Comparison

SideTrck vs Alcove

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

Head to head
About

SideTrck

Capture thoughts, track progress, and build momentum for your side projects with chronological updates. Log progress, notes, and actions to keep projects moving and identify what needs attention next. Stay consistent and ship your ideas with this streamlined organization tool.

Highlights
  • Organize side projects
  • Update timelines with progress, notes, actions
  • Mark and resolve blockers
  • Track project recency and momentum
  • Focus Radar for next steps
  • View open actions and recent updates
  • Prioritize and reorder projects
Features
Read full description

SideTrck is the simplest way to stay on top of your side projects and ideas. No complex task lists, no overwhelming boards β€” just clear, chronological updates that help you capture thoughts, track progress, and build momentum every day. Log quick Progress, Notes, and Actions to keep each project moving. See what you last worked on, what’s blocked, and what deserves attention next. Key Features β—¦ Organize all your side projects in one place β—¦ Update timelines with Progress, Notes, and Actions β—¦ Mark blockers and clear them when resolved β—¦ Track recency, momentum, and neglected projects β—¦ Focus Radar suggests what to work on next β—¦ View open actions and recent updates across all projects β—¦ Prioritize projects and reorder them easily SideTrck helps you stay consistent, avoid forgetting ideas, and keep shipping the tiny things that move your projects forward. SideTrck Premium SideTrck offers an optional upgrade that unlocks additional features: β€’ Unlimited Projects (free plan includes up to 3) β€’ Unlimited Timeline Updates (free plan includes up to 15 per project) β€’ Full Focus Radar (free plan tracks up to 2 projects) β€’ Support independent app development Premium is optional β€” the core experience remains free to use. Terms of Use: https://sidetrck.org/TermsAndConditions.html

About

Alcove

Features
Read full description

Alcove is a calm to-do list, daily planner and notes app, free to use. Capture tasks in plain words, plan your week on a calendar, keep notes that do the maths, record meetings into notes with a summary, and move work along on kanban boards. Tick tasks off from a widget, and with Alcove Unlock find the same lists on your Mac and iPad. FREE TO USE, FOR GOOD Tasks and reminders without limits, Today, Upcoming and the calendar, quick add, widgets, notes and the Notifications page are free, with three lists and three meeting recordings. No account, no ads and no subscription. TYPE IT THE WAY YOU'D SAY IT Write "Call mum Friday 6pm" or "Stand-up every weekday 9:30 15m /Work" and Alcove picks out the day, time, length, repeat, priority, list and tags as you type. On the Mac, press Option-Space from any app to add a task. MEETINGS, WRITTEN UP Press Record when a meeting starts. On the Mac, Alcove hears your microphone and the call, so it works with any call app, with no bot joining. On iPhone and iPad it records the room. When you stop, you get a note with the recording, the transcript with who said what, and a summary with the decisions and action items, ready to become tasks, where Apple Intelligence supports the language. Speech is transcribed on your device, in more than a dozen languages including Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil, written in their own script. Meeting notes need macOS 26 or iOS 26. PLAN YOUR DAY AND WEEK β€’ Today, Upcoming and a calendar with an hour grid and an all-day row β€’ Drag a task to a new time or day β€’ Repeating tasks for any rhythm: every few days, weeks, months or years, chosen weekdays, or counted from when you finished REMINDERS AS LOUD AS THE TASK Pick quiet, a notification, or an alarm. On iPhone with iOS 26, an alarm rings through silent mode and Focus, with Stop and Snooze. Mark a task done right from its reminder, and look back on every reminder, and anything you missed, on the Notifications page. NOTES THAT DO THE MATHS Headings, checklists, code, quotes and tables, written with Markdown shortcuts. End a line with = and it's worked out, and tables add up their own totals. Turn any checklist line into a task. KANBAN BOARDS Lay tasks out in To do, Doing and Done, or columns of your own. Tasks stay in their lists and in Today, and a card dropped in Done is finished everywhere. WIDGETS, SIRI AND SHORTCUTS β€’ Widgets for the Home Screen, Lock Screen and Mac desktop, with tasks you can tick without opening the app β€’ Controls for Control Center and the Lock Screen β€’ Siri adds tasks, reads out your day and takes notes, and Shortcuts actions build your own automations MADE FOR THE MAC A menu bar list with a live count, a main window with a sidebar of every list, board and note, floating windows that stay on top, and keyboard shortcuts throughout. AI assistants can work with your tasks too, only once you turn them on, only with the permissions you approve, and every call is logged. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account to create, no ads and no tracking. Your tasks and notes stay on your devices and in your own iCloud. AND THE DETAILS β€’ 100 steps of undo, and six months of history for every task β€’ Search across tasks, notes, tags and attachments β€’ Lists with colours and icons, folders and tags β€’ Nine accents and eight papers, in light and dark ALCOVE UNLOCK: ONE PURCHASE, NO SUBSCRIPTION One purchase unlocks everything on your Mac, iPhone and iPad: unlimited lists and folders, boards, iCloud sync, unlimited meeting notes, alarm reminders, Siri and Shortcuts, Speak tasks, AI assistants, files on tasks, floating windows and every theme. Try it all free for 14 days first if you like. When a trial ends, Alcove goes back to the free version and nothing you made is lost. Family Sharing included. Privacy Policy: https://alcovetasks.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

SideTrck4 screens
Alcove4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Alcove at 3 against SideTrck's 1. Alcove also leads on iOS requirement (17.4 vs 26.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. SideTrck sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Alcove sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 6 level
SideTrck versus Alcove: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSideTrckAlcove
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews100.0% of reviewsβ€”
Update frequencyβ€”Weekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumβ€”
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac β€” better
Requires iOS26.017.4 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size14 MB66 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdam GelatkaMuhammed Basil E

In-app purchases

2 purchases

SideTrck

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
2 purchases

Alcove

One-time2
  • 14-day TrialFree
  • Alcove Unlock$14.99

Questions

Is SideTrck free?
SideTrck is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Alcove free?
Alcove is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do SideTrck or Alcove have ads?
Neither SideTrck nor Alcove shows ads.

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