Comparison

CARROT vs Paywake

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

Head to head
About

CARROT

This app rewards you financially for walking and achieving activity goals. Earn virtual currency to play games, compete in challenges, and bid on rewards like gift cards. It gamifies health and wellness with fun competitions and unlockable prizes.

Highlights
  • Earn financial rewards for walking
  • Personalized daily activity goals
  • Virtual currency for games and auctions
  • Live, real-time reward auctions
  • Gamified health and wellness competitions
  • Bonus points via iBeacon technology
  • Support for manual wheelchair users
Features
Read full description

CARROT is the only walking app that adapts to you. Every other app gives everyone the same goal — usually 10,000 steps. CARROT looks at how many steps you actually walk today and sets your goal just above that. Then it slowly increases it over time. You build a real walking habit without ever feeling overwhelmed. "I'm diabetic so it's helping me with my diabetes. It really gives us the incentive to get our steps each day." — Sister Darlene Marie Schoenhorr Hit your goal → earn CARROT coins → redeem for real gift cards (Starbucks, Amazon, and more). No fake points. Real rewards. CARROT SURVIVOR — Our most popular challenge. The most sedentary person and the marathon runner compete in the same challenge — privately, against their own personal goal. Nobody is embarrassed. Everyone can win. Oakland University reduced healthcare costs by 2% in 2019 using CARROT — while peer organizations saw increases. (Ron Watson, AVP) Free to download. Start where you are.

About

Paywake

This app incentivizes users to wake up on time by allowing them to risk money and earn cash rewards. Users set a wake-up time and an amount to deposit, and if they wake up on time, they receive their deposit back plus earnings. Photo verification confirms wakefulness, and earnings can be cashed out to a debit card or Venmo.

Highlights
  • Cash incentives for waking up on time
  • Link debit card for secure transactions
  • Set wake-up times and deposit amounts
  • Photo verification to confirm wakefulness
  • Instant cash-out options
  • Streak bonuses for consecutive wake-ups
  • Leaderboards to compare earnings
Features
Read full description

Paywake pays you real cash for waking up on time! HOW IT WORKS Download Paywake and set up your account in seconds. Then, pick an amount of money to risk and a time to wake up. If you wake up on time, you’ll get your money back plus even more, but you’ll lose it if you wake up late. LINK YOUR DEBIT CARD OR APPLE PAY Paywake allows you to link your debit card or Apple Pay and transfer money in and out of your Paywake account securely and instantly. No need for bank details, just seamless transactions. SCHEDULE A WAKE UP Once your account is funded, set your desired wake up time, pick a deposit that works for you, and commit to waking up on time to earn cash. The more you deposit, the more you earn when you wake up on time. PHOTO VERIFICATION To ensure you're awake and up, Paywake requires photo verification. Just snap a quick photo of a household object when your alarm goes off to confirm you're up, and you'll get paid instantly. CASH OUT When you’re ready, transfer your Paywake earnings to your debit card and get your money in 1-3 business days. Want your cash ASAP? You can instantly transfer your Paywake earnings to your debit card or Venmo account for a tiny fee.* STREAK BONUSES Consistency pays off with Paywake! Earn an extra bonus by scheduling wake ups for multiple days in a row. The streak bonus increases as your streak grows, up to a maximum bonus of 25%. LEADERBOARDS Challenge yourself and compare your earnings with other users on Paywake's weekly, monthly, and all-time leaderboards. See how you stack up against the top Paywake earners and strive for success. Rise and shine with Paywake and make the most of your mornings. Download Paywake now and start earning money just by getting out of bed on time! *The instant / Venmo transfer fee is the greater of $0.25 or 1.75% of the outbound transfer amount.

Screenshots

CARROT4 screens
Paywake4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Paywake at none against CARROT's 10. Paywake also leads on review sentiment (57% vs 24%) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). CARROT's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (2.3K vs 11). On price, rating, ads and monetization model 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. CARROT sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Paywake asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for CARROT against 4.4 for Paywake. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CARROT has 2.3K ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 24% of CARROT's written reviews are positive against 57% of Paywake's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CARROT ships an update weekly, Paywake every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
CARROT versus Paywake: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCARROTPaywake
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (2.3K ratings) — better4.4 (11 ratings)
Positive reviews24.0% of reviews56.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.3K — better11
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMarvel Apps, LLCPaywake Corporation

Customer experience

CARROT

All ratings2,345 ratings
Positive84.4%
Neutral5.6%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews150 reviews
Positive24.0%
Neutral11.3%
Negative64.7%

Paywake

All ratings10 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews92 reviews
Positive56.5%
Neutral6.5%
Negative37.0%

User reviews

CARROT

From 2.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Motivating
  • 👍 Fun challenges
  • 💡 Innovative concept

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitches and bugs
  • 🔒 Poor customer support
  • 💰 Unrealistic rewards
  • 🚫 Useless for non-premium users
  • 🇨🇦 Not suitable for Canadians

Paywake

From 11 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💰 Legitimate money-making opportunity
  • ⏰ Effective habit-building tool for waking up
  • 👍 User-friendly interface and design
  • 🎯 Simple concept - get paid for waking up on time
  • 🤝 Responsive and helpful customer service

Room to improve

  • 💸 Requires upfront money deposit to earn
  • ⏱️ Very tight 2-minute grace period for verification
  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing issues
  • 🔐 Account access problems and login failures
  • 📵 App doesn't load or function properly

Bugs and requests

CARROT

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Steps not tracking accurately
  • Rewards not being delivered
  • Connectivity issues

Requested features

3 requests
  • More attainable rewards
  • Better syncing with fitness trackers
  • Improved communication with users

Paywake

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • App crashes immediately upon opening
  • Login not recognized despite correct credentials
  • Cannot reset password or change login method
  • App freezes during photo verification
  • App doesn't load regardless of internet connection
Show 11 more
  • Wake-up time settings revert to previous time
  • Photo verification fails to register valid items
  • Deposit function shows error or insufficient funds error
  • Withdrawal amount displays incorrectly
  • Money disappears after Venmo transfer
  • App logs out unexpectedly
  • Streak bonuses don't apply as advertised
  • Cannot schedule next wake-up in time for bonus
  • Internet connection issues cause missed verification
  • Phone number cloning and unauthorized messaging
  • Account lockout with duplicate phone number error

Requested features

12 requests
  • Gift card payment options (Amazon, Apple, DoorDash, Starbucks, Netflix)
  • PayPal integration for deposits and withdrawals
  • Credit card payment option
  • Flexible wake-up times outside of 5AM minimum
  • Referral program
Show 7 more
  • Notification system for wake-up reminders
  • Support for non-traditional schedules and shift workers
  • Ability to preview earnings before completing wake-up
  • Longer grace period for photo verification
  • Visa gift card option
  • CashApp integration
  • Expanded photo recognition database

In-app purchases

10 purchases

CARROT

Subscriptions2
  • CARROT Wellness Premium1 Month trial$2.991 Month
  • CARROT Pro (Monthly)$24.991 Month
One-time8
  • 21 in 21 Challenge$20.99
  • 30 in 30 Survivor Challenge$29.99
  • Add 10 additional Participants$59.99
Show 5 more
  • Add 50 Participants$249.99
  • Challenge – 50 Users$314.99
  • Add 100 Participants$499.99
  • Challenge – 100 Users$599.99
  • Challenge – 200 Users$999.99
None

Paywake

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CARROT free?
CARROT is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Paywake free?
Paywake is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, CARROT or Paywake?
CARROT is rated higher. CARROT averages 4.4 out of 5 from 2.3K ratings, while Paywake averages 4.4 from 11 ratings.
Do CARROT or Paywake have ads?
Neither CARROT nor Paywake shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CARROT or Paywake?
CARROT ships an update weekly, and Paywake every 2 months. Most recently, CARROT was updated on November 1, 2026 and Paywake on November 3, 2026.

Other comparisons