Comparison

SimplePlan vs Ascend

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

Head to head
About

SimplePlan

Features
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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, today’s 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.

About

Ascend

Features
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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

SimplePlan4 screens
Ascend4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
SimplePlan versus Ascend: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimplePlanAscend
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 11 days β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch β€” better
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size5 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperIldar KhasanovGabriel Boisvert

In-app purchases

None

SimplePlan

No in-app purchases

None

Ascend

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SimplePlan free?
SimplePlan is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ascend free?
Ascend is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SimplePlan or Ascend have ads?
Neither SimplePlan nor Ascend shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SimplePlan or Ascend?
SimplePlan ships an update every 2 months, and Ascend every 11 days. Most recently, SimplePlan was updated on September 13, 2026 and Ascend on September 18, 2026.

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