Comparison

Cadence vs StepHive

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

Head to head
About

Cadence

Track your daily steps, distance, floors climbed, and calories burned with a focus on simplicity and privacy. Set custom weekday and weekend goals and visualize your activity patterns with interactive heatmaps. Integrates seamlessly with Apple Watch.

Highlights
  • Daily step, distance, floors, and calorie tracking
  • Customizable weekday and weekend goals
  • Interactive hour-by-hour heatmaps
  • Apple Watch app and complications
  • Private by design, no account required
  • Automatic iCloud history restore
Features
Read full description

Step tracking that stays out of your way Cadence helps you build a consistent walking habit without the usual noise. No social feed. No gamification. No upsells. Just an honest, clear picture of how you move every day. Weekday and Weekend Goals Most days aren't the same, so your goals shouldn't be either. Set separate targets for weekdays and weekends. Cadence automatically applies the right goal each day, and your history always reflects the target that was active on that specific day. Past records are never rewritten. Changed your mind about a goal? You can apply any update retroactively across your entire history with a single tap. Heatmaps You Can Actually Explore See your walking rhythm hour by hour. Scrub through today's heatmap to pinpoint exactly when you were most active, or zoom out to spot long-term patterns across weeks, months, and years. Beautifully color-coded and easy to understand. No chart reading required. Steps, Distance, Floors, and Calories Every day shows your full activity picture — steps, walking distance, flights climbed, and active calories. See how your week is shaping up with a projected end-of-week step total based on your current daily pace. Apple Watch and Complications A native three-page Apple Watch app gives you today's steps and progress, your full week chart, and goal settings directly on your wrist. Eight thoughtfully designed complications work beautifully on any watch face. Goals sync instantly between iPhone and Watch in both directions. Private by Design No account. No sign-up. No ads. Your health data stays on your device and syncs privately through your own iCloud. No analytics. No tracking. Your History, Restored Install Cadence on a new device signed into the same iCloud account and your complete history restores automatically — goals included. No exports or manual backups needed. Core step tracking, the Apple Watch app, and all complications are completely free and will always remain free. There's an optional tip jar if you'd like to support ongoing development.

About

StepHive

Features
Read full description

StepHive turns your daily walk into something social, motivating, and a little bit joyful. Track your steps, map your routes, get friendly AI feedback on every walk, and stay connected with the friends who keep you moving — on your iPhone and Apple Watch. Whether you're chasing a step goal, getting back in shape, or simply love a good walk, StepHive helps you show up every day — together with your hive. WALK & TRACK • See today's steps, calories, weather, and weekly, monthly, and yearly progress at a glance • Map every walk with live GPS — distance, time, pace, elevation, and heart rate • Pause your walk to chat with a neighbor without hurting your time or pace • Follow your walk live on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island • Snap geotagged photos along the way — they pin to your route map and save to your Photos • Walk a favorite route again and compare your time and pace ON YOUR WRIST • Check your step ring and start a walk right from your Apple Watch • Track a whole walk on the watch — route, distance, time, heart rate, and calories • Leave your phone at home; your walk syncs back to your iPhone when you're reunited SMART & PERSONAL • Get warm, personalized feedback on each walk — your pace, effort, and progress — with AI powered by Apple Intelligence, right on your iPhone and completely private • See how your walking pace compares for people your age • Track your weight over time with a simple trend chart WALK WITH FRIENDS • Add friends with a simple invite code • See yourself ranked alongside them on a friendly daily leaderboard • Cheer each other on with quick, personal messages • Watch friends' live walks on the map with Friends on the Move STAY MOTIVATED • Build a daily-goal streak and earn achievement badges — from your first walk to a full year — with a little confetti when you hit your goal • Gentle daily reminders to get your steps in — rotating, never naggy • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets showing your steps and goal progress • Set your own step goal and personal goals MADE FOR WALKERS • A free Music tab — pick a favorite album, a playlist, or your most-played songs from a card and tap to play • Friendly guidance on pace and healthy walking by age • Fully available in English and Spanish WALK SAFER • Choose safety contacts and share your location with one tap if you ever need help • (StepHive is not a replacement for your phone's Emergency SOS) FREE TO WALK StepHive is free to download and use — steps, friends, leaderboard, streaks, music, AI walk analysis, weight tracking, the Apple Watch app, reminders, and widgets are all free. Unlock GPS route mapping — track and map your walks, see your pace, save your history, and add photo waypoints — with a single one-time purchase. YOUR DATA, YOUR CALL StepHive only reads the health data you allow, and never shares it without you. Location is used solely to map your walks while you're walking. AI walk analysis runs privately on your device. Lace up, invite a friend, and join the hive.

Screenshots

Cadence4 screens
StepHive4 screens

Verdict

The call

Cadence and StepHive are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Cadence sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and StepHive sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Cadence versus StepHive: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCadenceStepHive
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVlad GankinDavid Ramer

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Cadence

One-time5
  • Small Coffee$0.99
  • Medium Coffee$1.99
  • Large Coffee$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Coffee & Muffin$3.99
  • You're too kind$4.99
1 purchases

StepHive

One-time1
  • Unlock GPS Routes$2.99

Questions

Is Cadence free?
Cadence is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is StepHive free?
StepHive is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Cadence or StepHive have ads?
Neither Cadence nor StepHive shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cadence or StepHive?
Cadence ships an update fortnightly, and StepHive fortnightly. Most recently, Cadence was updated on October 3, 2026 and StepHive on October 7, 2026.

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