Recovery Transparency vs Work the Steps
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Recovery Transparency
This app supports individuals in 12-step recovery programs by offering tools for tracking progress, journaling with AI insights, and connecting with sponsors. It provides features like daily check-ins, assessments, and messaging to foster accountability and self-awareness.
- Daily check-ins
- AI journal analysis
- Fourth step worksheets
- Sponsor-sponsee messaging
- Service work search
- Weekly assessments
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Recovery Transparency is a modern companion to the 12-step recovery you already work — built to deepen your program, not replace it. Track your progress, work your steps, and see how far you've come, one honest day at a time. Recovery is a daily practice, and staying accountable to it is the work of a lifetime. Recovery Transparency gives you the tools to do exactly that: honest daily check-ins, guided Fourth Step inventories, and a private record of your growth that only you control. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Recovery Garden — Watch your progress take root. Earn milestone badges as you check in, journal, work your steps, and attend meetings. • Daily Check-Ins — Track your character defects and principles and see honest patterns emerge over time. • AI-Guided Fourth Step — Private, compassionate analysis of your resentment, fear, and relationship inventories, built on the RTI™ framework. • Weekly Assessment — Measure your recovery across key areas and follow your growth week to week. • Journaling & Gratitude — Reflect each day, with optional AI insights. • Smart Reminders — Gentle nudges for your check-in, gratitude list, and journal, plus a notification the moment you earn a new badge. • Connection — Sponsor and sponsee messaging, group support chats, and shareable profile cards. BUILT ON A PROVEN FOUNDATION Recovery Transparency honors the 12-step tradition and strengthens it with structure, accountability, and insight. It is not affiliated with any specific fellowship or organization. YOUR PRIVACY MATTERS Your inventories and reflections belong to you. Sensitive step work stays private and under your control. START WITH A FREE WEEK Try everything free for 7 days. After your trial: • Gold — $6.99/week or $24.99/month • Platinum — $8.99/week or $34.99/month Subscriptions are auto-renewable. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Terms of Use (EULA): [paste your Terms URL] Privacy Policy: [paste your Privacy Policy URL]
Work the Steps
This AI-guided companion offers private support for working through recovery steps. It helps you identify personal patterns through daily check-ins and reflections, serving as a tool for the time between in-person support.
- AI-guided step work
- Private daily check-ins
- Pattern reflection over time
- Structured inventories for steps 4, 6, 8, 9
- Gratitude list tracking
- Crisis lifeline integration
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Work the Steps is a private, AI-guided companion for the hours in between — the late night when no one's awake, the resentment you can't shake, the inventory you keep meaning to start. Check in each day, keep a reflection, and the patterns underneath surface on their own, your own words returned to you over time. The Steps are best worked with people: a sponsor, a home group, the rooms. This one is for the space between, at your own pace and in your own words. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Talk things through with a steady guide, any hour of the day • Work all twelve steps with your guide, one honest entry at a time — with structured inventories and lists for the 4th, 6th, 8th, and 9th • Check in each morning and night • Keep a gratitude list, and let your guide reflect back what's sustaining you • Look back at reflections that surface your own patterns over time • Keep everything private on your device, and share a reflection or export your writing whenever you choose A SUPPLEMENT, NEVER A SUBSTITUTE This app is not a sponsor, a meeting, a therapist, or a crisis line — and it will never pretend to be. It's a tool for the space between those things, and it will always point you back to real people: a meeting, a sponsor, a phone call. If a moment feels like a crisis, it surfaces the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline right away. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your recovery is yours. Reflections stay with you, and conversations aren't stored on our servers. The Steps are paraphrased in our own words. Whether it's day one and you don't have a sponsor yet, or you're years in and still showing up, Work the Steps meets you where you are — and walks you back toward the people who do this with you. — Work the Steps is an independent app. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. The Twelve Steps are paraphrased, not reproduced. If you or someone you love is in crisis, call or text 988 (US & CANADA). FREE AND SUBSCRIPTION Your first session is free, with no account required. After that, Work the Steps Premium unlocks the app's features: AI-guided check-ins, guided step work for all twelve steps, morning intention and nightly review, and pattern tracking across your reflections. Crisis resources and meeting pointers are always free. Work the Steps Premium is an auto-renewable subscription: $5.99/month after a 1-week free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase; the subscription renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Privacy Policy: https://workthesteps.app/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://workthesteps.app/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Work the Steps at every 9 days against Recovery Transparency's every 3 weeks. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Recovery Transparency sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days and Work the Steps sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Recovery Transparency against 5.0 for Work the Steps. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 6 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Recovery Transparency ships an update every 3 weeks, Work the Steps every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Recovery Transparency | Work the Steps |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 6 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Jeremy Heydon | John Khabushani |
Customer experience
Recovery Transparency
Work the Steps
In-app purchases
Recovery Transparency
- Gold Weekly7 Days trial$6.997 Days
- Platinum Weekly7 Days trial$8.997 Days
- Gold Monthly7 Days trial$24.991 Month
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- Platinum Monthly7 Days trial$34.991 Month
Work the Steps
- Monthly7 Days trial$5.991 Month
- Work the Steps Premium7 Days trial$59.991 Year
Questions
Is Recovery Transparency free?
Is Work the Steps free?
Which has better reviews, Recovery Transparency or Work the Steps?
Do Recovery Transparency or Work the Steps have ads?
Which is updated more often, Recovery Transparency or Work the Steps?
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