Comparison

Study Buddy Timer vs Studiary

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

Head to head
About

Study Buddy Timer

Enhance your study sessions with a virtual companion that grows as you learn. Track your progress, set goals, and stay motivated with ambient sounds and personalized study plans. Connect with a friend for collaborative learning and shared progress.

Highlights
  • Virtual study buddy that grows with you
  • Lock Screen and Dynamic Island integration
  • Home Screen widgets and Control Center access
  • Customizable study plans and AI integration
  • Ambient study sounds that unlock with progress
  • Pomodoro timer and daily goals
  • Study Pair for collaborative learning
Features
Read full description

Study with a chill buddy that grows and talks on tap. Pair with a friend, too. No rankings. Tap "Start", then "Stop" when you finish. No setup needed. The timer keeps running even if you close the app, and you can pause anytime. Every minute you study helps your buddy grow and level up. Taking a break won't shrink your buddy. Time your study without opening the app - While the timer runs, the elapsed time and your buddy appear on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, with a ring that fills as you study - Start and stop from your Home Screen widget - Start and stop from Control Center or the Action button (iOS 18 or later) - Hold your iPhone to an NFC tag on your desk to start or stop (Shortcuts), or let a Focus do it - Forgot to stop? After 3 hours you get one reminder, and you can adjust the end time later Plan what to study today - Study plans: list what to study today, then tap "Study this" to pick it and its subject before you start - Paste a study plan made with AI or anywhere else to add many plans at once - Pick events from your calendar, or connect a Reminders list - Unfinished plans carry over to the next day. After 7 days, they move to "Someday" Ambient sounds while you study - Light rain outside, forest leaves, pencil on paper, and a quiet library. Sounds unlock as your buddy levels up - They mix with music from other apps and fade out when you pause or take a break Keep going - Pomodoro: 25 minutes of focus, 5 of rest. Change the times anytime - Daily study time goal: set a goal in minutes and see how much is left - Current goal: write what you're working toward in one line - Exam countdown: see the days left on the home screen and widgets, with reminders before the exam - Summary card: after you stop, see the EXP you earned, today's total, and your streak - Share today's study as a single image - Focus rating: mark each session "Not great", "OK", or "Great" (optional) - Study calendar: days you reach your goal get a leaf - Weekly review: at the end of each week, look back at your total and the subject you studied most - Study tips: 12 ideas backed by research See what you studied, and how much - Choose a subject before you start (or just start without one) - Forgot the timer? Add records up to 30 days back - Weekly and monthly charts show time and share by subject - Add textbooks and workbooks to see your time by material - Fix the time, subject, note, or focus rating of any record later - Export your records as CSV - iCloud sync and backup: switch iPhones and get your sessions and buddy back by turning on sync with the same Apple ID Study Pair (Study Buddy Premium) Connect with one partner through an invite link and see their study time today and whether they are studying right now. Grow one buddy with the time you both put in. On days when both of you do your part, it's a "pair day" and your buddy grows more. Choose a "cheer" role instead of studying. One cheer a day is enough to take part, which makes it a gentle way to support someone in your family. Your partner only sees study-time totals. They cannot see when you studied, your subjects, or your notes. Only the person who creates the pair needs Premium. Invited partners join for free. Study Buddy Premium Auto-renewing monthly or yearly plans include Apple Watch timing, past weeks and monthly charts, earlier calendars, Study Pair creation, two extra sounds, up to 5 exams. Timer, records, buddy, and iCloud sync stay free. Existing Pro owners keep all benefits permanently and can restore without subscribing. Cancel in subscription settings. No ads. Your records are yours There are no ads. Your study records are saved on this iPhone and never sent to our servers. If you turn on "Sync with iCloud", they are also saved in your own iCloud, and the developer cannot see them. Data you share in a Study Pair is stored in the pair creator's iCloud. Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Studiary

This app helps students track study time by subject and topic, with exam countdowns and manual time entry. It offers honest data on study habits without requiring an account or sending data online.

Highlights
  • Study time tracking by subject
  • Topic breakdown within subjects
  • Exam countdowns with reminders
  • Manual time entry for missed starts
  • Detailed study habit statistics
  • Offline data storage
  • Export data as spreadsheet
Features
Read full description

Studiary times your studying, keeps it per subject, and counts down to the exam. That is the whole app. It was built for a student who wanted something simpler than everything else on the shelf, and it is deliberately small. No streaks to protect, no leaderboard, no character to feed. Just an honest record of where your hours went. A TIMER THAT SURVIVES YOUR POCKET Studiary records when you started and works the rest out from the clock. Lock your phone, switch apps, or close it entirely - not a second is lost. SUBJECTS, AND TOPICS INSIDE THEM Track Organic Chemistry, then break it down into stereochemistry, mechanisms and spectroscopy. Topics are free on every plan. EXAM COUNTDOWNS Set the date once and every screen tells you how long is left. Optional reminders arrive a week out, three days out, and the morning of. FORGOT TO HIT START? Add the time by hand. It counts exactly the same, because an app you cannot correct is one you stop trusting. HONEST NUMBERS Today, this week, all time. Which subject is eating your evenings, how long your average session really is, and the hours of the day you actually get work done. NOTHING LEAVES YOUR PHONE No account. No sign-up. No servers. Studiary has no way to see your study data, because it never sends it anywhere. WHAT IT COSTS Free: three subjects, unlimited topics, and history that never expires or locks. One payment: unlimited subjects, eight colour themes, ninety days of patterns, and export everything as a spreadsheet. No subscription. No ads. Not now, not later.

Screenshots

Study Buddy Timer4 screens
Studiary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Study Buddy Timer at daily against Studiary's fortnightly. Studiary's advantage is ratings volume (5 vs 1). On price, rating, 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. Study Buddy Timer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Studiary sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Study Buddy Timer against 5.0 for Studiary. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Studiary has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Study Buddy Timer ships an update daily, Studiary fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Study Buddy Timer versus Studiary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStudy Buddy TimerStudiary
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings15 — better
Update frequencyDaily — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.516.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZEC Inc.MATTHEW JOSEPH BRICKHAUS

Customer experience

Study Buddy Timer

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Studiary

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Study Buddy Timer

Subscriptions2
  • Study Buddy Premium Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Study Buddy Premium Yearly7 Days trial$11.991 Year
1 purchases

Studiary

One-time1
  • Unlock everything$9.99

Questions

Is Study Buddy Timer free?
Study Buddy Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Studiary free?
Studiary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Study Buddy Timer or Studiary?
Study Buddy Timer and Studiary are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 5 ratings respectively.
Do Study Buddy Timer or Studiary have ads?
Neither Study Buddy Timer nor Studiary shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Study Buddy Timer or Studiary?
Study Buddy Timer ships an update daily, and Studiary fortnightly. Most recently, Study Buddy Timer was updated on October 31, 2026 and Studiary on October 31, 2026.

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