Comparison

Gentle Start vs Startline

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

Head to head
About

Gentle Start

This app provides a simple, one-tap timer to help overcome procrastination. It focuses on the act of starting, counting up from zero without pressure or goals. Designed for those who struggle with initiating tasks, it offers a calm experience with visual themes and ambient sounds.

Highlights
  • One-tap timer start
  • Upward counting timer
  • Living themes with animations
  • Ambient soundscapes
  • Live Activities integration
  • No streaks or goals
Features
Read full description

Starting is the hardest part. Gentle Start makes it one tap. Completely free: no ads, no subscription, no in-app purchases. Every theme, every sound, every companion is included - nothing is locked, and there's nothing to unlock. When a task feels too big to begin, this is the smallest possible push. Open the app, tap once, and a calm focus timer counts up from zero. That's it - you've started, and starting was the whole battle. There's no goal unless you set one, and nothing happens if you sail straight past it. No streak to keep alive. Gentle Start counts UP, not down - so there's nothing to fail and no way to fall behind. Stay thirty seconds or thirty minutes. Both count. Both are real. HOW IT WORKS - Tap to begin: one button, no setup, no plan, no account. - The timer counts up quietly inside a living, animated scene. Nothing on screen pressures you - it's just proof that you're doing it. - Stop whenever it feels right. You showed up, and that's enough. - Want a goal? Dial one in - hours and minutes, whatever suits the task. A quiet ring drains toward it, a chime you chose marks it, and the timer keeps going, because stopping stays your call. A soft landing, not a deadline. WHY IT'S DIFFERENT Most focus timers and productivity apps are built around finishing - streaks, daily quotas assigned to you, charts, pomodoro countdowns, reminders that nag. For a brain that already feels behind, that pressure is the very thing that makes starting feel impossible. So Gentle Start leaves it out. No metrics staring back at you. No guilt. No catching up. Just a gentle way across the one line that actually matters: from not-started to started. WHO IT'S FOR Made for procrastinators, people with ADHD and executive dysfunction, students facing down an assignment or a long study session, writers staring at a blank page, and anyone who knows the strange, heavy weight of simply beginning. Whether you call it procrastination, task paralysis, or "I just can't start" - if "just start" has never once worked as advice, this was built for you. EVERYTHING INCLUDED - ALL FREE - 28 living themes: drifting clouds, falling snow, rising bubbles, a quiet night sky, and more - soft animated scenes that are easy on the eyes while you work. Or pick random and come back to a fresh space each session. - 18 ambient soundscapes: rain, a crackling fireplace, ocean waves, a forest stream, and more - or play your own music from your library. - Six end chimes: a soft bell, wind chimes, a singing bowl, glass, harp, a low gong - or none at all. Whichever you pick rings once when you reach your goal, even if your phone is face down. - 17 companions: a tiny animated animal - a samoyed, a red panda, a little dragon and more - keeps you company in the Dynamic Island and on your Lock Screen while you work. You can even name yours. - Home Screen widgets and Live Activities keep your session calm and glanceable without opening the app. - Works with Siri and the Action Button, so you can start without even looking. WHAT GENTLE START WILL NEVER DO - No ads - No subscriptions - No in-app purchases - No streaks - No goals you didn't set yourself - No guilt, no shame - No account or sign-up - No tracking Your sessions stay on your device. There's nothing to log into, nothing to pay for, and nothing watching you work. Gentle Start isn't here to make you do more. It's here to make starting feel possible, especially on the days it doesn't. Tap once. Start small. That counts. Gentle Start is free on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Wherever you are, make your next start a gentle one.

About

Startline

Read full description

"I know exactly what to do. I just can't start." That gap - between knowing and starting - is where task paralysis lives. Planners organize the day. Timers count it down. Neither one closes the gap. Startline was built for that exact moment, and for the way ADHD brains actually work. It has one job: get a person from frozen to a running focus session on ONE thing, with a two-minute first step, in under a minute. Dump the noise in your head. Pick one thing. Get a tiny, physical first step. Start. Any start counts as a win. TIME YOU CAN FEEL A solid block of time shrinks on the screen and on the Dynamic Island, so a session stops being an abstract number and becomes something you can watch. Over weeks, Startline learns your real time multipliers per kind of task - the emails guessed at ten minutes that always take twenty-four - and shows them back to you, kindly. SURVIVE INTERRUPTIONS Pulled away mid-task? One tap leaves a breadcrumb. When you come back, Startline walks you to the exact step you were on, then counts you in, 3-2-1. NO SHAME, EVER No overdue piles. No streaks to break. No red badges. A Momentum meter grows with any start and fades gently - it never resets to zero. Designed for ADHD brains. Startline is a productivity tool, not medical advice or treatment. FREE, FOREVER Unlimited brain dumps and focus sessions, Pick One, 10 ramps, one breadcrumb at a time, 14 days of time calibration, and Momentum. The whole core loop works offline on day one. STARTLINE PLUS - All 50 ramps plus custom ramps you save yourself (the free tier has 10). - Your full time-calibration history and personal multipliers (free keeps 14 days). - Unlimited breadcrumbs across every task (free keeps one at a time). - Procedural brown, pink, and white noise plus rain, generated on device. - Widgets, the Action Button, and Start my One Thing. - Optional gentle time pings during a session. - A near-monochrome, motion-free theme. - Search your Someday drawer. Plus is one purchase: Lifetime 34.99 USD (pay once, own it), Annual 12.99 USD with a 14-day free trial, or Monthly 2.99 USD. Subscriptions renew automatically unless turned off at least 24 hours before the period ends. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. Any unused part of a free trial is forfeited when you buy. Lifetime is a one-time purchase and does not renew. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Startline works fully offline and is designed exclusively for iPhone. Your records live on your iPhone. No account, no ads. Privacy Policy: https://app-legal-pages.vercel.app/startline/privacy Terms of Service: https://app-legal-pages.vercel.app/startline/terms

Screenshots

Gentle Start4 screens
Startline4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Gentle Start at none against Startline's 3. Gentle Start also leads on device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads and iOS requirement 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. Startline sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Gentle Start asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Gentle Start versus Startline: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGentle StartStartline
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.2
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJOHNNY LI慧慧 高

In-app purchases

None

Gentle Start

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Startline

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Annual14 Days trial$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$34.99

Questions

Is Gentle Start free?
Gentle Start is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Startline free?
Startline is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Gentle Start or Startline have ads?
Neither Gentle Start nor Startline shows ads.

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