DayCast vs Squirrel
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DayCast
This app consolidates your daily planning, note-taking, journaling, and financial tracking into a single, private space. It features on-device AI for reflections and summaries, with robust PDF annotation and editing capabilities. All data is encrypted locally for maximum privacy.
- Task and event planning with reminders
- Rich text notes with sketches and photos
- Mood-aware journaling with AI reflections
- Multi-currency spending and net worth tracking
- PDF annotation, markup, and text extraction
- On-device AI for summaries and prompts
- Encrypted local-first data storage
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Your planner, notes, journal and spending tracker in one private app, on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and the web. Keep only the sections you use. PLANNER • Today shows your day at a glance, with a Weekly Review of tasks, habits, mood and spending • Today, Upcoming, Anytime and Someday views, plus a Logbook of what you finished • Type naturally: "Call Sam Friday 3pm !!" fills in the date, time and priority • Plan My Day, Paste as Tasks, and import from Reminders • Time and location reminders, and repeating tasks you can pause • Day, week, month and timeline views; projects, energy levels and a completion heatmap • Habits with streaks and daily reminders NOTES • Type / for headings, checklists, tables, photos and callouts; type # to tag as you write • An Inbox for everything you share, clip or email in, until you file it in a notebook • Rich text with highlight colors, collapsible headings, code blocks and inline math • Notebooks, tags, saved searches, links, flashcards and version history • List or card view, a daily note, handwriting and document scanning • Paper, color or photo backgrounds, and color labels • Search shows the date, amount or code you need first • Import your notes from Evernote (ENEX) JOURNAL • Moods, activities and custom scales, with Apple Health mood logging • Photos, video with transcripts, maps and a calendar view • Prompt packs, On This Day, Life Patterns and a Year in Review • Breathing sessions saved as Mindful Minutes, and a First Aid Kit for hard days • Import from Apple Journal SPENDING • Apple Card and Wallet auto-import: purchases arrive on their own, already categorized • Safe to Spend: what's really free today, from your balance or this month's income, and from Siri • Zero-based budgeting with Ready to Assign, budget history and burndown • Scan receipts with line items • Import bank files (OFX, QFX, QIF); transfers stay out of your totals • Subscriptions with trial reminders, bills calendar, savings goals • Budget alerts, Hide Amounts and Month in Review REPORTS HUB Spending trends, cash-flow forecast, merchant insights, tax report and reimbursements. PDFs Read, mark up, fill forms, reorder pages, listen aloud, and ask questions about any PDF. LABS Switch on extras in Settings: priority matrix, duplicate day, note map, net worth, debt payoff and product prices. EVERYWHERE YOU WORK • A real Mac app with menus, multiple windows, an inspector and Handoff • Apple Watch app for quick tasks, expenses and moods • DayCast on the web, unlocked with your own passphrase • Email things in, or save pages into a notebook with the web clipper • Widgets, Control Center controls including Quick Note, Live Activities and Siri SHARE WHEN YOU WANT Share a note or a journal with other iCloud users and comment together. Only the people you invite can read them. PRIVACY FIRST • No DayCast account, no ads, no tracking • Your data is encrypted on your devices before it syncs; Apple only stores ciphertext • iCloud sync is optional; DayCast works fully offline • Face ID or passcode lock ON-DEVICE AI Summaries, proofreading, translation, journal reflections, a spending coach and Ask DayCast run on your device with Apple Intelligence. Ask DayCast can also use Private Cloud Compute, only if you turn it on. PREMIUM DayCast is free to use. Premium unlocks Apple Card and Wallet import, the AI tools, Reports Hub, advanced PDF tools, extra journals, unlimited budgets and goals, custom repeats and more. One subscription covers iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web app. Monthly or yearly, with a free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://jcmobileappstudio.com/apps/daycast/privacy Website: https://jcmobileappstudio.com
Squirrel
This app helps you reduce time spent on habit-forming apps by setting aside money for each time you open them. It connects screen time management with personal finance, encouraging savings and investment without direct financial transactions.
- App blocking for habit-forming applications
- Set aside money for each app opening
- Track savings history
- Optional portfolio tracking for investments
- No account or login required
- No ads or tracking
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Some apps you open on purpose. Some you open out of habit. Squirrel turns the habit into savings, money you keep and invest. I almost never chose to open Instagram, it was always a knee-jerk reaction to being on my phone with nothing better to do. Growing up, staying focused and managing my time has always been a real struggle for me, and as social media got bigger, I felt more and more susceptible to doom scrolling and being careless with how I used these apps. But I never wanted to delete them. I truly believe there's a time and place for all of them. A lot of my relationships are better because of social media, whether that be from sending memes to friends, looking back on old memories, meeting my college roommate (true story), and even meeting my now girlfriend (another true story). It would be hypocritical to say social media hasn't improved my life, it certainly has. But the problem is the other side of it, the hours I lost without consciously deciding to. I've tried the built-in screen time limits. I had Instagram capped at 40 minutes a day... that same week I spent 12 hours and 48 minutes on it, more than double my next most used app, because "ignore limit for today" is one tap away. The week after I started using Squirrel it was 1 hour and 45 minutes. The week after that, 56 minutes. That's just my usage, but the drop was hard to argue with. Squirrel is different because it doesn't treat these apps as the enemy. Other apps do the blocking part, but none of them connect it to the other thing people my age are behind on, which is investing. Two problems most college students and young adults have: too much time on their phones, and no idea where to start with money. Squirrel puts them together so each one fixes the other. HOW IT WORKS Pick the apps you want to put behind a decision. Opening one is your cue to set a few dollars aside for yourself. Nothing is charged. No money moves through Squirrel. It only records what you set aside. You invest it yourself, wherever you already invest, and tell Squirrel what you bought. The optional Portfolio upgrade tracks it so you can watch it grow. NOTHING IS CHARGED Opening a blocked app is always free. The amount you set aside is a note to yourself, like a swear jar. Squirrel never processes a payment for it, never connects to your bank or brokerage, and never moves money. You decide what to do with it, outside the app. There are no goals, no targets, no limits, and no streaks. There is nothing to fail. FREE AND PAID Blocking, setting money aside, and your savings history are free forever. The Portfolio view (holdings, growth charts, market prices, and projections) is an optional paid upgrade: $19.99 once, or $8.99/year auto-renewing. Prices may vary by region. Portfolio features shown in the screenshots are part of this upgrade, and have nothing to do with blocking or opening apps. No account, no login, no ads, no tracking. Everything stays on your phone and in your own iCloud. Squirrel is not a bank, broker, or financial advisor and does not give investment advice. You make every investment yourself. Any growth figures shown are illustrations, not guarantees. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://brian-hall-dev.github.io/squirrel-site/#privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: DayCast at 4 against Squirrel's 1. DayCast also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. DayCast sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Squirrel sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for DayCast against 5.0 for Squirrel. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.
| Parameter | DayCast | Squirrel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 35 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JC Mobile App Studio LLC | BRIAN RICHARD HALL |
Customer experience
DayCast
Squirrel
In-app purchases
DayCast
- DayCast Premium Monthly$5.991 Month
- DayCast Premium Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
Squirrel
- Portfolio Annual$8.991 Year
- Portfolio Lifetime$19.99









