Authora vs Orbit · ADHD Routine Builder
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Authora
This writing companion helps aspiring authors reclaim lost minutes for their book projects. It offers tools for writing, storyboarding, and self-publishing directly from a mobile device, turning commutes and waiting times into productive writing sessions.
- Six writing format templates
- Rich text editor optimized for mobile
- Storyboard for characters, plot, and world-building
- Export to EPUB/PDF for self-publishing
- Speech-to-text dictation
- On-device writing analysis
- Encrypted cloud sync (Premium)
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Turn waiting into writing. Most people who want to write a book never finish one - not for lack of ideas, but for lack of time to sit down. Authora is a mobile writing companion built for the life you actually have. Waiting rooms, commutes, flight delays, lunch breaks - the minutes that usually disappear into doomscrolling, reclaimed for the book you've always meant to write. WRITE ANYWHERE Six format templates - novel, journal, manuscript, academic paper, non-fiction, poetry collection. Rich text editor optimised for phones and tablets, not a desktop UI stuffed onto a small screen. Auto-save every two seconds. Focus mode for distraction-free writing. Preview mode to read your draft as a reader will see it. STORYBOARDING THAT MATCHES HOW WRITERS THINK Characters with bios, traits, and relationships. Plot arcs with scenes you can link to chapters. World-building notes. Colour-coded labels. Keep the people, places, and threads of your story organised without leaving your phone. FROM BLANK PAGE TO PUBLISHED BOOK Authora isn't just a writing app - it's a self-publishing pipeline. When your draft is done, add a cover image, and export as EPUB or PDF that's ready to upload straight to Amazon KDP, Apple Books, or Kobo. Front matter, back matter, TOC, metadata - all handled. Your finished book goes into your personal library inside Authora too, readable with a built-in ebook reader. No separate formatting tool. No desktop required. Draft to published, all on your phone. CAPTURE ON THE GO Speech-to-text dictation with live transcription. Chapter import from .docx, .rtf, and .txt - start with existing drafts, no retyping. On-device writing analysis flags passive voice, adverb overuse, clichés, and readability issues as you write. FREE FOREVER, PREMIUM WHEN YOU'RE READY Full writing experience, export, personal library, and a starter storyboard - all free, all local, no account required. Premium ($4.99/mo or $49.99/yr) adds encrypted cloud sync and backup across phone and tablet, unlimited storyboarding, inline figures with captions, and priority support. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Free users never sign in. Premium users' chapters, world notes, character bios, and plot descriptions are encrypted at rest with AES-256, and in transit with TLS - even in a breach, your draft stays unreadable. Biometric app lock on both platforms. We never read your work, never train on your writing, never sell your data. BUILT FOR PHONES AND TABLETS Native iOS App. Dark and light theme. Responsive layout on tablets. Biometric unlock. Full offline support. Dashboard showing word count trends and your completion stats. The book is already in you. Authora is where you finish it.
Orbit · ADHD Routine Builder
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Orbit is a routine app for ADHD brains — the ones that know exactly what to do and still can't start. Instead of a checklist staring back at you, Orbit gives you an orb: a calm, glowing companion that takes over the moment you tap start. It counts down each step, breathes with you, and quietly celebrates when you finish. No red badges. No guilt. No 47-step setup. WHY IT WORKS WHEN OTHER APPS DON'T • One step at a time — you never see the whole mountain, only the thing you're doing right now • Streak freezes — keep a routine going five times in a row and it earns a freeze that covers a missed day. Your progress survives bad days • Start in one tap — or just ask Siri. Move to the next step right from your Lock Screen • Timers that learn — Orbit adapts step durations to how long things actually take you BUILD A ROUTINE IN A MINUTE Start from 14 ready-made routines — morning sunlight, deep work, box breathing, hydration, evening wind-down, digital detox and more — then tweak them, or build your own from scratch. Steps can be timed, counted, or simply ticked off. THE ORB FOLLOWS YOU Start a routine and it appears on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, counting down each step in real time. Glance, tap to the next step, get back to it. Notifications tell you when a step ends — without pulling you back into your phone. Your Home Screen widget shows what's up next. STREAKS WITHOUT SHAME Streaks, levels and freezes reward showing up, not perfection. Missed days are visible but never punished — because the days you almost didn't open the app are the ones that count. FRIENDS, OPT-IN ONLY Share an invite link or QR code with one friend or ten and see each other's streaks on a private leaderboard. No followers, no algorithm, no strangers. Nothing is shared until you turn it on, and you can turn it off again at any time. MADE TO LOOK CALM Three orb styles, 28 colour palettes that shift with the time of day, pure-black backgrounds and soft motion. Full support for Reduce Motion. YOUR DATA STAYS YOURS Everything lives on your iPhone. Sync runs through your own private iCloud — we can't read it. Export or delete everything whenever you want. No ads. No trackers. Anonymous usage statistics help us improve Orbit — switch them off anytime in Profile → Data. ORBIT PRO Orbit Pro unlocks the whole app: unlimited routines, every template, all orb styles and palettes, Live Activities, widgets and the friend leaderboard. • Weekly — $2.99 per week, with a 3-day free trial • Yearly — $39.95 per year, with a 1-week free trial • Lifetime — $69.99 once, no subscription Prices are shown in your local currency before you buy. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage your subscription or turn off auto-renew in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you buy a subscription. Terms of Use: https://orbit.groot-apps.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://orbit.groot-apps.com/privacy Orbit is built by one developer who needed it. Questions, bugs or ideas: https://orbit.groot-apps.com/support
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Authora at every 9 days against Orbit · ADHD Routine Builder's every 3 weeks. Authora also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). 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
Both are free to download. Authora sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Orbit · ADHD Routine Builder sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Authora ships an update every 9 days, Orbit · ADHD Routine Builder every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Authora | Orbit · ADHD Routine Builder |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ronan Campbell | Arend de Groot |
In-app purchases
Authora
- Authora Premium (Monthly)$4.991 Month
- Authora Premium (Yearly)$49.991 Year
Orbit · ADHD Routine Builder
- Orbit Weekly3 Days trial$1.997 Days
- Orbit Weekly3 Days trial$2.997 Days
- Orbit Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
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- Orbit Yearly7 Days trial$39.951 Year
- Orbit Lifetime$69.99
Questions
Is Authora free?
Is Orbit · ADHD Routine Builder free?
Do Authora or Orbit · ADHD Routine Builder have ads?
Which is updated more often, Authora or Orbit · ADHD Routine Builder?
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