Comparison

WakeKey vs Wake Math

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

Head to head
About

WakeKey

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Your alarm can wake you. WakeKey gets you out of bed by turning an everyday barcode into your morning key. Choose a toothpaste tube, coffee bag, shampoo bottle, vitamins, or another item outside your bedroom. When the alarm rings, walk to it and scan. No QR code to print. No puzzle you can finish under the covers. CHOOSE THE RIGHT WAKE PLAN โ€ข Get Up โ€” one scan away from bed. Included free. โ€ข Stay Up โ€” scan once, then complete a second check after a delay you choose. โ€ข Wake Route โ€” move through two or three places in your morning routine. READY BEFORE BED WakeKey prepares backup protection before you go to sleep. Reliability Center shows what is ready: alarm permission, scheduled protection, your WakeKeys, camera access, time settings, and battery guidance. If an item is unavailable or will not scan, Recovery gives you a safe way forward. Emergency Cancel is always available. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No ads. No analytics or tracking. No sleep tracking or microphone recording. Camera frames and raw barcode values are never stored. Matching happens locally on your iPhone using a protected fingerprint. BUILT FOR REAL MORNINGS โ€ข Repeating and one-time alarms. โ€ข Temporary travel WakeKeys. โ€ข Local or fixed time zones. โ€ข Private morning history without streaks or shame. Get Up, one active alarm, one active WakeKey with unlimited replacement, backup protection, Reliability Center, Recovery, Emergency Cancel, and recent history are free. WakeKey Pro adds Stay Up, Wake Route, multiple alarms and WakeKeys, Quiet Start, and full history. Choose monthly, annual, or Lifetime access. Eligible users can start with a seven-day trial. IMPORTANT WakeKey cannot ring if your iPhone is powered off or fully discharged. For safety-critical events, use an independent backup. Privacy Policy: https://wakekey.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Wake Math

Features
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An alarm clock you cannot swipe away. When WakeMath rings, a math puzzle appears instead of a snooze button. The alarm keeps going until you solve it. By the time you are done, you are actually awake. HOW IT WORKS 1. Set an alarm and pick a difficulty from 1 to 5. 2. It rings. A puzzle appears. 3. Solve it. The alarm stops. You are up. There is no swipe-to-dismiss. Closing the app, locking your phone or restarting it brings the same challenge straight back. FIVE DIFFICULTY LEVELS 1. Single-digit warm-up. Gentle even half-asleep. 2. Two-digit arithmetic. A proper nudge awake. 3. Division and missing terms. Brain officially on. 4. Algebra and mental chains. No autopilot. 5. Full Nerdle grid. Maximum friction, maximum awake. Every alarm gets its own level, so a weekday 6am can be brutal while a weekend alarm stays kind. NERDLE MODE Turn any alarm into an eight-tile equation puzzle. Build a valid equation in six tries and get per-tile feedback on every guess: right symbol in the right place, right symbol in the wrong place, or not in the equation at all. It is the hardest way to wake up and the most effective. DAILY CHALLENGE AND STREAKS One puzzle a day, the same one for everyone, seeded by the date. Solve it to extend your streak. Want to warm up first? Practice puzzles are always available and count toward your totals but never toward your streak. TRACK EVERY MORNING Total solves, best streak and fastest solve time, plus a day-by-day history of how each morning actually went. BUILT TO BE FAIR - Wrong answers never punish you. Try as many times as you need, with a hint after two misses. - Snooze is optional and off by default. Switch it on and you get a nine-minute snooze, but the final stop still needs math. - Nothing ever pretends to be locked. If a permission is missing, the app says so plainly instead of faking it. - Alarms survive a restart. If your phone reboots mid-alarm, the challenge picks up exactly where it left off. COMPLETELY OFFLINE No account. No sign-up. No internet connection, ever. Your alarms, streaks and history stay on your device and go nowhere else. There is no analytics, no tracking and no ads. BEFORE YOU START WakeMath uses the iOS alarm system so wake-ups break through silent mode and Focus. Grant alarm permission on first launch so your alarms can actually ring. Wake up your brain before you use your phone.

Screenshots

WakeKey4 screens
Wake Math4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Wake Math at none against WakeKey's 3. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. WakeKey sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Wake Math asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
WakeKey versus Wake Math: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWakeKeyWake Math
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad โ€” better
Requires iOS26.126.1
Further details โ€” not scored
Size14 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGleb KucherenkoKushal Srinivas

In-app purchases

3 purchases

WakeKey

Subscriptions2
  • WakeKey Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • WakeKey Pro Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • WakeKey Pro Lifetime$99.99
None

Wake Math

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is WakeKey free?
WakeKey is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Wake Math free?
Wake Math is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do WakeKey or Wake Math have ads?
Neither WakeKey nor Wake Math shows ads.

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