Comparison

Scroll vs Do Instead

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

Head to head
About

Scroll

Transform wasted scroll time into bite-sized daily lessons across various subjects. Engage with quick quizzes, track progress with streaks, and explore focused knowledge packs. Become more informed in just five minutes a day.

Highlights
  • Daily micro-lessons
  • Quick quizzes
  • Streaks and achievements
  • Save favorite lessons
  • Focused Knowledge Packs
  • Multiple learning categories
Features
Read full description

Replace mindless scrolling with knowledge that lasts. Scroll turns wasted scroll-time into bite-sized daily lessons across psychology, business, money, science, philosophy, history, productivity, and tech and internet. Become the most interesting person in the room, five minutes at a time. Most people lose hours a day to endless feeds, news cycles, and social media. Scroll uses the same scroll motion to give you back something useful: one fact, idea, or story that sticks. What's inside: - Daily micro-lessons across 8 categories - A quick quiz after every lesson, so the learning holds - Streaks, XP, and achievements to keep you consistent - Save lessons you love and return to them anytime - Knowledge Packs: focused deep dives on Stoicism, Money Mindset, Peak Productivity, History of War, and more What you'll learn: - Psychology: cognitive biases, decision-making, the science of habits - Business: strategy, leadership, and how great companies really work - Money: investing, personal finance, building wealth that lasts - Science: physics, biology, and the workings of the universe - Philosophy: stoicism, ethics, and the ideas that have shaped human thought - History: stories from the past that explain the present - Productivity: focus, time, energy, and how to get things done - Tech and Internet: how the digital world really works Who Scroll is for: Curious minds. Busy professionals. Lifelong learners. Students. Anyone tired of doomscrolling who wants their phone to make them smarter, not duller. Why Scroll: - Built for the modern attention span: short, sharp, and useful - No fluff, no filler. Just real facts, ideas, and stories you'll remember tomorrow - New lessons and topics are added every week, so the feed stays fresh and there's always something new to learn - Free to use daily. Optional Premium unlocks unlimited lessons. Knowledge Packs are one-time purchases for going deeper on the topics that matter to you Take a coffee break. Take the bus. Wind down before bed. The minutes you'd usually spend doomscrolling are now minutes you spend learning something worth knowing. Download free and start your daily knowledge habit today. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Do Instead

Features
Read full description

Block distracting apps. Make room for what you'd rather do. You open a social app to check one thing. Half an hour later, you're still scrolling. Do Instead helps you set a boundary and bring your real tasks back into view. CHOOSE YOUR BOUNDARIES In Custom mode, give Social and Work their own apps, websites and allowed times. Add optional reminders before your windows open or close. Turning off protection or widening allowed times takes ten minutes; tightening protection applies immediately. Or start a digital detox: 14 days with a daily 30-minute window, or 21 days without regular windows. Choose your apps and review the editable website list. New programs pause Custom protection while keeping your saved setup. Track program days, streaks and milestones, then continue with your own rhythm when the program ends. TEMPORARY ACCESS WITH A PURPOSE In Custom mode, link a protected app to its English name, then say something like "Unblock Instagram for five minutes." Voice access pauses protection for that one app for 1-30 minutes, without a ten-minute wait. Switch to the app yourself; protection returns when time is up. Each session needs a fresh spoken request. Voice access is unavailable during digital detox or a protected focus session and requires microphone permission and on-device English speech recognition. You can also choose one app or website, a purpose, and 5 or 10 minutes of access. This option has a ten-minute daily budget and a ten-minute pause between sessions. Digital detox uses its own temporary-access rules. DO SOMETHING INSTEAD Bring tasks from Apple Reminders into view, or connect Todoist with Pro. Keep your next task nearby with Home and Lock Screen widgets. Start a 25-minute focus session around a task, take a guided breathing break, or try a short desk workout with a 3D coach. Complete tasks and watch your oak grow from an acorn into a tree. Quiet days don't erase its growth. With Pro and Screen Time permission, focus sessions can keep selected apps and sites blocked even during allowed windows. Completing a task does not unlock blocked apps. FREE AND PRO Free: Apple Reminders, widgets, focus timers, oak growth, breathing, desk workouts and the gentler Shortcuts route. Shortcuts needs an automation that opens Do Instead when you open a chosen app. Pro: Screen Time blocking, separate Social and Work schedules, digital detox programs, temporary access, protection during focus sessions and Todoist integration. Subscription prices and eligible trials are shown before purchase. HOW PROTECTION WORKS Blocking requires Screen Time permission. Website coverage varies by browser and iOS version. You can add domains or import a browser history export; imported domains stay on your device. Added websites may show Apple's restriction page instead of the task shield. With Pro, the Safari extension defers to Screen Time; without Pro, it uses its own website list. On iOS 26.5 and later, open your task manager from the shield through Do Instead. Earlier versions offer a notification shortcut when enabled. Screen Time permission can be revoked, and uninstalling removes protection. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No Do Instead account, ads, analytics or tracking. Task integrations connect to the services you choose. Voice recognition runs on your iPhone; audio and transcripts are not saved. Program progress and access reasons stay on your device. Privacy Policy: https://groei.dev/do-instead/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Scroll4 screens
Do Instead4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Do Instead at every 5 days against Scroll's every 5 weeks. Scroll's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Scroll sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Do Instead sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scroll ships an update every 5 weeks, Do Instead every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Scroll versus Do Instead: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScrollDo Instead
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWilson MuchekeGroei BV

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Scroll

Subscriptions2
  • Scroll - Daily Learning Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Scroll - Daily Learning Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time6
  • Stoicism Pack$2.99
  • Psychology Pack$2.99
  • Money Mindset Pack$2.99
Show 3 more
  • History and War Pack$2.99
  • Peak Productivity Pack$2.99
  • Science and Wonders Pack$2.99
2 purchases

Do Instead

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Pro7 Days trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Scroll free?
Scroll is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Do Instead free?
Do Instead is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Scroll or Do Instead have ads?
Neither Scroll nor Do Instead shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scroll or Do Instead?
Scroll ships an update every 5 weeks, and Do Instead every 5 days. Most recently, Scroll was updated on October 21, 2026 and Do Instead on October 24, 2026.

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