borrow's 2. troth also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Borrow's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly) and ratings volume (16 vs 1). On price 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. Borrow sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. troth asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

troth holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Borrow has 16 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Borrow ships an update every 2 days, troth weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 1 level
Borrow versus troth: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBorrowtroth
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (16 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings16 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterWeekly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPoteo de la unaMauricio Alejandro Munoz SantaCruz

Customer experience

Borrow

All ratings16 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%

troth

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Borrow

Subscriptions2
  • Pro3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Pro3 Days trial$49.991 Year
None

troth

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Borrow free?
Borrow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is troth free?
troth is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Borrow or troth?
troth is rated higher. Borrow averages 4.8 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while troth averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Borrow or troth have ads?
Borrow shows ads; troth does not.
Which is updated more often, Borrow or troth?
Borrow ships an update every 2 days, and troth weekly. Most recently, Borrow was updated on October 5, 2026 and troth on September 24, 2026.

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