Comparison

Ontime vs Cue

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

Head to head
About

Ontime

This app acts as an external clock for individuals with ADHD or time blindness. It helps you plan your routines backward from a deadline, providing precise start times and alerts to ensure you leave on time without stress.

Highlights
  • Backward planning from deadlines
  • Start-now alarm for exact start times
  • Step-by-step routine guidance
  • Live Activity countdown on Lock Screen
  • Apple Watch glanceable time pressure
  • Home Screen widgets for quick status
  • Routine insights and buffer adjustments
Features
Read full description

If you have ADHD or time blindness, you know the feeling. You had plenty of time. Then somehow you're late again, apologizing, watching someone's face fall. It's not that you don't care — your brain just doesn't track time the way clocks do. Ontime is the external clock your brain is missing. Tell it when you need to be out the door and what your routine looks like. It does the backward math and tells you the exact minute to start — no guessing, no "one more minute." HOW IT WORKS • Backward planning: enter your deadline; Ontime stacks your routine steps and finds your true start time • Start-now alarm: one loud, unmissable alert at the exact minute to begin — not a vague reminder • Step-by-step mode: while you get ready, see what to do now and whether you're ahead or behind • Built-in buffer: pads for the transitions your brain skips MADE FOR ADHD BRAINS • Live Activity: the countdown lives on your Lock Screen, always in sight • Apple Watch: glanceable time pressure without picking up your phone • Widgets: "start in 23 min" right on your Home Screen • Insights: see which routines run over and which weekdays need more buffer • No streaks, no guilt. Just out the door on time. ONTIME PRO Ontime requires an Ontime Pro subscription — monthly or annual, auto-renewing. The annual plan starts with a free trial: nothing is charged until it ends, and you can cancel anytime in Settings. Prices are shown in the app before you subscribe. Terms of Use: https://on-time-ios.web.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://on-time-ios.web.app/privacy

About

Cue

Features
Read full description

It's a Widget. It's that simple. It lives on your home screen. Press and hold anywhere on your wallpaper, and add CUE Widget. CUE: ADHD Routine Widget was built around making reminders simple. Instead of asking you to open an app, unlock a screen, and scroll past everything else your phone thinks is urgent, CUE puts the one task you need to do directly on your home screen, visible before you've made a single decision about where to look. You see it, you tap it, and it's done. This is not a productivity system with color-coded projects and a weekly review you'll abandon in a couple of weeks. CUE is built around how ADHD brains move through a day, which is not in straight lines and not on anyone else's schedule. A morning routine gets built the same way a real morning happens, one visible step at a time, not as a checklist you're supposed to finish before you're allowed to feel okay about yourself. Miss a day, and CUE doesn't lecture you about it. It just shows you tomorrow's step. You don't need a diagnosis to use it. A student who reliably forgets what time her lab starts, a father running two kids and a shift schedule, a person who has lost the same set of keys four times this month, all end up using CUE the same way, which is to say they stop thinking about the system and just look at the widget. Reminders are gentle by design, because a phone that buzzes at you eleven times a day trains you to ignore it, and an ignored reminder is worse than no reminder at all. CUE asks once, clearly, at the moment that matters, and gets out of your way. Add the widget. Build one routine. Check it when you need to focus, and forget about it the rest of the time, which is the whole point. That's the pitch. The rest is just the part where you find out it works. Terms of Use: https://bigkidney-cpu.github.io/cue-landing/terms-of-service.html

Screenshots

Ontime4 screens
Cue3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Ontime at weekly against Cue's every 6 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Ontime sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Cue 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

Ontime ships an update weekly, Cue every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Ontime versus Cue: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOntimeCue
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscription—
DevicesiPhone, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperADESH PANDEYJonny Kidney

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Ontime

Subscriptions2
  • Ontime Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Ontime Pro Annual$29.991 Year
2 purchases

Cue

Subscriptions2
  • CUE Widget Monthly$3.991 Month
  • CUE Widget Annual$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Ontime free?
Ontime is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cue free?
Cue is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Ontime or Cue have ads?
Neither Ontime nor Cue shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ontime or Cue?
Ontime ships an update weekly, and Cue every 6 weeks. Most recently, Ontime was updated on October 31, 2026 and Cue on November 6, 2026.

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