Comparison

Phaseboard vs Zen Routine

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

Head to head
About

Phaseboard

Features
Read full description

For the moments when products, prototypes, side projects, and late-night ideas are all alive at once. Phaseboard is a quiet, beautiful place to keep them, with each one's current stage, progress, and the one thing to do next. Every project breaks down the same way. From outermost to innermost: project, stage, task, subtask. Statuses roll up automatically as you check things off, so the dashboard always shows which projects deserve your time today. Projects now support deadlines, with a countdown on Home and on the project page. The Calendar page lists every deadline and task due date by month. Three new free widgets show the calendar and upcoming deadlines on the Home Screen. Two styles are available: Quiet, with soft lines and plenty of room, and Classic, the original engineering-manual look. Switch between them any time from the side menu. Phaseboard is built natively for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Your projects sync privately through your own iCloud, with full offline support. Home Screen widgets, Lock Screen views, and a Mac menu bar tile keep what you're working on always in sight. Available in English, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://phaseboard.app/privacy Subscription and refund terms: https://phaseboard.app/terms

About

Zen Routine

Features
Read full description

Zen Routine is a simple reminder app for plans that repeat on specific days of the week. “Every Monday at 9:00” “Tuesdays and Thursdays at 18:00” “Saturday at 10:00” Set the day and time once, then receive recurring reminders each week. Zen Routine is also useful for college and university class schedules. If Monday has first and third period and Tuesday has second period, you can register those weekly schedules once instead of entering the same plans again every week. Use it not only for classes, but also for part-time work, workouts, trash day, cleaning, medication checks, recurring chores, and other weekly plans. [Main features] - Register routines (up to 10 on the free plan) - Recurring reminders by weekday and time - Manage plans by day of the week - Turn notifications ON or OFF for each routine - Review registered plans in a simple list - No complicated calendar setup [Premium features] - Unlimited routine registration - Choose a color for each routine - Configure swipe actions - Back up registered data - Remove in-app ads Premium is available as a monthly subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. Eligible users can start with a 3-day free trial of the monthly subscription. After the trial, the subscription renews automatically unless canceled. Please check the purchase screen for the current price. Zen Routine is not designed to pack in as many features as possible. Weekly plans should be simple to register and simple to check. What to do. Which day. What time. Set only what you need and manage your week with less effort. Make every week simpler. Terms of Use: https://zen-series-app.mea-it-consulting.com/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://zen-series-app.mea-it-consulting.com/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Phaseboard4 screens
Zen Routine4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Phaseboard at none against Zen Routine's shown. Phaseboard also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Zen Routine's advantage is iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence 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. Phaseboard sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Zen Routine sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 3 level
Phaseboard versus Zen Routine: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhaseboardZen Routine
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB57 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer东堃 许Masakatsu Aida

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Phaseboard

Subscriptions2
  • Pro · Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Pro · Yearly7 Days trial$8.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro · Lifetime$14.99
2 purchases

Zen Routine

Subscriptions1
  • Premium Monthly3 Days trial$3.991 Month
One-time1
  • Premium One-Time Purchase$39.99

Questions

Is Phaseboard free?
Phaseboard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Zen Routine free?
Zen Routine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Phaseboard or Zen Routine have ads?
Zen Routine shows ads; Phaseboard does not.
Which is updated more often, Phaseboard or Zen Routine?
Phaseboard ships an update every 2 months, and Zen Routine every 2 months. Most recently, Phaseboard was updated on October 25, 2026 and Zen Routine on October 31, 2026.

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