Comparison

grug vs Thanks, Brain

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

Head to head
About

grug

Receive a daily dose of simple, profound wisdom to help you navigate life's challenges. This app offers straightforward truths and accompanying artwork to inspire personal growth and contentment. It focuses on mindfulness and taking small steps each day.

Highlights
  • Daily wisdom sharing
  • Accompanying artwork
  • Home screen widget
  • Customizable themes
  • Light and dark modes
  • No login or tracking
Features
Read full description

grug know: big scary just many small rock wearing fur coat. every sunrise grug share one wisdom. help you break today rock into small piece. no fancy word. no complicated. just simple truth that work. **what grug do:** - share daily wisdom when sun rise - draw grug dream on wisdom - share with other grug - widget show wisdom on cave - grug work in light and dark cave or give grug shiny color grug not guru. grug just know: small step every day make mountain move. perfect never come. better start with broken stick today than wait for perfect stick tomorrow. wisdom come from real life. fear work love pain growth. grug speak simple but truth hit deep. like "fear just smoke. real but not solid.” and "wanting make poor. grateful make rich." each day different wisdom. truth waiting. grug help see: you already enough. just need pick up one small rock today. app simple like grug brain. open. read wisdom. maybe draw feeling. that all. no login. no cloud. no follow. just you and today truth. remember. tomorrow not here. only today real. grug help make today count. Terms of Service: https://ocho.so/terms Privacy Policy: https://ocho.so/privacy

About

Thanks, Brain

Features
Read full description

Your brain means well. It just keeps handing you the same thought at the worst possible times. Thanks, Brain is the polite way to take that thought off its hands. Write it down — get it out of your head and onto paper. Then destroy the paper. Really destroy it: with your hands, with physics, with sound and feel. SIX WAYS FOR A THOUGHT TO GO • Shred it — pull it through the shredder, strip by strip • Slice it — swipe clean through it, then slice the pieces again • Burn it — hold a finger to it and fire catches right there • Crumple it — scrunch it into a ball and flick it away • Dissolve it — brush it into dust • Release it — flick it into the night sky and watch it become a star, exactly where you sent it Or tap “Surprise me” and let the app choose. THE REGULARS Some thoughts come back. When one does, give the worry itself a nickname — “The Replayer,” “The 3am Accountant” — and greet it like the old acquaintance it is. The app keeps gentle count of every send-off. Only the nickname is kept, never a word of what you wrote. NOTHING IS SAVED No account. No sync. No server. Nothing you write is stored, sent, or even remembered by the keyboard — the app blocks keyboard learning by default, keeps third-party keyboards out, and hides your words from the app switcher. The thought exists on your screen, and then it doesn’t. That’s the whole point. Everything in the app is free. There’s a tip jar, escalating from a gumball to a weekend at the beach, if you’d like to keep one very grateful developer going. Write it down. Let it go. Thanks, brain — anyway.

Screenshots

grug4 screens
Thanks, Brain4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: grug at none against Thanks, Brain's 8. Thanks, Brain's advantage is update cadence (daily vs weekly). 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. Thanks, Brain sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. grug asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

grug ships an update weekly, Thanks, Brain daily. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
grug versus Thanks, Brain: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametergrugThanks, Brain
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (3.4K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews96.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings3.4K — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOchoSchooner & The Bear

In-app purchases

None

grug

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

Thanks, Brain

One-time8
  • Buy me a gumball$0.99
  • Buy me a gas station snack$1.99
  • Buy me a fancy coffee$4.99
Show 5 more
  • Buy me a sandwich$9.99
  • Buy me dinner$19.99
  • Buy me dinner + an appetizer$49.99
  • Buy me a therapy session$99.99
  • Buy me an unplugged weekend$249.99

Questions

Is grug free?
grug is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Thanks, Brain free?
Thanks, Brain is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do grug or Thanks, Brain have ads?
Neither grug nor Thanks, Brain shows ads.
Which is updated more often, grug or Thanks, Brain?
grug ships an update weekly, and Thanks, Brain daily. Most recently, grug was updated on October 31, 2026 and Thanks, Brain on October 25, 2026.

Other comparisons