Comparison

FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter vs StepQuest

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

Head to head
About

FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter

This app transforms your daily steps into a thriving virtual aquarium. Reach your step goals to earn rewards, unlock new fish species, and maintain a healthy aquatic environment. It's a gamified approach to fitness that motivates you to stay active.

Highlights
  • Gamified step tracking
  • Virtual aquarium growth
  • Unlockable fish species
  • Daily step goal setting
  • Streak rewards and badges
  • Private and ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

Your steps grow a living aquarium. FinSteps turns the walking you already do into a reef full of fish. Hit your daily step goal and the tank thrives — you earn pearls, unlock new species, and keep the water clear. Let it slide and the water clouds over and your fish start to suffer. It's a virtual pet that lives on your real-world movement. FREE TO PLAY Download it, name your first fish, and start walking. NO GPS. NO ACCOUNT. NO ADS. FinSteps reads one thing from Apple Health — your step count — and it never leaves your iPhone. You don't have to walk anywhere in particular, change your pace, or look at your screen. Just walk like you already do. WHAT YOU DO • Set a daily step goal (default 8,000, adjustable 1,000–100,000) • Walk. Your iPhone counts steps automatically through Apple Health • Hit your goal and watch the celebration when you cross the line • Earn pearls and spend them in the shop on fish and decorations • Grow streaks. Unlock milestone badges and rare species FISH TO COLLECT Start with a hardy guppy that survives even the roughest week. Then streak your way through 19 species, from the Shallows out to Open Water: Moorish Idol, Jellyfish, Seahorse, Mandarinfish, Octopus, Pufferfish, Betta, Lionfish, Blacktip Shark, Sea Turtle — and, for the long haul, a Hammerhead Shark, a Narwhal and a Whale Shark. Furnish the tank with a castle, coral, a sunken ship, a giant clam, a sea anemone and a bubbling diving helmet. Prestige streaks at 90, 180 and 365 days unlock exclusives you can't buy — the Koi, Manta Ray and Golden Arowana. THE SWELL Every goal you hit pays pearls, and a streak multiplies them — up to 3× at Full Swell. Miss a day and the Swell eases instead of resetting, so a bad day costs you a little, never everything. STREAKS THAT REWARD YOU EARLY The first three streak days each unlock something. You'll see progress on day one, not day seven. Week Warrior, Fortnight Fin, Monthly Master and beyond wait for the long haul. FORGIVING BY DESIGN Miss a day and you still earn a few effort pearls for what you walked. Fish take a heart of damage, but the tank recovers fast when you come back. Even fish that pass on rest in a Memorial for three days — bring them back with pearls before they float away for good. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT FinSteps has no accounts, no ads and nothing to sign up for. Your aquarium, your streak and your history live on your iPhone. REQUIREMENTS • iPhone with iOS 17 or later • Apple Health access for step counting • Optional: Apple Watch — steps from your Watch count too Terms of Use (EULA): https://finsteps-web-tau.vercel.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://finsteps-web-tau.vercel.app/privacy Made by an independent developer. Feedback shapes what gets built next — reach out through the support link.

About

StepQuest

Features
Read full description

Your hero is only alive while you keep walking. StepQuest exists to make a daily walking habit something you actually keep. Not with another streak badge or a reminder you learn to ignore, but by turning your step count into a roguelite RPG where a character's survival is the thing at stake. -= How It Works =- You pick a daily step goal, and it locks in for the whole adventure, so you set your own difficulty. Every day you hit it, your character earns XP and levels up. Every day you miss, you lose a heart. Run out of hearts and the run is over. Steps come straight from Apple Health, so there is nothing to log by hand. You walk, the game keeps score. -= Missing a Day Is Survivable, Not Free =- Six days in a row earns a rest day, and your next miss is forgiven automatically. A full seven day streak regenerates a heart. Blue hearts, earned only from the hardest quests, absorb a missed day as a last resort. Use all of it and a run can last months. Ignore it and five bad days end everything. -= Death Is Not a Reset =- When the last heart goes, your level resets, but your gold and your avatar collection are permanent. You cash out gold based on how long you survived, spend it on cosmetics, and start the next run with everything you have collected. A bad run costs you progress, never your collection. -= Your Steps Are the Currency =- More than 140 avatars across five styles: standard, casual, edgy, fantasy, and cyberpunk. Every one of them is priced in gold, and walking is what earns it. The rarest take real distance to reach, so your character ends up wearing the ground you covered. -= Quests Worth Chasing =- Daily, weekly, monthly and legendary quests. A perfect month. Half a million steps in a single run. A hundred consecutive days. -= On Your Wrist and Home Screen =- An Apple Watch app, a Watch complication, Home Screen widgets and Lock Screen widgets keep today's steps and your remaining hearts one glance away, so you always know how close the day is to costing you a heart. Raise your wrist or glance at a locked phone, no need to open the app. No accounts. No sign up. Just your steps. Disclaimer: StepQuest is free to play and shows ads. Optional in-app support tiers grant bonus gold and remove ads. Nothing you can buy affects your hearts, your step goal, or your progress.

Screenshots

FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter4 screens
StepQuest4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter at none against StepQuest's shown. StepQuest's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks) and device support (3 vs 1). On price and in-app purchases 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. FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and StepQuest sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter ships an update every 3 weeks, StepQuest every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter versus StepQuest: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFinSteps Aquarium Step CounterStepQuest
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscription—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB60 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMichael CurtisAdam Golczak

In-app purchases

3 purchases

FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Premium Annual7 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium Lifetime$79.99
5 purchases

StepQuest

One-time5
  • Toss a Coin$1.99
  • Tavern Round$2.99
  • Squire's Tribute$4.99
Show 2 more
  • Royal Benefactor$9.99
  • Legendary Patron$19.99

Questions

Is FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter free?
FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is StepQuest free?
StepQuest is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter or StepQuest have ads?
StepQuest shows ads; FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter does not.
Which is updated more often, FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter or StepQuest?
FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter ships an update every 3 weeks, and StepQuest every 4 days. Most recently, FinSteps Aquarium Step Counter was updated on November 5, 2026 and StepQuest on October 31, 2026.

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