Comparison

Calmgate vs climbr

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

Head to head
About

Calmgate

Features
Read full description

Reclaim Your Attention with Calmgate Willpower alone is rarely a sufficient defense against highly optimized algorithmic distractions. Calmgate is a rigorous digital well-being utility engineered specifically to break the cycle of mindless scrolling and restore your capacity for deep, uninterrupted focus. Built from the ground up for individuals navigating ADHD, chronic procrastination, or severe screen fatigue, Calmgate shifts your relationship with personal technology from reactive consumption to intentional engagement. Mindful Pauses to Break the Autopilot Loop Before you are permitted to access your most distracting applications, Calmgate intervenes with a mandatory, guided breathing exercise lasting between 10 and 60 seconds. This engineered psychological friction intercepts the immediate dopamine-seeking impulse, providing a critical window of mindfulness. This brief pause breaks the autopilot scrolling loop and allows you to consciously evaluate whether opening the application aligns with your current goals. Strict Mode and Unbreakable Deletion Protection For moments of severely depleted willpower, personal accountability must be outsourced to unyielding software. Calmgate utilizes advanced restriction architecture to enforce a true digital lockdown. When Strict Mode is activated, active block sessions cannot be bypassed, and Deletion Protection actively prevents the uninstallation of the application until your scheduled focus period is entirely complete. Emergency unlocks are strictly guarded and only granted after submitting a written declaration of intent, forcing cognitive engagement over impulsive overrides. Targeted Scheduling and the Sleep Shield Structure your day proactively with highly dynamic scheduling parameters. Activate the Morning Block routine to prevent the habit of waking up to overwhelming social media feeds, utilize Monk Mode for intense, distraction-free study sessions, or engage the Sleep Shield to automatically restrict access to stimulating applications between 10 PM and 7 AM, promoting vastly improved sleep hygiene. Behavioral Tracking and Dynamic Focus Scores Sustainable behavioral transformation requires accurate measurement. Calmgate calculates a dynamic daily Focus Score by analyzing the ratio of your intentional, productive application usage against the time lost to digital distractions. Monitor your behavioral patterns over time, identify your most common distraction triggers, and celebrate tangible, data-driven improvements in your daily attention span. Strictly On-Device Privacy Architecture Your behavioral data is fundamentally personal and must remain entirely under your control. Calmgate operates with a strict, zero-transmission privacy architecture. All application processing, usage tracking, and local limits are executed entirely on your device utilizing secure local storage frameworks. Absolutely no analytics are transmitted off-device, ensuring complete confidentiality for your digital habits and routines. — Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

climbr

This app helps you regain control of your phone usage by blocking distracting applications and setting dedicated focus sessions. It gamifies your progress towards goals with a virtual mountain climb and encourages reflection through daily journaling.

Highlights
  • Block any app
  • Automatic schedules
  • On-demand focus sessions
  • Gamified progress tracking
  • Nightly journaling
  • Streak maintenance
Features
Read full description

Your phone keeps getting in the way. climbr helps you get back to your goals. climbr is the screen-time app for people who are ready to start chasing their goals...because your phone is standing in the way. BLOCK WHAT STEALS YOUR TIME Pick the apps that pull you in (social, video, games, etc) and climbr shields them behind a wall. Set schedules so the wall goes up automatically, or start a focus session on demand. MAKE BAILING COST SOMETHING Anyone can turn off a blocker. So climbr makes quitting deliberate. Choose your door: breathe through a forced pause before you're let back in, or, with hardcore mode armed, pay for a 15-minute break. Every bypass costs $4.99, logged, and subtracted from your progress on the mountain. WATCH YOURSELF CLIMB Your goal becomes a mountain. Every protected day moves you up the slope toward the summit; every bypass slides you back. REFLECT, AND KEEP THE STREAK A nightly journal turns each day into a decision: did you get closer, hold the line, or slip? Claim the day, keep your streak alive, and become someone who follows through. WHAT YOU GET • Block any app • Automatic schedules + on-demand focus sessions • Two exit doors: a breathing pause (free) or hardcore ($4.99 buys a 15-minute break) • A living mountain that tracks real progress toward your goal • Nightly journaling, streaks, and ranks from Base Camp to Summit • Private by design — your blocked-app choices never leave your phone MEMBERSHIP climbr is a subscription: $39.99/year with a 7-day free trial, or $12.99/month. Cancel anytime. Privacy Policy: https://jaczuck.github.io/summit/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Calmgate4 screens
climbr4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Calmgate at daily against climbr's every 3 weeks. Calmgate also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Calmgate sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days and climbr sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Calmgate ships an update daily, climbr every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and August 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Calmgate versus climbr: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalmgateclimbr
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Subscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB7 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperPolash Chandra DasJacob Simangunsong

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Calmgate

Subscriptions3
  • Calmgate Premium Weekly$0.997 Days
  • Calmgate Premium Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Calmgate Premium Annual3 Days trial$24.991 Year
3 purchases

climbr

Subscriptions2
  • Summit Weekly$5.997 Days
  • Summit Monthly$19.991 Month
One-time1
  • Hardcore (End Block Early)$4.99

Questions

Is Calmgate free?
Calmgate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is climbr free?
climbr is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Calmgate or climbr have ads?
Neither Calmgate nor climbr shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Calmgate or climbr?
Calmgate ships an update daily, and climbr every 3 weeks. Most recently, Calmgate was updated on September 10, 2026 and climbr on August 18, 2026.

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