Comparison

Dot vs Arctic Habit

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

Head to head
About

Dot

Features
Read full description

Dot is a habit tracker for people who quit habit apps because a broken streak felt like failure. Tap the dot when you do the thing. Miss a day, and just pick it up again. • ONE DOT A DAY Did the thing? Tap the dot. It fills in with a light haptic pulse, and you're done. • NOT EVERY DAY? PICK YOUR DAYS Set each habit to repeat every day or only on the weekdays you choose. On rest days, it's hidden from your Today list and your widget. • MISSED A DAY? NO GUILT No guilt screens, no shame notifications. Tap a day in the week or month view to fix a past record. • STATS AT A GLANCE See your patterns in a week view and a monthly calendar. The full-year heatmap comes with Dot Pro. • SHARE A MONTH AS A CARD Turn this month's dots into a single image to save or send. The full-year card comes with Dot Pro. • A REMINDER TIME FOR EACH HABIT Give each habit its own reminder time, keep the shared time, or turn it off. • HOME AND LOCK SCREEN WIDGETS Check today's progress without opening the app. • MADE FOR IPAD, TOO Dot looks right at home on the big screen. • YOUR HABITS STAY ON YOUR DEVICE No account to create, no cloud to sync with. Your habit history never leaves your device. • EXPORT ANYTIME Export to JSON or CSV in one tap. Your data is yours. • DOT PRO Upgrade to Dot Pro for unlimited habits, checks from the medium widget, Siri, Shortcuts, and Control Center without opening the app, the full-year view, and a color and shape for each habit. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://indieway.xyz/en/apps/dot/privacy Built by one person who wanted less.

About

Arctic Habit

Enhance focus and productivity with a unique timer that rewards your concentration by growing a virtual Arctic habitat. Rescue animals and decorate your island as you complete study, reading, or deep work sessions. Track your habits and gain insights into your focus patterns.

Highlights
  • Gamified focus timer with animal rewards
  • Customizable Arctic island habitat
  • Session tagging for study, reading, and more
  • Streak tracking and habit analytics
  • Deep Focus mode to block other apps
  • Focus sounds (rain, waves, lo-fi)
  • To-do list integration with Pro
Read full description

Focus and rescue your Arctic friends. Turn study, reading and deep work into a growing island of penguins, seals and orcas. MAKE FOCUS FEEL REWARDING • Set a session from 10 to 180 minutes. As you focus, the ice melts; completing the session frees your chosen animal or decoration. • Place your rewards on your own ice island. Watch penguins huddle, seals greet one another at the water's edge and orcas swim and dive. • Shape the snow and ocean with Focus Ice earned from completed sessions. Day and night follow your device's clock. UNDERSTAND YOUR HABITS • Tag sessions for study, reading, languages or exercise. • Follow your streak, compare day, week, month and year charts, and revisit your session history. • Turn on Deep Focus to lock other apps during a session. Screen Time permission is required; essential system apps remain available. • Choose focus sounds such as rain, waves, white noise, lo-fi and piano. GO FURTHER WITH ARCTIC PRO • Analyze time by tag, see your six-month focus grid and discover your golden hours. • Organize To-Dos under your tags and start a focus session for a task. Create unlimited tags. • Save Deep Focus presets of the apps you allow for study and work. • Enjoy an aurora over your island and double a completed session's Focus Ice without ads. • Unlock the orca after your first paid subscription purchase, rather than during the free trial. The focus timer, core island progression, streaks and focus charts are available free. Free users can optionally watch a rewarded ad after a session to double that session's Focus Ice; ads never interrupt an active focus session. Pro offers monthly and yearly auto-renewable plans. Eligible new subscribers receive a 7-day free trial. Prices, eligibility and renewal details appear before purchase. Manage or cancel in your App Store account settings. Restore Purchases is available in the app. Focus history and your island stay on this device. Sign in with Apple, Google or a one-time email code. Delete your account from Settings. Build a habit. Grow a habitat. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://policy.go2gym365.com/arctichabit/en/privacy

Screenshots

Dot4 screens
Arctic Habit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Dot at none against Arctic Habit's shown. Arctic Habit's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 days). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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. Dot sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Arctic Habit sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dot ships an update every 5 days, Arctic Habit every 2 days. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Dot versus Arctic Habit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDotArctic Habit
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB84 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperIndieWayjeonghwan lee

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Dot

Subscriptions2
  • Dot Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Dot Pro Yearly7 Days trial$11.991 Year
One-time1
  • Dot Pro Lifetime$29.99
4 purchases

Arctic Habit

Subscriptions3
  • Arctic Pro Weekly7 Days trial$1.997 Days
  • Arctic Pro Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Arctic Pro Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Arctic Pro Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is Dot free?
Dot is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Arctic Habit free?
Arctic Habit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Dot or Arctic Habit have ads?
Arctic Habit shows ads; Dot does not.
Which is updated more often, Dot or Arctic Habit?
Dot ships an update every 5 days, and Arctic Habit every 2 days. Most recently, Dot was updated on October 29, 2026 and Arctic Habit on October 29, 2026.

Other comparisons