Comparison

Sessions vs Podium Planner

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

Head to head
About

Sessions

This discreet timer helps professionals manage session times without disrupting client flow. It syncs with your calendar and provides subtle notifications on your watch and phone, with a visual timer display for your desk.

Highlights
  • Calendar sync for automatic session setup
  • Discreet Apple Watch notifications
  • Visual timer display with color cues
  • Lock screen and Dynamic Island integration
  • Manual session entry option
  • Session count tracking
Features
Read full description

You're in the middle of a session and you can't check the clock without breaking rapport. Or perhaps you're between clients, and suddenly realize you've fallen behind schedule. Sessions is a simple timer app built around this problem. Your appointments sync from your calendar and turn into automatic timers to help keep you on schedule, discreetly. ON YOUR DESK Your iPhone displays a calm, full-screen timer, shifting color as the session winds down. It's big enough to read from across the room and subtle enough to leave sitting out. Don't want a number in front of you? Hide the countdown and keep only the full-screen color shift. ON YOUR WRIST • A tap when the session begins • One tap at the halfway point • Two taps at five minutes left • Three taps when time is up FROM YOUR CALENDAR Point the app at your calendar and the day fills itself in. It reads start times and nothing else. Titles, notes, and the people on the invite are never stored. Anything marked as supervision can be left out, and you can set the session length your practice actually runs. Prefer to add them by hand? That works too. YOUR CASELOAD, OVER TIME The app keeps a count of every session you finish. Your lifetime total, today, and this week are free. SESSIONS PRO A one-time purchase, not a subscription, and Family Sharing is included. • Home screen and lock screen widgets • Set goals, like the sessions you need toward licensure • How today compares to your usual Tuesday, and the hours you actually work • A heatmap of every day you've worked • Milestones and personal records • A rolling weekly average, and which way it's heading PRIVACY No account, no ads, no tracking, no server. Client names never enter the app, because there's nowhere to type one. Sessions stores times and nothing else. Your history stays on your iPhone, and in your own iCloud if you want it there. Built by a marriage and family therapist in training, in the evenings and between clients.

About

Podium Planner

This daily planner helps you focus on your most important tasks by allowing you to select three top priorities each day. Unfinished tasks are organized into a 'Later' section, keeping your main focus clear. It also includes features to track progress, build streaks, and earn medals for completed tasks.

Highlights
  • Select three daily priorities
  • Organize additional tasks in 'Later'
  • Set task reminders
  • Track daily progress
  • Build completion streaks
  • Earn achievement medals
Features
Read full description

Podium Planner is a calm daily planner built around one simple idea: you can have a lot to do, but only three things deserve your main focus today. Add everything you need to remember, then choose your Top 3. Those three priorities stay front and center while everything else waits quietly in Later — organized, but out of the way. As you complete your Top 3, Podium Planner helps you build momentum with streaks, medals, and a record of your accomplishments. It’s designed to give you a clear place to decide what matters without turning your day into another overwhelming list. With Podium Planner you can: • Choose three priorities for each day • Keep additional tasks organized in Later • Set reminders for important tasks • Track your daily progress • Build streaks by completing your Top 3 • Earn medals and look back on your accomplishments Podium Planner keeps planning simple: plan everything, focus on three. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Sessions4 screens
Podium Planner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Podium Planner at every 2 days against Sessions's fortnightly. Podium Planner also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.5). 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. Sessions sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Podium Planner sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Sessions against 5.0 for Podium Planner. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sessions ships an update fortnightly, Podium Planner every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Sessions versus Podium Planner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSessionsPodium Planner
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.515.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPresently Reading LLCJason Kingsley

Customer experience

Sessions

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Podium Planner

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Sessions

One-time1
  • Sessions Pro$9.99
1 purchases

Podium Planner

Subscriptions1
  • Podium Planner Plus7 Days trial$4.991 Month

Questions

Is Sessions free?
Sessions is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Podium Planner free?
Podium Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sessions or Podium Planner?
Sessions and Podium Planner are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Sessions or Podium Planner have ads?
Neither Sessions nor Podium Planner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sessions or Podium Planner?
Sessions ships an update fortnightly, and Podium Planner every 2 days. Most recently, Sessions was updated on October 11, 2026 and Podium Planner on October 2, 2026.

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