Comparison

ZenClock vs Zen Quotes Clock

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

Head to head
About

ZenClock

This app transforms your iPad or iPhone into a visually appealing desk clock. It offers interactive time displays with customizable background color modes, including a unique spectrum that cycles through millions of colors over time.

Highlights
  • Minimalist design
  • Interactive time display
  • Widgets for quick access
  • Single background color modes
  • Color Clock modes with spectrum cycling
  • Optimized for desk stands
Features
Read full description

Zen Clock is a minimalist iPhone clock built around calm, legibility, and strong typography. Designed to work beautifully on a desk, nightstand, charging stand, or an always-nearby spare iPhone, it offers a full-screen time surface that never demands your attention. We intentionally avoided building a generic alarm, timer, or productivity app. Instead, Zen Clock’s promise is simple: make checking the time feel quiet, polished, and visually intentional. Signature Color Clock Modes Experience time as a living color, not just digits. Our signature Color Clock modes transform the current time into a shifting, live background gradient. Full Spectrum: Maps Unix time across the entire color spectrum. Day Mode: Maps the current day from midnight to night. Hour Mode: Maps the current hour from the top to the end of the hour. Curated Visual Themes & Typography Choose from seven striking visual themes, including White on Black, Black on White, White on Blue, Red on Black, and our signature Color Clock modes. Pair your theme with four distinct typographic styles (Zen, Rounded, Mono, and Serif) to make your clock feel airy, friendly, precise, or editorial. Composed for Your Space With our preview-first settings, you aren't just toggling options—you are composing a timepiece. Choose the layout that fits your environment: Pure: The ultimate minimalist experience. Time only. Calendar: Elegantly integrates the weekday and date. Editorial: A beautiful, designed asymmetric composition. Board: A restrained status surface that gracefully holds supporting information without overpowering the time. Supporting Context (Premium) For those who want a bit more at a glance, Zen Clock gracefully integrates extra details without the clutter. Add a curated World Clock rail to display up to two global cities (such as Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, or Sydney). Access live local weather conditions and temperatures seamlessly integrated into your composed layout while the app is open. Home Screen Widget Bring a touch of Zen Clock to your Home Screen with our included minimal clock widget, featuring a stark black background, crisp white text, and our signature aesthetic. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sociallycs.com/privacy.html

About

Zen Quotes Clock

Features
Read full description

Zen quotes are quotations and sayings that have been passed down in Zen Buddhism. Zen quotes express the spirit of Zen, and many of them can be used as teachings or hints for life. This digital clock application contains over 800 Zen quotes and can display various Zen quotes along with the time. The Zen quotes can be displayed continuously or automatically switched every 10, 20, 30, or 60 minutes. Touching the clock's text switches to the setting mode. In setting mode, you can change the date and time to various formats and move the letters and stone pictures. Also, touching a Zen quote will randomly switch to a different Zen quote. You can also use two fingers to zoom in and out on the picture of the stone. Touch the settings icon to go to the settings menu. Here you can change the background, Zen quotes, and other settings in detail. You can also switch between 12-hour and 24-hour displays. The background can be selected from 20 different landscape photos. A time signal can also be set to sound at 0 minutes.  The sound of the time signal can be selected from 78 different tones. The screen can be rotated horizontally and vertically. In the Zen quote list, you can copy the text to the clipboard by pressing and holding each word. Please try to find your favorite Zen quote.

Screenshots

ZenClock4 screens
Zen Quotes Clock4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ZenClock at none against Zen Quotes Clock's 1. ZenClock also leads on ads (none vs shown). Zen Quotes Clock's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). On price and device support 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. Zen Quotes Clock sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ZenClock asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ZenClock ships an update every 3 months, Zen Quotes Clock every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 15, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ZenClock versus Zen Quotes Clock: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZenClockZen Quotes Clock
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSocially Conscious Software LLCMihoko Araki

In-app purchases

None

ZenClock

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Zen Quotes Clock

One-time1
  • Zen Quotes Clock with no ads$2.99

Questions

Is ZenClock free?
ZenClock is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Zen Quotes Clock free?
Zen Quotes Clock is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ZenClock or Zen Quotes Clock have ads?
Zen Quotes Clock shows ads; ZenClock does not.
Which is updated more often, ZenClock or Zen Quotes Clock?
ZenClock ships an update every 3 months, and Zen Quotes Clock every 5 weeks. Most recently, ZenClock was updated on August 15, 2026 and Zen Quotes Clock on September 14, 2026.

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