Sabbath vs Slate
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sabbath
This app encourages users to disconnect from their phones one day a week, fostering a digital detox. It's designed for individuals and families to engage in offline activities together. The practice is inspired by an ancient tradition.
- Weekly digital detox
- App blocking for one day
- Family and friend participation
- Modern take on ancient practice
- Promotes offline activities
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A modern app for a ancient practice. Put your phone down one day a week. Do it with your family and friends. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sabbath-screentime.netlify.app/privacy/
Slate
Record your thoughts and receive on-device reflections and weekly summaries. This private voice journal keeps all your data on your phone, with optional encrypted iCloud backups. It offers a space for personal reflection without any external servers or analytics.
- Voice recording and transcription
- On-device reflection analysis
- Weekly summary of thoughts
- Encrypted iCloud backup option
- Offline functionality
- No server or network calls
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Speak your mind. Slate keeps it. Nothing leaves the phone. Slate is a private voice journal. Press record and say what's on your mind. The transcript is made on your phone, filler out, paragraphs in, your words untouched underneath. Every entry gets a title, the sentence that says what happened, and the line that mattered, in your own words. Tags for what it was about, who was in it, and where you were. Tap a tag and every entry that carries it lines up. Search your journal by word, person or place. It is all here and it is all yours. On Sunday the week comes back to you. What repeated, what shifted, in your own words. And when the journal knows something, it says so plainly: the first time you mention someone in weeks, or how often a thing has come up this month. All on device. It never leaves the phone. There is no server, no account, no analytics, no network calls. The privacy label reads "Data Not Collected" because there is nothing to collect. Turn on airplane mode; everything still works. It always will. If you want a backup, optional encrypted iCloud backup is there in Settings. Off until you say so, private to your own account either way. No streaks. No scores. No chatbot. A private place to think. Slate is a subscription, monthly or yearly, after a one month free trial. A one-time lifetime purchase is also available. Prices are shown in the app before you pay. Terms: https://hsla0001.com/terms/slate Privacy: https://hsla0001.com/privacy/slate
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Slate at 5.0 against Sabbath's 4.4. Slate also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 days). Sabbath's advantage is monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and ratings volume (26 vs 6). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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. Sabbath sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Slate sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Slate holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 26 and 6 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 67% and 67% positive.
Sabbath ships an update every 5 days, Slate every 2 days. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.
| Parameter | Sabbath | Slate |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (26 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 26 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 57 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dig Wells, Inc. | hsla0001 |
Customer experience
Sabbath
Slate
In-app purchases
Sabbath
- Sabbath Plus Monthly$6.991 Month
- Sabbath Plus Annual7 Days trial$39.991 Year
Slate
- Monthly1 Month trial$7.991 Month
- Yearly1 Month trial$59.991 Year







