Comparison

Startr vs SunPause

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

Head to head
About

Startr

Features
Read full description

You know what you need to do, and you keep not doing it. Startr treats that as waiting, not as laziness. It gives you one small step you can finish in two minutes, so the work actually begins. HOW A DAY WORKS 1. Pick the one thing you keep putting off. 2. Startr writes a tiny first step for it with AI. You choose a time and a place. 3. At that time you get a notification with the step. Tap Start, watch the 3-2-1 countdown and work for five minutes. 4. At night you answer a few quick questions about how it went. On Sunday there is a short reset for the week. IF YOU ARE AVOIDING IT RIGHT NOW Tap "I'm avoiding it". Startr asks four short questions to find what is in the way, then gives you a step that fits. WHAT YOU GET • One thing at a time, with no task lists to manage. • A first step written for your task and sized to take two minutes. • A five-minute timer with a 3-2-1 start. • Reminders that carry the step and a Start 5 min button. • A count of the days you started, and how many minutes pass between your planned time and your real start. • A forgiving streak: a missed day dims the count and never sets it back to zero. • A two-minute lesson each day about why people put things off. • A Home Screen and Lock Screen widget, and an Apple Watch app with today's step and the timer. • No account to create. You can begin right away and sign in with Apple later if you want your data on another device. STARTR PRO Startr needs a subscription to use. You can choose: • Weekly: $5.99 per week • Yearly: $39.99 per year, with a 3-day free trial offered to new subscribers on the yearly plan Prices are in US dollars and may differ in other countries. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. If you start a free trial, you are charged $39.99 when it ends unless you cancel at least 24 hours before. Subscriptions renew automatically unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. You can manage or cancel your subscription in Settings > your name > Subscriptions. A free trial can be used once per Apple Account. Terms of Use: https://startr.si/terms Apple's standard license agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://startr.si/privacy Startr is made by RRDL LIMITED. Questions: https://startr.si/support

About

SunPause

Features
Read full description

SunPause is a gentle app limit and app blocker for iPhone. Pick the apps that eat your day, give them one daily limit, and a friendly sun helps you reduce screen time and stop scrolling Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or any app you choose. No guilt, no shame, no punishment: as you scroll, clouds drift over the sun in a pastel sky, and when your time is up, your apps rest until morning. A sunny little pause between you and the scroll. LOOKING FOR A SCREEN TIME APP THAT DOESN'T MAKE YOU FEEL GUILTY? That's exactly what SunPause is made for. No red alarms, no lectures, no shaming when you go over. The sun teases itself and your apps, never you. Kind limits, made to be kept. WANT A PAUSE INSTEAD OF A HARD BLOCK? When your time is up and you need an app anyway, the sun asks for one small thing first: three slow breaths, a quick sum, or one of six tiny games. Where's the sun? Please hold. Not a robot. Count the clouds. Blow the cloud away. Talk me into it. Then choose 5, 10 or 30 minutes. A mindful pause made to break the autopilot, without locking you out of your own phone, as often as you need it. LOVE CUTE APPS? SunPause is drawn like a picture book: a pastel sky, a smiling sun mascot that reacts when you tap it, and a sleepy moon at night. Cozy enough to open on purpose. SCROLLING IN BED UNTIL 2AM? Turn on sleep mode and your apps rest from bedtime (11 pm, or the hour you pick) until 6 am. The moon keeps watch, and the same gentle pause is there if you truly need something. NEED TO FOCUS? Start focus: 20, 45, 60 or 120 minutes in which every app rests except the ones iOS always allows. Study, work or read, and end it whenever you like. ONE DAILY LIMIT, NOT A SPREADSHEET Pick your apps in Apple's own picker and give them one daily limit they share. The sun always tells you, kindly, about how much is left. Your other apps stay open. KEY FEATURES • App limit: one shared daily limit for the apps you choose • App blocker: your apps rest when the time is up, until 6 am • A mindful pause before apps open: breathing exercise, a quick sum or a mini game • Focus sessions from 20 minutes to 2 hours • Sleep mode for bedtime scrolling • Screen time, pickups and minutes per app, straight from Screen Time • The apps outside your limit that took the most time today • Your week at a glance, and a streak for the days that count • In English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Indonesian, Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian • No account, no ads, no tracking PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your Screen Time data stays on your iPhone. SunPause can't even see which apps you picked: iOS hands it anonymous tokens. SUBSCRIPTION SunPause is free to download and needs a subscription to use: yearly, with a free trial for new subscribers, or monthly. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and the renewal is charged within 24 hours before that end. Manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings. Any unused part of a free trial ends when you subscribe. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://forappssake.studio/sunpause/privacy

Screenshots

Startr4 screens
SunPause4 screens

Verdict

The call

Startr and SunPause are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Startr sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per 7 days and SunPause sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Startr versus SunPause: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStartrSunPause
PriceFreeFree
Update frequency—Every 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.4
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB22 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerrrdl limitedRoman Hadiiev

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Startr

Subscriptions3
  • Startr Pro Weekly$5.997 Days
  • Startr Pro Yearly$39.991 Year
  • Startr Pro Yearly Trial3 Days trial$39.991 Year
3 purchases

SunPause

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly$7.991 Month
  • Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Yearly1 Month trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Startr free?
Startr is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SunPause free?
SunPause is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Startr or SunPause have ads?
Neither Startr nor SunPause shows ads.

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