Comparison

DayBox vs Cuebird

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

Head to head
About

DayBox

Features
Read full description

DayBox turns a chaotic to-do list into a clear daily plan you can actually finish. Drag tasks onto a visual timeline around your real calendar, protect time for deep work, focus one block at a time, and end the day knowing what you got done. NEW IN 1.2 - Made for iPhone Duo and iPad: on the big screen, your timeline and Inbox sit side by side — drag tasks straight onto your day. - Desk Mode on iPhone Duo: prop it up mid-block and the timer sits on the top half, every control on the bottom, and the screen stays on until the block ends. - Visual Countdown: a color disk that shrinks as time runs out, so you can see how long you have at a glance. - Wrap-Up Heads-Up: a nudge 5 minutes before a block ends. THE DAYBOX METHOD - 5 STEPS, EVERY DAY 1. Capture tasks into your Inbox 2. Pick your Big 3 priorities for the day 3. Drag tasks onto your daily timeline 4. Start a focus timer for each block 5. Review your wins at the end of the day That's it. Simple enough to actually stick with. PLAN YOUR DAY - Visual daily timeline with drag-and-drop time blocks - Big 3 priorities - anchor your day to what matters most - Calendar integration - see events beside your blocks, with optional two-way Apple Calendar sync - Natural language input - type "Meeting 2pm 30min #work" - Recurring tasks and day templates for your routines - Checklists inside every task - Tags to organize by project or life area - A warning before you overcommit your day - Siri & Shortcuts - add tasks hands-free FOCUS DEEPLY - A focus timer for every block - classic ring or the new Visual Countdown - Live Activity on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island - Your task's checklist right on the focus screen - Ambient sounds: rain, forest, ocean waves, coffee shop, fireplace, white noise - Pomodoro mode with automatic breaks - Log interruptions without losing your place - Apple Watch app and Home Screen widgets FOCUS-FRIENDLY BY DESIGN Built with ADHD and visual thinkers in mind: - Visual Timeline colors your blocks by tag - Gentle Reminders swap pressure for kind wording - Visual Countdown shows time left as a shrinking disk - Wrap-Up Heads-Up, so a block never ends by surprise REFLECT & GROW - Planned vs. actual focus, tasks done, and Big 3 progress - Weekly review with charts and trends - Streaks for planning, Big 3, and focus - 20 achievement badges - Share your day as a summary card DAYBOX PRO - AI daily planning around your real calendar - always previewed, never auto-applied (try an AI-planned day free) - Adaptive replanning when your day changes - AI time estimates for your tasks - Time Insights: where your time goes by tag, and your best focus hours - CSV time-log export for invoicing and timesheets Choose monthly, yearly (free trial available), or a one-time lifetime purchase. Prices are shown in the app before you buy. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://culi.app/apps/daybox/privacy-policy

About

Cuebird

This app helps users manage daily routines with visual and auditory cues, breaking them down into timed, color-coded steps. It supports shared routines for households and adapts to individual timing to ensure tasks are completed on schedule.

Highlights
  • Timed, color-coded routine steps
  • Shared household routines
  • Visual time bar for routine overview
  • Auditory cues and voice recordings
  • Proportional routine compression
  • Real alarms, not notifications
  • Adaptive timing based on actual usage
Features
Read full description

See the time, hear your next step, walk out the door on time. Cuebird turns any routine (morning, lunch break, bedtime) into small, timed, color-coded steps and moves you through them automatically. Built for neurodivergent adults. Kind to every brain. HOUSEHOLDS Link the people you live with into a household. Start a routine and everyone gets a gentle offer to jump in, landing where you already are, not back at step one. Joining is one tap, and sitting one out is free: nobody is ever told either way. Be in more than one household at once, your own and the one at your mum's, and every routine says which one it came from. It is all end-to-end encrypted. DO IT TOGETHER In the same room, run a routine in step. Everyone starts on a shared 3, 2, 1, and pause, skip, or a minute back move for the whole group at once, so nobody is left behind. Near each other it is instant. Apart, it stays in sync across your household. Want your own timing? One tap, and your routine keeps going on its own. INVITE BY TEXT, OR BY QR Send someone a link. They tap it and they are in, even if your phone is closed. Together in person? Show the code on your screen for them to scan. Either way, one tap and they are in the household. TIME YOU CAN SEE While a routine runs, the whole screen becomes the current step's color. From across the room, mid-shower, without reading: blue means shower, amber means coffee. A color bar of the steps shows the shape of your time before you start. OUT THE DOOR ON TIME Set when a routine starts and when you have to be done. Cuebird shows the window, adds up your steps, and tells you plainly whether they fit. Running late? One control compresses the routine so you still walk out on time. HEAR YOUR NEXT STEP A chime marks every transition, or let Cuebird speak: "Next: Shower, 10 minutes." A 30-second heads-up warns before longer steps end. Prefer quiet? Silent mode keeps it to haptics. You can also record any step in your own voice. Recordings stay on your device and never sync. REAL ALARMS, NOT NOTIFICATIONS Give a routine a start time and days, and it rings with the system's full-screen alarm: through silent mode, through Focus, even with the app closed. Tap Start and you are already in it. BUILT THE WAY YOUR WEEK ACTUALLY WORKS One routine can ring at several times, each with its own days: weekdays at 7:00, weekends at 9:00. Your list sorts itself around today, and the Schedule view shows everything that will ring this week. IT LEARNS YOUR REAL TIMING Cuebird records every run and shows how long your routine ACTUALLY takes versus what you planned: "Morning really takes 42 minutes, not 35." Then it updates your plan with one tap. STARTING IS ONE TAP Every routine has a play button right on its card, no menus between you and momentum. For the times you do not need a whole routine, Quick Timer and Ring Me At are one tap away. NO SHAME BUILT IN Pause says "no rush." Skipping is a first-class button, and if you skip by mistake you can undo it. Need a minute back? Take one. Finishing celebrates every run, and one missed day never breaks your streak. That is what the habit-formation research actually says. Cuebird never scolds you. EVERYWHERE YOU NEED IT - Lock Screen and Dynamic Island Live Activity: glance without opening the app - Home Screen widget: start a routine in one tap - Apple Watch: your step and countdown on your wrist; pause, resume or skip from there - Siri and Shortcuts: "Start Morning in Cuebird," or run routines from your automations - Mac: runs on Apple silicon Macs too ONE PURCHASE COVERS YOUR FAMILY Family Sharing is on, so up to six family members get it with one purchase. You can also send any routine as a link, ready for their own times. ONE-TIME PURCHASE Buy it once. No subscription, no ads, no accounts, no analytics, no data collection. Your own routines sync through your private iCloud, no login ever. Households stay end-to-end encrypted, and Cuebird has no servers and cannot read any of it.

Screenshots

DayBox4 screens
Cuebird4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: DayBox at Free against Cuebird's $0.99. DayBox also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). Cuebird's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (daily vs monthly). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

DayBox is free to download; Cuebird costs $0.99 up front. DayBox sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Cuebird asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DayBox ships an update monthly, Cuebird daily. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
DayBox versus Cuebird: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDayBoxCuebird
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRene FandidaMichael Petrillo

In-app purchases

3 purchases

DayBox

Subscriptions2
  • DayBox Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • DayBox Pro Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$99.99
None

Cuebird

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is DayBox free?
DayBox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cuebird free?
Cuebird costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do DayBox or Cuebird have ads?
Neither DayBox nor Cuebird shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DayBox or Cuebird?
DayBox ships an update monthly, and Cuebird daily. Most recently, DayBox was updated on October 31, 2026 and Cuebird on October 31, 2026.

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