Comparison

Marbles vs The Playground Guide

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

Head to head
About

Marbles

Features
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Turn your daily routines into something you can feel. Marbles isn't just another checklist. It’s a tactile, satisfying way to visualize your progress. Every time you complete a habit, you get to drop a marble into your jar. Watch it bounce, hear the satisfying "clink," and feel the haptic tap as your jar fills up over time. Why Marbles? Checkboxes are boring. Physics are fun. Marbles capitalizes on the "satisfaction" loop to make building habits addictive in the best way possible. Whether you are drinking more water, hitting the gym, or reading daily, seeing your physical progress accumulate in a jar gives you a sense of accomplishment that a spreadsheet never could. Key Features: The Marble Jar Experience high-fidelity physics. Marbles tumble, stack, and collide with realistic sound effects and haptics. Pixel Reveal Themes (Pro) Prefer retro gaming? Switch your habit to "Pixel Mode." Every day you complete a task, you light up a new pixel on a grid, slowly revealing a mystery retro artwork. Forgiving Streaks Life happens. If you need a break, use the "Skip" feature. You'll drop a "Ghost Marble" that keeps your jar filling up without breaking your hard-earned streak. History & Editing View your full history, track your best streaks, and easily undo accidental drops. Private & Native Built with the latest Apple technologies. Your data stays on your device. Get Marbles today and start filling your jar!

About

The Playground Guide

Features
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Playground Guide helps parents and caregivers discover the best playgrounds for their family β€” wherever they are. Browse playgrounds on an interactive map or list, see details about photos, ratings and reviews, and get directions in one tap. Whether you're looking for a fenced toddler area, a wheelchair-accessible playground, or an adventure park with zip lines, Playground Guide makes it easy to find the right spot. DISCOVER PLAYGROUNDS NEARBY AND WORLDWIDE β€’ Explore playgrounds on a detailed map β€’ Switch between map and list view β€’ Search any city or neighborhood to find playgrounds in that area β€’ Tap "Search this area" to discover playgrounds wherever you pan the map PLAYGROUND DETAILS AT A GLANCE β€’ See photos, ratings, descriptions, and distance for thousands of playground β€’ Get one-tap directions via Apple Maps or Google Maps β€’ Report incorrect information to help keep the guide accurate β€’ Photos, reviews and ratings are contributed by the community β€” the more parents share, the better the guide gets for everyone SAVE YOUR FAVORITES β€’ Bookmark playgrounds you love for easy access later β€’ Favorites are highlighted on the map so you always know where they are β€’ Perfect for planning trips or remembering that great playground you visited last weekend BUILT FOR FAMILIES WITH DIFFERENT NEEDS β€’ Find wheelchair-accessible playgrounds β€’ Discover sensory-friendly play areas β€’ Locate toddler-friendly and fully fenced playgrounds β€’ Personalized onboarding tailors recommendations to your children's ages and preferences β€’ Details about accessibility, sensory-friendly play, and similar family-focused information depend on community reports β€” the more parents contribute, the more complete the guide becomes Playground Guide subscription required to discover playgrounds, use filters, and access family features in the app. AVAILABLE IN 94 LANGUAGES Amharic, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Bangla, Tibetan, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, Czech, Welsh, Danish, German, Greek, English, Australian English, Canadian English, British English, Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Estonian, Basque, Persian, Finnish, Filipino, French, Canadian French, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Galician, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Croatian, Haitian Creole, Hungarian, Armenian, Indonesian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Georgian, Kazakh, Kalaallisut, Khmer, Kannada, Korean, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Luxembourgish, Lao, Lithuanian, Latvian, Macedonian, Malayalam, Mongolian, Marathi, Malay, Maltese, Burmese, Norwegian BokmΓ₯l, Nepali, Dutch, Occitan, Polish, Dari, Pashto, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Albanian, Serbian, Swedish, Swahili, Tamil, Telugu, Tajik, Thai, Turkmen, Turkish, Tatar, Uyghur, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Xhosa, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Zulu Privacy Policy: [https://playgroundguide.com/privacy](https://playgroundguide.com/privacy) Terms of Use: [https://playgroundguide.com/terms](https://playgroundguide.com/terms)

Screenshots

Marbles4 screens
The Playground Guide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Marbles at daily against The Playground Guide's every 2 weeks. The Playground Guide's advantage is iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Marbles sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and The Playground Guide sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Marbles ships an update daily, The Playground Guide every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
Marbles versus The Playground Guide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMarblesThe Playground Guide
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyDaily β€” betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.216.4 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size8 MB71 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBarney RandallCodefish AS

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Marbles

One-time1
  • Lifetime$4.99
2 purchases

The Playground Guide

Subscriptions2
  • Weekly$4.997 Days
  • Yearly3 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Marbles free?
Marbles is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Playground Guide free?
The Playground Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Marbles or The Playground Guide have ads?
Neither Marbles nor The Playground Guide shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Marbles or The Playground Guide?
Marbles ships an update daily, and The Playground Guide every 2 weeks. Most recently, Marbles was updated on October 18, 2026 and The Playground Guide on October 6, 2026.

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