Ago vs Precursor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ago
This app helps you track how long it's been since you last performed a task, like watering plants or changing an air filter. It focuses on providing factual information without pressure or notifications, allowing you to decide when to act.
- Time interval logging
- Task reset with one tap
- No streaks or pressure
- Simple and private interface
- Customizable icons and colors
- Soft deadline indicators
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When did you last change the air filter? Water the succulents? Call your mom? Ago answers one question: how long has it been? Tap once to reset. That's it. THE GAP BETWEEN A TO-DO LIST AND A CALENDAR Not a streak tracker. Not a to-do list. Ago lives in the gap between both - for things with a rough cadence you want to honor, not a fixed schedule. Car tires. The dentist. The friend you keep meaning to call. Plants that need water every couple of weeks or so. NO GUILT TRIPS. JUST THE NUMBER. Ago shows you how long it's been and gets out of the way. No judgment. No chain to break. No notifications nagging you. Open it when you want to know. The "three months?!" moment is the whole product. You see the number, you decide what to do about it. ALWAYS ONE GLANCE AWAY - Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets show the live elapsed time, counting up in real time - Log something done right from the widget, without opening the app - A soft deadline turns a card overdue when it's been too long - a quiet cue, never an alarm BUILT TO BE EXACT, NOT FUZZY - See the precise time since you last did it, down to the day - Open any item for a monthly calendar of its history - Give each thing an icon and a color so the list reads at a glance WHAT PEOPLE TRACK WITH AGO - Home maintenance: air filter, furnace, gutters - Plant care and watering - Car service and tires - Medication and supplements - Friends and family: how long since you called? - Pet grooming and vet visits SIMPLE AND PRIVATE No accounts. No ads. Nothing to sign in to, nothing to manage. Your data syncs privately across your devices with iCloud, and stays yours. PAY ONCE. KEEP FOREVER. One-time purchase unlocks everything. No subscription. Ever. Pick a color, choose an icon, set a soft deadline, and Ago tells you when something's been a while. No alarm, no nag. Just a card that says it's time.
Precursor
This app offers a unique approach to screen time management by setting hourly limits for app usage. It aims to break the cycle of daily limit exhaustion and impulsive overrides by providing a sustainable, guilt-free solution that resets limits every hour.
- Set hourly app limits
- Automatic hourly limit resets
- Customizable limits by day
- Friction to prevent impulsive overrides
- Private by design, on-device processing
- Optional Precursor+ upgrade
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Most screen time solutions give you one daily limit. Often we spend the whole limit by late morning, leaving us locked out of our apps for the rest of the day and feeling stranded; all it takes is one vulnerable moment and we hit that tempting "Ignore Limit For Today" button. That one impulsive moment costs you not only your time, but also the motivation to keep working on whatever it is you meant to do. PRECURSOR BREAKS THE CYCLE With Precursor you can finally set an hourly app limit. For example, you allot yourself five minutes of social media scrolling per hour, and you can trust that Precursor will reset that limit at the top of the next hour. Every hour, all day, automatically. You get the brainrot break you needed, but the scroll ends right before it turns into a mindless habit. Your brain doesn't panic because you know you'll get more time to scroll in just a short hour. So you never have to feel guilty for ignoring a limit ever again. No streaks. No guilt. No shame. Just a sustainable screen time solution your day can lean on. HOW IT WORKS - Pick the apps (or group of apps) that you'd like to limit and give them an hourly allowance: 5, 10, or 15 minutes (Precursor+ extends limits up to 30). - Pick the specific days you want your limits to run (for example, on weekdays you can set stricter limits and on weekends you can set more lenient limits). - When the allowance is spent, those apps get blocked. - At the top of the next hour, your limit resets. - You set your limits once and that screen time rhythm repeats every hour, all day, automatically; so you never have to think about them again. - Precursor also allows you to stop your limits, for whatever reason, but we add some friction to help you in those impulsive moments: 1) Before stopping your limits Precursor will prompt you to write a short reflection on why you need to in this moment. 2) You can add a passcode to lock in your limit (consider allowing a trusted person in your life to set it for you if you know you'll likely bypass it). 3) Unlike other screen time solutions that give you an "ignore limit" prompt right there in the blocked app screen, Precursor requires that you intentionally open the Precursor app to stop your limits. Restrictions and punishments don't work. They never have. Precursor is built on one principle: Real change comes from one's own ability to be honest and accountable. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Precursor is built on Apple's Screen Time technology. Your app choices are opaque tokens: we never see which apps you pick, and neither can anyone else. Your usage history stays on your phone, and Insights are computed on-device. There are no accounts and no ads. Optional, anonymous usage analytics are off unless you turn them on, and they still never include which apps you choose. HONEST BY DEFAULT Precursor is free to use, with an optional Precursor+ upgrade for more groups, other reset windows, longer limits, scheduled active hours, and Deep Focus sessions. Available as a one-time Lifetime purchase if you prefer to own your productivity tools rather than subscribe. Monthly and Yearly both start with one month free. No subscription is required to keep the core, and the terms are spelled out plainly before anything renews. Please note: Deleting Precursor removes every limit. Precursor is an independently developed app by a one-person studio, Precursor Labs. Precursor+ Monthly and Yearly are auto-renewable subscriptions. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the current period ends, and you can manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID settings. Lifetime is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://precursorlabs.studio/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Apple's Terms and Policies: http://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Ago at free against Precursor's freemium. Ago also leads on ratings volume (18 vs 5). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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
Both are free to download. Ago sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Precursor sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Ago against 5.0 for Precursor. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 18 and 5 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Ago ships an update weekly, Precursor every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ago | Precursor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (18 ratings) | 5.0 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 18 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 48 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Day Two | Precursor Labs |
Customer experience
Ago
Precursor
In-app purchases
Ago
- Ago Pro$4.99
Precursor
- Monthly1 Month trial$4.991 Month
- Yearly1 Month trial$49.991 Year
- Lifetime$99.99








