Comparison

Shelly vs hey!

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

Head to head
About

Shelly

This app helps you build healthier phone habits with a visual motivator. It blocks distracting apps, offers focus schedules, and provides gentle breathing reminders to prevent mindless scrolling. Track your progress and improve your digital well-being.

Highlights
  • Visual motivation with a growing snail
  • App blocking and smart schedules
  • Breathing interventions
  • Shell Mode for total focus
  • Daily time allowances
  • Streak tracking
  • History and insights
Features
Read full description

Take back your day with Shelly — your friendly screen time coach to help you build healthy phone habits. Shelly is a cute snail who lives on your phone. The less you doom-scroll, the healthier Shelly gets. The more you mindlessly scroll, the more Shelly retreats into her shell. It's a simple visual nudge that works — no guilt trips, no lectures, just a little friend keeping you honest. Most of us spend 5+ hours glued to our screens without realizing it. Shelly flips the script: block the apps that drain your time, set focus schedules, and get gentle breathing reminders when you're about to spiral into another scroll session. WHY SHELLY WORKS - Visual motivation: Watch Shelly's health improve as your screen time drops - Gentle nudges, not guilt: Breathing exercises instead of harsh lockouts - Smart schedules: Auto-block apps during bedtime, work hours, or study sessions - Shell Mode: Total focus mode that blocks everything except what you whitelist - Real insights: See exactly which apps eat your time and track your progress FEATURES - Instant App Blocking: Pick the apps and sites to block. Done in seconds. - Shell Mode: Block everything except what you whitelist. Total focus. - Breathing Interventions: A 10-second breathing pause before any tracked app opens. - Smart Schedules: Auto-block apps at bedtime, work hours, or custom windows. - Daily Time Allowances: Cap usage on any app. Hit the limit, Shelly blocks it. - Escape Hatch: Need a blocked app? Simple unblock. - Streak Tracking: Stay under your goal. Watch the streak grow. - Home Screen Widget: Today's health score, always visible. - History & Insights: Weekly charts to spot patterns and celebrate wins. DESIGNED FOR - Students who lose hours to scrolling before exams - Creators who need to focus on making, not consuming - Professionals who want deep work without distractions - Parents building healthier phone habits for the family - Anyone who's tired of picking up their phone 150+ times a day PRIVATE & SECURE Shelly uses Apple's Screen Time API. All monitoring and blocking happen entirely on your device. Your usage data never leaves your phone — ever. No tracking. No ads. Just you and Shelly. FOUNDERS NOTE: I built Shelly because I was scrolling for 6 hours a day on my phone and couldn't stop. None of the screen time apps felt right — they were either too strict, too preachy, too complicated, or too easy to bypass. Shelly is the app I wished existed: simple, kind, and effective. All features described above require a subscription. Terms of Service: https://getshelly.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://getshelly.app/privacy

About

hey!

This app helps you manage phone usage with a virtual companion who encourages breaks and rewards them with in-app currency. Earn coins by taking breaks to buy items for your companion or decorate their room. Track your progress and mood without pressure to maintain streaks.

Highlights
  • Virtual companion for focus
  • Earn coins for breaks
  • Decorate companion's room
  • Track mood and sessions
  • Focus Filter integration
  • No streaks or pressure
Read full description

You opened your phone to check one thing. Somehow, you're still here. hey! is a little taro pal called Taro. He lives in a room on your phone and watches only the apps you choose. When time in them runs long, he asks: "Hey, you still with me?" Take a break and he adds 5 coins. Keep using and he steps out of the way. Nothing is ever locked. MEET TARO Taro's mood goes okay, good, glowing. Breaks lift it, snacks lift it, and it drifts back to okay on its own — it never drops lower. There's nothing you can do to make it worse, and nothing to lose by coming back after a week away. Check in with your own mood any time; Rhythm remembers it. COINS FOR EVERY BREAK Every break you take earns 5 coins, and the check-in says so before you choose. Coins do one thing: they buy things for Taro. WORK TOGETHER Sit down with Taro for a light session: 25 minutes on, 5 off, for one, two or four rounds. Pick what you're working on. Finish and earn 30 coins, plus 10 more for finishing every round you planned. End early and you keep what you finished. Pause whenever you need to. During a round Taro checks in the moment you open one of your apps, instead of waiting out the usual delay. Keep using still works. SNACKS AND KEEPSAKES Spend coins in the Shop. Treats — a strawberry, a rice ball, a cookie — lift Taro's mood a little, and water is free once a day. Keepsakes like a mug, a plant, a lamp or a cushion go into his room and stay there for good. GIFTS YOU CAN'T BUY Sometimes Taro finds you something: a pebble by the door, a pressed leaf, a seedling he grew while you worked. Gifts are never for sale. They sit on the From Taro shelf with the day they arrived. YOUR WEEK, NOT YOUR SCORE Rhythm shows the breaks you took, how you've been feeling, the sessions you ran and every gift on the shelf. No streak to break. No day that counts against you. Nothing resets. ON FOR FOCUS Add hey! as a Focus Filter in iPhone Settings. Taro wakes when that Focus turns on and rests when it turns off. The app walks you through setup. Manual sessions are there when you'd rather start one yourself. YOUR APP CONTENT STAYS PRIVATE Apple's Screen Time tools count use in the apps and websites you select. hey! doesn't read your messages, your photos or the videos you watch. No account. No advertising. Optional usage sharing helps us improve setup and check-ins; it never includes what you do in other apps. TRY IT FREE FOR 14 DAYS Eligible new subscribers get 14 days free when they choose a monthly or yearly plan and confirm with Apple. Every plan includes all features. After the trial, your selected subscription renews automatically at the price shown before you confirm unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends. Manage or cancel in App Store settings. Lifetime access is a separate one-time purchase with no subscription trial or renewal. Local prices appear in the app. Restore purchases with the Apple Account used to buy. HELP SHAPE HEY Suggest a feature and vote on ideas at tryhey.app/feedback. Need a hand? Reach us at hello@tryhey.app. Requires iPhone with iOS 18 or later and Screen Time permission. Check-ins depend on Apple's usage signals and can arrive a little late. Time adds up across the apps and websites you select while a Focus or session is active. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Shelly4 screens
hey!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: hey! at free with in-app purchases against Shelly's subscription. hey! also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). Shelly's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Shelly sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and hey! sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Shelly against 5.0 for hey!. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shelly ships an update every 3 weeks, hey! every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Shelly versus hey!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShellyhey!
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.118.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSpindle Hyperlocal Solutions Private LimitedX1 Consulting LLC

Customer experience

Shelly

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

hey!

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Shelly

Subscriptions3
  • Premium Plan$5.991 Month
  • One time offer$24.991 Year
  • Premium Plan$49.991 Year
3 purchases

hey!

Subscriptions2
  • hey Monthly14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • hey Yearly14 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • hey Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is Shelly free?
Shelly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is hey! free?
hey! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Shelly or hey!?
Shelly and hey! are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Shelly or hey! have ads?
Neither Shelly nor hey! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shelly or hey!?
Shelly ships an update every 3 weeks, and hey! every 9 days. Most recently, Shelly was updated on October 18, 2026 and hey! on October 22, 2026.

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