Comparison

depart. vs Align

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

Head to head
About

depart.

This app provides a single countdown to tell you the exact moment to leave for your destination, factoring in live traffic and a safety buffer. It offers lock screen and dynamic island integration, and smart adjustments for Pro users. The core features are free, with an optional Pro upgrade for advanced planning.

Highlights
  • Live traffic-based departure countdown
  • Lock screen and Dynamic Island integration
  • Calendar event auto-start
  • Automatic departure detection
  • Smart departure adjustments (Pro)
  • Weather-aware buffer alerts (Pro)
  • Trip history and on-time stats
Features
Read full description

depart watches the traffic for you and tells you the exact moment to leave so you make it on time. one countdown, one decision, that's the whole app. you tell depart where you're going and when you need to be there. it pulls live drive time from apple maps, adds your safety buffer, and shows a single number: the minutes until you should leave. when traffic shifts, the number shifts. you don't have to keep checking. the countdown also lives on your lock screen and inside the dynamic island. when it's time to go, depart taps you on the wrist. and the moment you actually leave, the trip clears itself. depart is built around the leave-by decision, not around following you the whole drive. THE CORE IS FREE FOR EVERYONE • countdown timer with live traffic updates • lock screen live activity and dynamic island • calendar auto-start, so any location-tagged event becomes a trip • auto-end on departure, so depart clears itself once you've left • map confirmation popup before each trip starts • 8 home screen icon variants in 8 color palettes (custom hex too) • trip history with on-time stats • multi-trip queue, so you can chain a day's plans • share-eta via imessage • siri shortcuts: ask "hey siri, when do i leave?" • apple watch live activity • ios widgets in small, medium, large, plus lock screen circular, rectangular, and inline • upcoming-trips queue widget DEPART PRO ($9.99 one-time, or $0.99/month) • smart departure adjustments. depart learns from your history. if you arrive 3 minutes early every monday, depart quietly trims the buffer for that destination. • per-day buffer overrides. friday cushion can differ from sunday cushion for the same place. • weather-aware buffer and prep alerts. depart checks the forecast at your arrival time and adds minutes for rain or snow, with a heads-up a few hours out. • trip planner. transport mode per trip (walk or drive), parking buffer per destination, alternate routes, and a first-time-destination heuristic. • calendar conflict detection and meeting smarts. flag the meetings that actually matter and depart will grow the buffer for them automatically. • calm mode and quiet hours. lock the countdown to the sage tone, and silence courtesy reminders during a window of your choosing. • insights+. per-destination on-time rates, day-of-week patterns, and the total minutes of traffic depart caught before you left. • history export in csv, json, and pdf. • developer info. build, runtime, trip state, location, flags. pro comes two ways: a $9.99 one-time lifetime purchase, or a $0.99/month auto-renewing subscription. both unlock the same features, and every future pro feature ships at no extra cost. PRIVACY depart is local-first. no account, no sign-in. your destinations, trip history, and recurring templates stay on your phone. depart runs no server of its own. your location goes to apple maps for drive time (and, on pro, to apple weather for the forecast at your destination). your purchase is handled by apple and revenuecat, which sees an anonymous id, never your identity, location, or trips. that's the only data that leaves your device. WHO IT'S FOR people who hate being late but hate calculating when to leave even more. depart does the math, watches the traffic, and gets out of your way.

About

Align

This minimal weekly planner offers a unique, visually engaging approach to organization, inspired by 2000s aesthetics. It features quick capture, smart task rollover, and creative tools like a music player and photo strips to personalize your planning experience.

Highlights
  • Minimalist weekly layout
  • Quick capture (type or voice)
  • Google Calendar sync
  • Draggable music player
  • Photo strip creator
  • Stickers and cut-out letters
  • Smart task rollover
  • Brain dump feature
Features
Read full description

Align is a planner with personality — a minimal weekly planner that feels like decorating your desk in the 2000s. - Weekly layout for natural, visual planning - Quick capture — type it or say it, it's saved - Two-way Google Calendar sync - POD.EXE — a draggable click-wheel music player powered by Spotify - PHOTOBOOTH.EXE — snap photo strips and pin them to your week - Stickers, cut-out letters, and room to make it yours - Smart rollover — unfinished tasks follow you to today - Brain dump for racing thoughts - Syncs across all your devices Planning doesn't have to be sterile. Make your week yours.

Screenshots

depart.4 screens
Align4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Align at none against depart.'s 2. Align also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. depart. sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Align 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 depart. against 5.0 for Align. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
depart. versus Align: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterdepart.Align
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJaved HooseinDeanna Goldberg

In-app purchases

2 purchases

depart.

Subscriptions1
  • depart pro$0.991 Month
One-time1
  • depart pro — lifetime$9.99
None

Align

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is depart. free?
depart. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Align free?
Align is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, depart. or Align?
depart. and Align are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do depart. or Align have ads?
Neither depart. nor Align shows ads.

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