Comparison

Compound vs Dots

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

Head to head
About

Compound

This minimalist app displays your entire year on a single screen, allowing you to track daily habits with a single tap. It focuses on visualizing patterns and consistency without pressure or reminders, prioritizing privacy with local data storage.

Highlights
  • Yearly view on one screen
  • One-tap daily check-ins
  • Optional daily notes
  • Visual pattern emergence
  • Clean, minimalist interface
  • Local data storage
  • No notifications or reminders
Features
Read full description

Compound is a minimalist habit tracker designed around a single idea: see your entire year at a glance. Every day of the year lives on one screen. Tap once to check in. Add notes if you want. Over time, patterns emerge naturally. See your whole year All 365 days are visible at once. No scrolling. No dashboards. The layout automatically adapts to your screen so your year always fits. One tap per day Tap a day to mark that you showed up. That’s it. The calendar shows what happened, clearly and honestly. Optional depth Add short daily notes with a long press Review reflections in a simple timeline Run time bound personal experiments alongside your daily check ins Use as much or as little as you want. Visual patterns See consistency over weeks and months. Runs appear naturally. No streak pressure. No resets. Designed for focus Clean, minimalist interface No notifications or reminders No gamification Thoughtful dark mode Privacy first No accounts No cloud sync All data stored locally on your device Export and import your data anytime Missing a day is okay Compound is descriptive, not motivational. It shows what happened, not what should have happened. Show up when you can. Watch it compound.

About

Dots

This app helps you build lasting routines with a simple habit tracker and visually appealing home screen widgets. Monitor your progress with clear heatmaps and celebrate streaks with a clean, focused design.

Highlights
  • Simple habit tracking
  • Home screen widgets
  • Visual progress tracking
  • Clean and focused design
  • Gentle motivation
  • Yearly recap and stats
Features
Read full description

Dots. is a habit tracker and daily routine planner designed for simplicity, clarity, and consistency. Build better habits with a clean, simple tracker and beautifully designed home screen widgets that make your progress instantly visible. Turn small daily actions into lasting routines — a lightweight habit tracker and productivity widget, all in one simple app. [Why Dots?] • Simple Habit Tracker Start tracking your daily habits with an intuitive, distraction-free habit tracker built around ease of use. • Beautiful Home Screen Widgets Add a minimal widget to your Home Screen and track habits at a glance. Monthly and weekly heatmap widgets make progress clear and motivating. • Visual Habit Tracking Every action becomes a dot. Watch your streaks grow with a simple visual tracker that highlights consistency. • Clean & Focused Design A simple habit tracker with no clutter — just the tools you need to build better routines. • Gentle Motivation A calm, simple tracking experience designed to support long-term habits without pressure. • Stats & Yearly Recap Your whole year at a glance — a heatmap of every habit, monthly charts, your records, and a recap you can share. [Dots Pro] Dots lets you track 3 habits for free. Dots Pro lifts the limit — monthly, yearly with the first 7 days free, or a one-time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled and can be managed or cancelled in the App Store at any time. Everything else stays free for everyone: widgets, the Apple Watch app, reminders, recaps, icons and colours. People who were already using Dots keep unlimited habits, for good. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Compound4 screens
Dots4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Compound at none against Dots's 3. Compound also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). Dots's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (229 vs 2). On price, rating, ads 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. Dots sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Compound asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Compound against 4.9 for Dots. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dots has 229 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Compound ships an update every 2 months, Dots every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Compound versus Dots: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCompoundDots
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.9 (229 ratings)
Positive reviews—98.2% of reviews
Number of ratings2229 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAbhijat SaraswatJuyong Bak

Customer experience

Compound

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Dots

All ratings229 ratings
Positive99.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.4%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive98.2%
Neutral1.8%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Compound

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Dots

Subscriptions2
  • Dots Pro — Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Dots Pro — Yearly7 Days trial$11.991 Year
One-time1
  • Dots Pro — Lifetime$24.99

Questions

Is Compound free?
Compound is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dots free?
Dots is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Compound or Dots?
Compound is rated higher. Compound averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Dots averages 4.9 from 229 ratings.
Do Compound or Dots have ads?
Neither Compound nor Dots shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Compound or Dots?
Compound ships an update every 2 months, and Dots every 5 days. Most recently, Compound was updated on October 16, 2026 and Dots on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons