Comparison

Ticking vs Marc.

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

Head to head
About

Ticking

This app helps you focus by blocking distracting applications on a set schedule. It introduces increasing delays for breaks, making it harder to interrupt your focused time. The interface is minimal and customizable, designed to stay out of your way.

Highlights
  • Scheduled app blocking
  • Progressive friction on breaks
  • Customizable color and icon
  • Minimal, native iOS design
  • Block apps by hours and days
Features
Read full description

The clock is Ticking: it's time to focus. Willpower is overrated. Routines work better. Ticking lets you block distracting apps on a schedule: Pick the hours, pick the days, and let the rules do the hard work for you. Need a break? Fine. But every pause makes the next one take longer. First it's 5 seconds. Then 10. Then 30. By the fifth attempt you're staring at a timer wondering if you really need to check social media again. Spoiler: you don't. The app itself stays out of your way. Minimal, native, no visual clutter. Pick a color, pick an icon, and get back to whatever actually matters. Features: - Block apps for specific hours and days - Progressive friction on breaks (they get harder to take) - Clean, native iOS design Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://ticking.co/privacy-policy/

About

Marc.

Features
Read full description

Every idea sounds good in your own head. Marc is where you find out whether it holds up. The book you've wanted to write for years. A year in Lisbon. The podcast with your best friend. The little café. Marc is a thinking board for ideas of every kind – built for iPad, iPhone and Apple Pencil. You say one sentence, Marc asks two questions and builds your first board from it: clusters for the big themes, thoughts hanging off them, open questions as sticky notes beside them. Then comes the part no blank page gives you: pushback. AN AI THAT DOESN'T APPLAUD Marc is an otter with opinions. He listens, digs deeper and looks at every thought from four angles: • Thinking further – opens directions you wouldn't have reached alone. • The investor's view – what carries, what costs, what scales. • The customer's view – honest objections from the person who's meant to use it. • The sceptic – finds the unchecked assumptions. Kind, but incorruptible. Plus your own thinking styles: the CFO, operations, your toughest friend – as many as you like. Suggestions appear as dashed cards at the edge of a thought. Accept or dismiss is always your call – nothing lands on your board unasked. ASK YOUR BOARD A conversation about everything on it. Marc answers from what's actually on your board – and says so when something is missing. FROM SCATTERED THOUGHTS TO A PLAN • Coverage check – where your board is still thin. • Decision log – what you accepted, explored or dropped, and when. • Plan draft – the whole board distilled into a text you can show someone. Honest gaps included. YOUR BOARD, YOUR RULES • Categories that fit the board – rename, recolour, add your own. • Checklists, sticky notes, photos and shapes right on the canvas. • Apple Pencil sketches where words don't reach. • A calm paper-and-ink design that stays out of your way. THINK TOGETHER Share a board by invitation or link. Editors work live on the same sheet – cursors, movements, even pencil strokes in real time. Reactions and comments live on the thought, not in a chat beside it. MARC STAYS WITH IT If you like, Marc reminds you – never with a slogan, always with something from your board. And if you don't come back, he goes quiet. START FOR FREE Marc drafts your first board for free, and the first questions and suggestions are on the house. Boards, sketches, sharing and collaboration stay free. Marc+ unlocks the part that thinks with you: unlimited perspectives, unlimited chat, the plan draft. Marc+ is available monthly or yearly. Payment is charged to your Apple ID and renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store settings. Terms: https://www.marc-ai.app/terms Privacy: https://www.marc-ai.app/privacy

Screenshots

Ticking4 screens
Marc.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Marc. at every 5 days against Ticking's fortnightly. Marc. also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Ticking sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and Marc. sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ticking ships an update fortnightly, Marc. every 5 days. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Ticking versus Marc.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTickingMarc.
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS26.018.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB25 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperTickingJulian Hobmeier

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Ticking

Subscriptions3
  • Ticking Pro (Weekly)$4.997 Days
  • Ticking Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Ticking Pro (Annual)7 Days trial$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Ticking Pro$79.99
2 purchases

Marc.

Subscriptions2
  • Marc Plus Monthly$8.991 Month
  • Marc Plus Yearly$59.991 Year

Questions

Is Ticking free?
Ticking is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Marc. free?
Marc. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Ticking or Marc. have ads?
Neither Ticking nor Marc. shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ticking or Marc.?
Ticking ships an update fortnightly, and Marc. every 5 days. Most recently, Ticking was updated on November 5, 2026 and Marc. on November 5, 2026.

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