SimplePlan vs Ascend
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
SimplePlan
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SimplePlan keeps planning simple and helps you focus on what matters today. There are no overloaded dashboards, complicated systems, or endless settings. Just daily routines, todayβs tasks, and visible progress. When you need a wider view, group related work into projects, plan the next seven days, and manage dates in the calendar. Features: β’ A calm, focused plan for today β’ Projects for related tasks and routines β’ Progress, upcoming plans, and Later items inside each project β’ Seven consecutive days starting today β’ A Later list for ideas and future tasks β’ Daily items for reading, exercise, nutrition, and other routines β’ A calendar with month navigation, date selection, and quick task creation β’ Rescheduling that preserves task history β’ Monthly insights for tasks, fully completed days, and daily routines β’ Consistency for each daily item: completed, skipped, and success rate β’ Morning reminders and timed task notifications β’ Calm design, smooth animations, and accessibility support Your data stays locally on your iPhone. SimplePlan requires no account, contains no ads, and does not track you.
Ascend
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Ascend lives directly on your Apple Reminders and Calendar β four honest lanes, one mountain. No new database, no import, no account β your tasks ARE your reminders, your events ARE your calendar, and everything syncs the way it already does. NOW β One rail for the whole day: events, due tasks, and due notes in order, with a line where you stand. Complete, triage, or edit anything in place. TASKS β Four honest lanes as a living list: Execute, Next, Waiting, Someday. Drag a task between lanes and Ascend rewrites the real reminder β priority and due date included. DAYS β A time grid that respects your hands: tap an empty slot to create, press and hold to move or resize blocks β snapped to 15 minutes, across days. Tasks move too. THE CLIMB β Your last 30 days drawn as an ascent. Every completion climbs 10 m. Start a Climb for any project and watch the route ahead reach for its summit. TWO MARKS, EVERYWHERE β North Star pins the few things that matter above everything, on every device. Flag punches a row orange without hijacking your order. ON THE WRIST β The watch is a tool, not a viewer: open and edit tasks and events from the face, dictate titles, star, flag, complete, or delete. The Now Timeline complication draws your next hours as an hour grid in your calendars' real colors β the mountain waits at base camp all morning and stands at the summit until midnight. The North Stars complication keeps the few that matter one glance away. NOTES β Markdown notes with checklists, folders, due dates, and links β synced privately through your iCloud. PRIVATE BY ARCHITECTURE β No servers. No accounts. No analytics. Ascend makes no network connections of its own; Apple's Reminders, Calendar, and iCloud are the database
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Ascend at every 11 days against SimplePlan's every 2 months. Ascend also leads on device support (4 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SimplePlan ships an update every 2 months, Ascend every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on September 13, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SimplePlan | Ascend |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 11 days β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch β better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ildar Khasanov | Gabriel Boisvert |
In-app purchases
SimplePlan
No in-app purchases
Ascend
No in-app purchases









