Cascade vs Median
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cascade
This app helps you regain focus by blocking distracting applications and offering mindfulness exercises. It provides different session modes to suit your needs, from strict blocking to intentional unlock windows, and helps you understand app design to reduce their hold on your attention.
- App blocking for set durations
- Multiple session modes (Zen, Monk, Vault)
- Mindfulness and breathing exercises
- Rewire course on app design
- Pattern recognition for habits
- Routine building for sessions
Read full descriptionHide full description
Cascade blocks the apps you pick, for as long as you pick. The rest of the app is about the moment you want to open them anyway. THE MODES - Zen: block your apps for a time you choose. You can stop anytime. - Monk: locked until the timer ends. Longer sessions earn a few short unlock windows for real needs. If you want to stop early, Cascade first asks what you are feeling. - Vault: no stopping early. You get 3 passes a week, each opens your apps for 15 minutes. WHEN THE URGE COMES The feeling you name decides what you get: a short breathing exercise, a small thing to do away from the screen, or a question to think about. Each takes a minute or two. None of them lead back to the feed. ROUTINES Set the days and hours once. Sessions start and end on their own, even when the app is closed. ASK CASCADE Ask anything about the app, or just say what you want: it sets up your routine, starts a session or switches modes for you. Pro. ALWAYS ON Always locked keeps the apps you choose closed until you remove them. Check-ins add a short pause before an impulsive open. FRIENDS Add friends with a code. In the Progress tab you see each other's focus time, longest session and streak. You can invite friends into a focus session, or into a shared routine so everyone focuses at the same hours with their own apps. Every finished session also counts as a vote for the person you are becoming, and your friends can see your votes too. THE WEEKLY LETTER At the end of every week Cascade writes you a short letter: which days you focused, why you stopped, what you finished. Past letters stay in an archive. ALSO INSIDE Short meditations for focus, calm and sleep. Rewire, a course on why feeds are so hard to put down. A lock screen widget and Live Activities for your sessions. PRIVACY The list of apps you block stays on your phone. Blocking runs on Apple's Screen Time framework, on your device. We never see your apps. What you type in Ask Cascade goes to our server to be answered. PRICE Free: unlimited Zen sessions, one meditation, one Rewire lesson. Pro unlocks everything else, as a subscription or a one time purchase. The yearly plan starts with a 7 day free trial. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Median
This app helps you break free from mindless scrolling when you wake up. It allows you to select apps that distract you and delays their access until your morning routine is complete. Track your progress and build healthier habits with personalized insights.
- Delay access to distracting apps
- Customizable morning routine duration
- Track Morning Score and history
- Receive motivational morning notes
- Privacy-focused design
- Integrates with Apple Screen Time
Read full descriptionHide full description
Not everything deserves immediate access to you. HOW IT WORKS Choose the apps that tend to pull you in when you wake up. Choose when your morning can begin and how long it lasts. From then on, Median starts on its own the first time you pick up your phone, and those apps wait until your morning is done. Nothing to remember, nothing to switch on. EVERYTHING ELSE STILL WORKS Alarms, calls, messages, maps and music stay on. Only the scrolling has to wait. WHEN YOU REACH ANYWAY Median doesn't just put up a wall. It asks one honest question: was there a reason, or did your hand just go? Then it offers something better to do with the moment. If you still want in, you can open the app. Median shows what that costs your streak or your Morning Score first, and the choice is yours. WATCH THE HABIT CHANGE Every morning is recorded, started on your terms or not. Your Morning Score and history show the pattern over weeks, so you can see the habit break for good. A GOOD THOUGHT INSTEAD If you like, Median sends one note the first time you pick up your phone: motivation, grounding, or a line from your faith tradition. One a morning, never more. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Median works through Apple's Screen Time. It never learns which apps you chose, never sees what you do in them, and never records your screen. SUBSCRIPTION Median is a subscription with two plans. Yearly: a 7-day free trial, then billed once a year. Monthly: billed each month, cancel whenever you want. Prices for your region are shown in the app before you subscribe. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase, or when the free trial ends. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for the renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel any time in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Median Terms: https://usemedian.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://usemedian.app/privacy Independently made.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Cascade at freemium against Median's subscription. Median's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs 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. Cascade sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month and Median sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 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 Cascade against 5.0 for Median. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Cascade ships an update every 3 weeks, Median every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cascade | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 303 MB | 78 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | IDIL CIVEZ | JOHN JOSEPH GRECO |
Customer experience
Cascade
Median
In-app purchases
Cascade
- Monthly Pro$11.991 Month
- Yearly Pro7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Lifetime Pro$199.99
Median
- Monthly$6.991 Month
- Yearly7 Days trial$34.991 Year









