IdeaTamer vs Squirrel
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
IdeaTamer
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You don't have a creativity problem. You have a finishing problem. And the real obstacle? It's you. IdeaTamer turns your scattered ideas into a focused quest system — with a twist. Every week, you duel your own past performance. Beat yourself in XP earned, milestones hit, ideas captured, and streak days. Win the week. Level up. Share your victory. HOW IT WORKS Capture ideas in seconds (+5 XP). Score them on Impact, Effort, and Alignment. Activate your best one as a Quest. Break it into milestones (+75 XP each). Ship it (+500 XP). Then pick the next one. The constraint is the superpower: only ONE active quest at a time. COMPETE WITH YOURSELF Every Monday, your last week becomes your rival. Four rounds. Blue vs red. Beat 3 to win the week and earn bonus XP. GAMIFICATION THAT WORKS • XP for every action — capture, score, complete • Level up from Spark to Legend • Streaks that reward daily consistency • 7 badges to unlock • Hall of Fame for every shipped quest SHARE YOUR WINS Generate branded achievement cards and share to Twitter, LinkedIn, or Discord. Prove you're shipping. PRIVACY FIRST 100% offline. Your data stays on your device. No accounts, no cloud, no tracking. 100% free. No ads, no subscriptions, no in-app purchases.
Squirrel
This app helps you reduce time spent on habit-forming apps by setting aside money for each time you open them. It connects screen time management with personal finance, encouraging savings and investment without direct financial transactions.
- App blocking for habit-forming applications
- Set aside money for each app opening
- Track savings history
- Optional portfolio tracking for investments
- No account or login required
- No ads or tracking
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Some apps you open on purpose. Some you open out of habit. Squirrel turns the habit into savings, money you keep and invest. I almost never chose to open Instagram, it was always a knee-jerk reaction to being on my phone with nothing better to do. Growing up, staying focused and managing my time has always been a real struggle for me, and as social media got bigger, I felt more and more susceptible to doom scrolling and being careless with how I used these apps. But I never wanted to delete them. I truly believe there's a time and place for all of them. A lot of my relationships are better because of social media, whether that be from sending memes to friends, looking back on old memories, meeting my college roommate (true story), and even meeting my now girlfriend (another true story). It would be hypocritical to say social media hasn't improved my life, it certainly has. But the problem is the other side of it, the hours I lost without consciously deciding to. I've tried the built-in screen time limits. I had Instagram capped at 40 minutes a day... that same week I spent 12 hours and 48 minutes on it, more than double my next most used app, because "ignore limit for today" is one tap away. The week after I started using Squirrel it was 1 hour and 45 minutes. The week after that, 56 minutes. That's just my usage, but the drop was hard to argue with. Squirrel is different because it doesn't treat these apps as the enemy. Other apps do the blocking part, but none of them connect it to the other thing people my age are behind on, which is investing. Two problems most college students and young adults have: too much time on their phones, and no idea where to start with money. Squirrel puts them together so each one fixes the other. HOW IT WORKS Pick the apps you want to put behind a decision. Opening one is your cue to set a few dollars aside for yourself. Nothing is charged. No money moves through Squirrel. It only records what you set aside. You invest it yourself, wherever you already invest, and tell Squirrel what you bought. The optional Portfolio upgrade tracks it so you can watch it grow. NOTHING IS CHARGED Opening a blocked app is always free. The amount you set aside is a note to yourself, like a swear jar. Squirrel never processes a payment for it, never connects to your bank or brokerage, and never moves money. You decide what to do with it, outside the app. There are no goals, no targets, no limits, and no streaks. There is nothing to fail. FREE AND PAID Blocking, setting money aside, and your savings history are free forever. The Portfolio view (holdings, growth charts, market prices, and projections) is an optional paid upgrade: $19.99 once, or $8.99/year auto-renewing. Prices may vary by region. Portfolio features shown in the screenshots are part of this upgrade, and have nothing to do with blocking or opening apps. No account, no login, no ads, no tracking. Everything stays on your phone and in your own iCloud. Squirrel is not a bank, broker, or financial advisor and does not give investment advice. You make every investment yourself. Any growth figures shown are illustrations, not guarantees. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://brian-hall-dev.github.io/squirrel-site/#privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: IdeaTamer at none against Squirrel's 2. 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
Both are free to download. Squirrel sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per year. IdeaTamer asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | IdeaTamer | Squirrel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.1 | 26.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fiqhro Dedhen Supatmo | BRIAN RICHARD HALL |
In-app purchases
IdeaTamer
No in-app purchases
Squirrel
- Portfolio Annual$8.991 Year
- Portfolio Lifetime$19.99









