Comparison

NowCue vs SideQuest

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

Head to head
About

NowCue

This app helps you organize your day by consolidating tasks, habits, and calendar events into a clear, actionable view. It allows for quick capture of ideas and provides focus sessions to minimize distractions, offering structure without overcomplication.

Highlights
  • Consolidated Today view
  • Quick idea capture
  • Habit tracking
  • Voice-friendly input
  • Widgets for at-a-glance checking
  • Focus sessions
Features
Read full description

NowCue is a daily planning app for iPhone that helps you turn loose tasks, habits, calendar events, and reminders into a clear view of what to do now, what can wait, and what should repeat. Plan your day without managing a complex schedule. Capture ideas quickly, organize flexible tasks, keep track of habits, and stay focused with a simple Today view designed around your real day. Key features: • Today view for tasks, habits, calendar events, and flexible plans • Quick capture for ideas, notes, and reminders • Habit tracking for daily routines • Voice-friendly capture for fast input • Widgets for checking your day at a glance • Focus sessions to help reduce distractions • A clear planning flow with less mental overhead NowCue is built for people who want structure without overplanning.

About

SideQuest

Transform your to-do list into an engaging adventure. Organize tasks by urgency and difficulty, earn experience points for completion, and tackle large goals as boss battles. Unlock rewards and track your progress with detailed statistics.

Highlights
  • Task Matrix for organizing tasks
  • XP and leveling system
  • Daily streaks and Momentum bonuses
  • Boss Battles for large goals
  • Unlockable rewards and animations
  • Statistics dashboard
Features
Read full description

Turn your to-do list into an adventure. SideQuest turns everyday tasks into a game you actually want to play. Instead of a flat list, your tasks live on the Task Matrix — a simple 2×2 board that sorts what you have to do by urgency and difficulty: • QUICK WIN — urgent and easy. Knock these out first. • HERO MOMENT — urgent and hard. This is where you rise to the occasion. • IF TIME — flexible and easy. Nice to get to. • PLAN IT — flexible and hard. Important work that deserves real time. Every task you finish earns XP. Level up, build daily streaks, and stack Momentum by clearing multiple tasks in a day for bonus XP — the more you get done, the faster you grow. BOSS BATTLES Break a big goal — a launch, a move, a deadline — into a Boss Battle. Every linked task chips away at the boss's HP. Finish them all, and watch the boss go down in a genuinely satisfying defeat celebration. Big goals stop feeling abstract and start feeling beatable. REWARDS & STATS Unlock new sticky-note colors and completion animations as you level up. Track your progress with a Statistics dashboard covering your streak, task breakdown, and XP trends over time. SIDEQUEST PREMIUM Go further with a Premium subscription: - Boss Battles - Every board theme, present and future - Exclusive achievements - Premium rewards and animations - Advanced analytics and deeper history - No ads Premium is an auto-renewing subscription: - Monthly: $4.99/month - Yearly: $39.99/year Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID account settings. Stop staring at a to-do list. Start leveling up. Terms of Use: Apple Standard EULA https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

NowCue4 screens
SideQuest4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: NowCue at none against SideQuest's 2. NowCue also leads on ads (none vs shown). SideQuest's advantage is ratings volume (5 vs 1). On price, rating, update cadence and device support 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. SideQuest sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. NowCue asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NowCue ships an update every 3 days, SideQuest every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
NowCue versus SideQuest: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNowCueSideQuest
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings15 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJean MillanThirty Six Pixels

Customer experience

NowCue

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

SideQuest

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

NowCue

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

SideQuest

Subscriptions2
  • Premium (Monthly)$4.991 Month
  • Premium (Yearly)7 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is NowCue free?
NowCue is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SideQuest free?
SideQuest is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NowCue or SideQuest?
NowCue and SideQuest are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 5 ratings respectively.
Do NowCue or SideQuest have ads?
SideQuest shows ads; NowCue does not.
Which is updated more often, NowCue or SideQuest?
NowCue ships an update every 3 days, and SideQuest every 2 days. Most recently, NowCue was updated on October 13, 2026 and SideQuest on October 29, 2026.

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