Comparison

Hardcore vs SideQuest

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

Head to head
About

Hardcore

Transform your daily habits into an engaging role-playing game. Earn experience points, gold, and build streaks by completing goals like working out or studying. Level up your character and stay motivated with a rewarding, game-like progression system.

Highlights
  • Gamified habit tracking
  • XP, gold, and level-up rewards
  • Streak building and protection
  • Item collection and crafting
  • Visualized progress tracking
  • Clean and focused design
Features
Read full description

Turn your daily routine into a grind worth playing. Hardcore transforms consistency, focus, and discipline into XP, gold, and streaks because real life should feel like an RPG. How Hardcore Works 1. Create your habits Add daily goals like working out, studying, or reading. Completing them earns XP, gold, and streak progress. 2. Build streaks & level up Stay consistent to protect your hearts and level up your in-app character as you improve in real life. 3. Stay motivated Your progress is visualized through a rewarding, game-like system that keeps you coming back every day. Why It Works Hardcore makes self-improvement feel fun, not forced. You’ll build lasting discipline through progression, rewards, and streak-based motivation that keep you locked in. Features • Track streaks and measure real progress • Reward system with XP, gold, and level-ups • Collect items and craft powerful upgrades • Visualized progress that reflects your effort • Clean, focused design built for consistency Start your Hardcore run today and turn progress into power. Full access to all features requires a subscription. Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

SideQuest

Transform your to-do list into an engaging adventure. Organize tasks by urgency and difficulty, earn experience points for completion, and tackle large goals as boss battles. Unlock rewards and track your progress with detailed statistics.

Highlights
  • Task Matrix for organizing tasks
  • XP and leveling system
  • Daily streaks and Momentum bonuses
  • Boss Battles for large goals
  • Unlockable rewards and animations
  • Statistics dashboard
Features
Read full description

Turn your to-do list into an adventure. SideQuest turns everyday tasks into a game you actually want to play. Instead of a flat list, your tasks live on the Task Matrix — a simple 2×2 board that sorts what you have to do by urgency and difficulty: • QUICK WIN — urgent and easy. Knock these out first. • HERO MOMENT — urgent and hard. This is where you rise to the occasion. • IF TIME — flexible and easy. Nice to get to. • PLAN IT — flexible and hard. Important work that deserves real time. Every task you finish earns XP. Level up, build daily streaks, and stack Momentum by clearing multiple tasks in a day for bonus XP — the more you get done, the faster you grow. BOSS BATTLES Break a big goal — a launch, a move, a deadline — into a Boss Battle. Every linked task chips away at the boss's HP. Finish them all, and watch the boss go down in a genuinely satisfying defeat celebration. Big goals stop feeling abstract and start feeling beatable. REWARDS & STATS Unlock new sticky-note colors and completion animations as you level up. Track your progress with a Statistics dashboard covering your streak, task breakdown, and XP trends over time. SIDEQUEST PREMIUM Go further with a Premium subscription: - Boss Battles - Every board theme, present and future - Exclusive achievements - Premium rewards and animations - Advanced analytics and deeper history - No ads Premium is an auto-renewing subscription: - Monthly: $4.99/month - Yearly: $39.99/year Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID account settings. Stop staring at a to-do list. Start leveling up. Terms of Use: Apple Standard EULA https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Hardcore4 screens
SideQuest4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Hardcore at none against SideQuest's shown. Hardcore also leads on ratings volume (20 vs 5). SideQuest's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 67%) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks). 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. Hardcore sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and SideQuest sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SideQuest holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 20 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Hardcore's written reviews are positive against 100% of SideQuest's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hardcore ships an update every 2 weeks, SideQuest every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Hardcore versus SideQuest: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHardcoreSideQuest
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (20 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings20 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJacob IgielskiThirty Six Pixels

Customer experience

Hardcore

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

SideQuest

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Hardcore

Subscriptions12
  • Hardcore Weekly$2.997 Days
  • Hardcore Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Hardcore Weekly$5.997 Days
Show 9 more
  • Hardcore Monthly$7.991 Month
  • Hardcore Yearly$9.991 Year
  • Hardcore Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Hardcore Yearly3 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Hardcore Yearly$24.991 Year
  • Hardcore Yearly$29.991 Year
  • Hardcore Yearly3 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Hardcore Yearly3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Hardcore Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
2 purchases

SideQuest

Subscriptions2
  • Premium (Monthly)$4.991 Month
  • Premium (Yearly)7 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Hardcore free?
Hardcore is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SideQuest free?
SideQuest is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hardcore or SideQuest?
SideQuest is rated higher. Hardcore averages 4.7 out of 5 from 20 ratings, while SideQuest averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Hardcore or SideQuest have ads?
SideQuest shows ads; Hardcore does not.
Which is updated more often, Hardcore or SideQuest?
Hardcore ships an update every 2 weeks, and SideQuest every 2 days. Most recently, Hardcore was updated on October 25, 2026 and SideQuest on October 29, 2026.

Other comparisons