Pacing Guard vs Metered
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pacing Guard
This app provides structured activity and rest routines for individuals with chronic fatigue conditions. It uses voice cues and haptic feedback to guide users, with optional heart rate monitoring to ensure safe activity levels. All data is kept private and offline on the device.
- Customizable GO and REST intervals
- Voice and haptic feedback for phase transitions
- Bluetooth heart rate strap support
- Aerobic threshold calculator
- Offline and private operation
- Session insights and trend analysis
- Apple Health integration
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Pacing Guard helps people with ME/CFS, Long COVID, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue follow structured activity-rest routines - without watching the clock. Voice cues, haptic feedback, with optional support of a Bluetooth heart rate strap tell you when to go and when to rest. You focus on living. The app keeps the rest. TIMER • Customizable GO and REST intervals (5 to 120 seconds) • Voice announcements at each phase transition • Countdown alerts in the final 5 seconds before switching • Haptic feedback and sound cues at phase changes • Smooth visual progress ring with phase colour coding • Works in the background with screen off HEART RATE MONITORING • Connects to any Bluetooth heart rate strap (Polar, Garmin, Wahoo, and others) • Aerobic threshold calculator to find your personal safe HR limit • Voice and haptic alerts when approaching or exceeding your limit • Configurable repeat alerts so you stay informed without being overwhelmed • Periodic heart rate announcements at configurable intervals • Time above HR limit tracked for every session, even with alerts muted SLEEP MONITORING • Long-press Start for overnight heart rate tracking • No voice cues, no alerts - continuous silent recording • Session max HR saved to history SESSION INSIGHTS • Live stats during any session - tap the live stats button • Post-session HR chart with exceedance breakdown • 8-week trend analysis with sparkline charts • Monthly pacing calendar showing your compliance at a glance • Export session data as CSV • Save sessions to Apple Health as workouts PRIVATE & OFFLINE • No accounts, no ads, no tracking • No subscriptions or hidden costs • All data stays on your device • Works fully offline ACCESSIBLE • Full VoiceOver support with descriptive labels • Dynamic Type for all text sizes • Respects Reduce Motion preference • Minimum 44pt tap targets • High Contrast mode compatible --- Disclaimer: Pacing Guard is a general-purpose interval timer and self-management aid. It is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or disease prevention. The app does not make any claims about health outcomes. Heart rate monitoring is provided for informational purposes only. Any routines followed using this app are self-directed and used at your own discretion. Always seek advice from a qualified healthcare professional regarding any medical condition.
Metered
This app helps individuals with chronic illnesses manage their energy levels by planning activities, energy taxes, and rest. It provides insights into daily budgets, potential overspending, and recovery needs, with optional advanced features for deeper analysis and reporting.
- Spoon-style energy budgeting
- Activity and energy tax tracking
- Personalized activity library
- Daily budget and risk guidance
- Morning Signal with Apple Health integration
- Apple Watch and widget support
- Reports for appointments and events
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Plan your spoons before the crash. Metered is a private energy planner for chronic illness, fatigue, pain, PEM, and limited capacity. Build today and tomorrow around a spoon budget, spot when a plan is too heavy, and learn what activities, energy taxes, and rest cost over time. Everyday planning is free. Metered+ is lifetime, one-time, and no subscription. No account, analytics, tracking, or servers. PLAN BEFORE YOU SPEND Other apps tell you what happened yesterday. Metered helps you decide what you can do today and tomorrow. Add activities, energy taxes, and rest or recovery entries. Describe your day in plain language, reuse yesterday, or save a good plan as a template for similar days. CALMER TODAY GUIDANCE Today keeps the important signals easy to scan: - remaining spoons and over-budget state - why your budget changed - PEM recovery and carry-over context - gentle risk guidance when a plan may be too much Optional check-ins let you record how you feel now without changing your activities. Structured saved check-ins contribute automatically to on-device patterns, while free-text notes are never analysed. MORNING SIGNAL Metered+ reads overnight heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate, and sleep from Apple Health. HRV and resting heart rate are compared with recent personal baseline data; sleep is compared with your sleep target. The result is shown as Strong, Steady, Caution, or Low. APPLE WATCH, WIDGETS AND QUICK NEEDS Check your budget, complete activities, send Quick Needs, and run short orthostatic checks from Apple Watch. Widgets keep remaining spoons visible without opening the app. Metered+ adds Live Activities for a persistent Lock Screen budget. BUILT FOR COMPLEX ENERGY Metered supports ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, Long COVID, POTS, EDS, MS, lupus, chronic pain, PMDD, endometriosis, IBD, caregiver burnout, and more. Track physical, cognitive, social, sensory, masking, and recovery load so your plan reflects how energy really gets used. FREE ENERGY PLANNING Metered includes: - Unlimited activities and daily planning - Fixed daily budget and manual tracking - Day review, flare mode, and recovery days - Weekly overview and Daily Balance insight - Apple Watch, widgets, Siri Shortcuts, and Quick Needs - Apple Health integration - iCloud sync - Tended import - Searchable Help & Guide METERED+ Metered+ is a one-time lifetime purchase. No subscription. Unlock: - Personalised budget reasoning - Morning Signal and signal history - Learned and sensitivity-adjusted activity costs - Possible crash and PEM risk patterns - Energy debt and deeper trends - Premium budget insight displays - Weather, cycle, sleep, and recovery budget factors - Day templates and event planning - Activity sequencing suggestions - Live Activities - Doctor, OT, appointment, PEM, and event reports - CSV export PREPARE FOR APPOINTMENTS Metered+ reports can help explain your energy limits, pacing patterns, activity costs, recovery days, symptoms, crashes, PEM patterns, and event recovery for doctors, occupational therapists, carers, or support conversations. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No servers. No analytics. No tracking. Your data stays on your device and in your personal iCloud account. Metered reads Apple Health with your permission and does not write health data back. Analyses run on device using your plans, outcomes, and optional health data. Rest is allowed to count. MEDICAL DISCLAIMER Spoon theory credit: Christine Miserandino (2003). Informed by ME Association, Bateman Horne Center, and Workwell Foundation. Metered is a personal energy planning journal, not a medical device. It does not diagnose, treat, prevent, or clinically predict any condition. It shows self-reported plans, Apple Health context, and possible patterns based on your own data. Always speak to a qualified healthcare professional about medical decisions. Terms: https://www.cocoacorn.com/metered/terms Privacy: https://www.cocoacorn.com/metered/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Metered at 100% against Pacing Guard's 0%. Metered also leads on price (Free vs $4.99). Pacing Guard's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On update cadence, 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
Metered is free to download; Pacing Guard costs $4.99 up front. Metered sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pacing Guard asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pacing Guard ships an update every 9 days, Metered weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pacing Guard | Metered |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | — | 4.8 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 6 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 43 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kim Syversen | Geoff Davis |
Customer experience
Pacing Guard
Metered
In-app purchases
Pacing Guard
No in-app purchases
Metered
- Metered+$29.99








