Comparison

ember. vs Vane

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

Head to head
About

ember.

Features
Read full description

Ember is a habit tracker that doesn't judge you. No daily goals. No guilt when you miss a day. Just a simple question: did you show up? Track your activities—workouts, water, reading, meditation, whatever matters to you. Watch your heat map fill with glowing embers as you build consistency over time. JUST SHOW UP Most habit apps punish you for missing goals. Ember celebrates every time you show up. Drank 2 glasses of water instead of 10? Still counts. Did a 5-minute workout? That's a win. Every small spark adds up. BEAUTIFUL HEAT MAPS See your consistency come alive in stunning visual heat maps. The more you show up, the brighter your map glows. Track by week, month, or see your entire year at a glance. INSIGHTS WITHOUT JUDGMENT See where you've been showing up the most. No percentages telling you that you failed—just a simple view of your effort, your way. MAKE IT YOURS Choose from 20 beautiful color themes. Track as many activities as you want. Log simple yes/no completions or measured quantities—your choice. WHY EMBER? - No goals to fail - No streaks to break - No guilt, ever - Just show up and watch your progress glow Small sparks make everlasting flames. --- Download Ember and start showing up for yourself.

About

Vane

This app helps you build positive habits with a focus on privacy and simplicity. Track daily or weekly goals, visualize your progress with beautiful statistics, and stay motivated with streaks and reminders. It includes a focus timer for dedicated work sessions.

Highlights
  • Daily & weekly habit tracking
  • Daily dashboard view
  • Calendar view for habit completion
  • Last 4 weeks consistency visualization
  • Streak counter
  • Built-in focus timer
  • Reminders
Features
Read full description

Vane is a calm, no-account, privacy-first habit tracker built around two simple ideas: log your day, watch your progress. No leaderboards. No social feed. No accounts. Just you and the habits you care about. Whether you want to drink more water, work out, read every night, meditate, or finally start journaling, Vane gives you a clean daily dashboard and beautiful statistics that make showing up feel rewarding. FEATURES DAILY & WEEKLY HABITS Track habits that should happen every day, or X times per week (e.g. "Run 3x/week"). Each habit can be a simple check-off or a counter with a target value. DAILY DASHBOARD Your day at a glance. Log progress, edit any day, all in one place. CALENDAR A month-at-a-glance view for each habit, color-coded by completion. LAST 4 WEEKS A pretty visualization of your consistency across the past month, with a percentage so you know exactly how you're doing. STREAKS Keep your fire alive, counted strictly on consecutive successful days. No fudge factor. FOCUS TIMER Built-in Pomodoro timer for habits that need dedicated time, like meditation, study, or deep work. Rings even when the app is in the background. REMINDERS Pick a time and Vane will nudge you. 100% PRIVATE Everything stays on your device. No accounts, no servers, no syncing your data anywhere. VANE PRO Unlock everything Vane has to offer: • Unlimited habits • 6 home-screen widgets in multiple sizes • Yearly statistics • Multiple reminders per habit • Import & export your full history • Restore archived habits • Family Sharing, share Pro with up to 5 family members • Support an independent developer Vane Pro is available as a monthly or annual auto-renewing subscription. The annual plan starts with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers; you won't be charged until the trial ends. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase (or at the end of the free trial). The subscription auto-renews unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel anytime in Settings, [your name], Subscriptions. Privacy Policy: https://vaneprivacypolicy.carrd.co/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

ember.4 screens
Vane4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ember. at none against Vane's 3. Vane's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly). 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. Vane sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. ember. asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ember. ships an update monthly, Vane weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
ember. versus Vane: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterember.Vane
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB44 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperLazar RisticFINLEY ALSCHWEIG

In-app purchases

None

ember.

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Vane

Subscriptions2
  • Vane Pro monthly$1.991 Month
  • Vane Pro annually7 Days trial$17.991 Year
One-time1
  • Vane Lifetime Pro$29.99

Questions

Is ember. free?
ember. is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Vane free?
Vane is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ember. or Vane have ads?
Neither ember. nor Vane shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ember. or Vane?
ember. ships an update monthly, and Vane weekly. Most recently, ember. was updated on October 4, 2026 and Vane on September 29, 2026.

Other comparisons