No 19 · Comparison
The Best Productive App Alternatives In 2026
By Sebastian Röhl, creator of HabitKit
17 min read Published
The best Productive alternative for most people is a habit tracker that lets you start for free and doesn't ask for a yearly subscription before you've tried it. Five apps do that well: HabitKit, Streaks, Habitify, Loop Habit Tracker and TickTick. Which one fits depends on why you're leaving Productive, so this guide starts there.
Productive - Habit Tracker has more than 91,000 ratings on the US App Store, averaging 4.6. It's a polished app, and if it still works for you there's no need to switch. But its recent low-star reviews tell a consistent story about price, and that's usually what sends people looking.
Full disclosure: HabitKit is our app, and we put it first because it's the one we would pick. Every app here gets the same treatment anyway: real strengths, real weaknesses and facts dated to the day we checked them. There are no affiliate links, and no app paid to be on this list.
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HabitKit · Best Overall
Four habits free for good, the same app on iPhone and Android, and Pro also sold once.
4.8/5 from HabitKit's editors
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Streaks · Best One-Time Price On Apple
$5.99 once, with Apple Health and a Watch app, synced through your own iCloud.
4.6/5 from HabitKit's editors
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Habitify · Best For Bringing Your History
Phone, watch, Mac and web in sync, and it imports your Productive history.
4.4/5 from HabitKit's editors
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Loop Habit Tracker · Best Free App On Android
Free, open source and ad-free, with no account and nothing to unlock.
4.3/5 from HabitKit's editors
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TickTick · Best For Tasks And Habits Together
A to-do list and calendar with a habit tracker inside, on every platform.
4.0/5 from HabitKit's editors
Written by the maker of HabitKit, who wants you in the app that suits you. The stars are our own editorial rating out of five, not store ratings. Streaks, Habitify, Loop Habit Tracker and TickTick are named for comparison only; HabitKit is not affiliated with their makers. Prices and features come from the US App Store, Google Play and each developer's own site on the date above.
On this page
Why People Leave Productive
These are the themes that come up again and again in Productive's recent one- and two-star reviews on the US App Store, alongside what its listing says.
- The price. The US App Store lists Productive Premium at $10.99 a month, as a weekly bundle at $5.99, and as yearly plans from $19.99 up to $79.99, depending on the offer. Reviews from 2026 quote yearly prices of up to $99.99.
- A paywall before you've tried it. Several reviews describe a subscription screen during setup, before the app can be used.
- Renewals that cost more. Reviews from 2024 and 2025 describe renewals several times higher than the first year.
- Limits on the free version. The listing names "Unlimited number of habits" as a Premium feature, so the free version is capped. The exact number isn't documented on the listing.
- Billing and support. Some reviews describe charges they didn't expect and slow replies.
Productive's App Store listing names Mosaic S.r.l. as the seller and Bending Spoons Operations S.p.A. as the copyright holder. Its last iPhone update was in March 2026 and its last Google Play update in November 2025, and its App Store privacy label lists purchases, contact info and identifiers under data used to track you.
Quick Comparison
| App | Free plan | Pay once? | Platforms | Account | Our rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. HabitKit | Four habits, no time limit | Yes, Pro Lifetime | iPhone, Android | Never | 4.8/5 |
| 2. Streaks | None, paid app | Yes, $5.99 | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch | No, uses iCloud | 4.6/5 |
| 3. Habitify | Three active habits | Yes, Pro Lifetime $119.99 | Every major platform and the web | To sync | 4.4/5 |
| 4. Loop Habit Tracker | Everything, free | Nothing to buy | Android | Never | 4.3/5 |
| 5. TickTick | Five habits | No | Every major platform and the web | Not documented | 4.0/5 |
"Our rating" is our own judgment against the criteria below, not a store rating. Prices are from the US App Store on the date at the top of this page; HabitKit's vary by country and are shown in the app.
How We Evaluated
We looked at five things, in this order of weight:
- Can you start without paying? A real free plan or a single fair price, with no paywall during setup.
- What it costs to stay. Whether there's a one-time option, and what a year costs if there isn't.
- Your data. Whether your history is exportable, backed up, and yours without an account.
- Does it do what Productive did? Daily habits, schedules, reminders, streaks and a view of your progress.
- Is it looked after? Recent updates, and what recent reviews say.
Every fact on this page comes from the app's App Store or Google Play listing, its developer's website, help center or code repository, checked on the date at the top. We also read recent low-star reviews for each app's weaknesses.
The 5 Best Productive Alternatives
HabitKitNo 01 · Best Overall
Screenshots from the HabitKit listing on the App Store.
HabitKit answers the two complaints that send most people away from Productive. The free version has no time limit and no trial: four habits, with notes, categories, quit habits, a reminder per habit, backups and export all included. And when you want more, Pro is sold as a monthly or yearly subscription or as a one-time Lifetime purchase, so you can pay once and be done.
Each habit is a grid of days, filled in its colour, so the dashboard shows months of progress without a tap. Habits can be a simple yes or no, a count, or an amount in your own unit, and they can repeat every day, on chosen weekdays, a number of times a week or month, or every few days.
Illustrative demo data. Four habits is the free version's limit, and there is no time limit on it.
What it does well
- Four habits free for good, with no trial, no account and no ads (what's free and what Pro unlocks).
- Pay once if you like, with Pro Lifetime beside the subscriptions.
- Your data stays yours. Daily backups on the phone and to your own iCloud (or Google Drive once you turn it on), and free export to a file you can import again (export and import).
- Months at a glance, for every habit, on the main screen (how the grid works).
Where it falls short
- No importer for Productive. You recreate your habits and fill in recent days by hand.
- No Apple Watch, Mac or web app, and no Apple Health.
- Widgets and charts need Pro, and two phones don't stay in sync.
- Pricing
- Free for four habits. Pro comes as a monthly or yearly subscription or a one-time Lifetime purchase; prices vary by country and are shown in the app.
- Platforms
- iPhone and Android.
- Ratings
- 4.8 from 2,559 ratings on the US App Store, 4.5 from 12,194 on Google Play.
StreaksNo 02 · Best One-Time Price On Apple
Screenshots from the Streaks listing on the App Store. Images by its developer.
Streaks is the clean break from subscriptions on Apple devices: $5.99 once, with no in-app purchases at all. It tracks up to 24 habits, shown as large circles across four pages of six.
It also does two things Productive users often miss elsewhere. Apple Health can complete fitness habits for you, from steps to workouts, and there's an Apple Watch app. There's no account: Streaks syncs between your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Watch through your own iCloud.
What it does well
- One small price, with nothing to unlock afterwards.
- Apple Health completes habits for you, from more than 80 kinds of Health data.
- Interactive widgets on the home screen and Lock Screen, and export to CSV.
Where it falls short
- Apple only. There's no Android version.
- No free version to try first.
- 24 habits at most, and the circles show today more than the months behind it.
- Pricing
- $5.99 once on the US App Store, with no in-app purchases.
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro.
- Ratings
- 4.8 from 27,357 ratings on the US App Store.
HabitifyNo 03 · Best For Bringing Your History
Screenshots from the Habitify listing on the App Store. Images by its developer.
Habitify is the closest match to what Productive set out to be: a habit planner that sorts your day into morning, afternoon and evening, with reminders, timers and a mood log. It goes further on devices, with apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Android and Wear OS, plus Windows and the web, all synced through one account.
It's also the only app here that can bring your Productive history along. Under Settings › Import / Export Data › Import from Productive, it reads the database file Productive exports and brings over your habits and their past check-ins, skips and fails.
What it does well
- Syncs across every platform, including the web.
- Imports your Productive history, and Streaks backups too, and can fill in past days from Apple Health, Fitbit and Strava.
- Apple Health, Strava and Fitbit can log habits for you, with Pro.
Where it falls short
- Three active habits on the free plan, and the integrations need Pro.
- Its pricing is hard to read. The US App Store lists Plus and Pro plans, while its own pricing page still shows an older single plan.
- Low-star reviews from late 2025 and early 2026 mention sync and sign-in problems and prompts that can't be turned off.
- Pricing
- Free for three active habits. Plus is $29.99 a year; Pro is $8.99 a month, $49.99 a year or $119.99 for life on the US App Store, with a seven-day trial.
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro, Android, Wear OS, Windows and the web.
- Ratings
- 4.6 from 7,187 ratings on the US App Store and 4.2 on Google Play.
Loop Habit TrackerNo 04 · Best Free App On Android
Loop is the opposite of a subscription app. It's free, open source and ad-free, with no account and no internet connection needed, and its Google Play listing says it collects and shares no data. There's nothing to unlock: every feature is there from the start.
Habits can be yes-or-no or measurable, on flexible schedules such as three times a week, and each one gets a habit score that rises as you repeat it and fades slowly when you don't. It exports to CSV or a database file, and it has six free home screen widget types.
What it does well
- Free with no limits, and open source.
- No account, no ads and no data collected, according to its listing.
- Six free widget types, including one that checks a habit off.
Where it falls short
- Android only. There's no iPhone version.
- No sync between devices, and a plain design.
- Slow updates on Google Play, where the newest version is from September 2025; a newer release is on GitHub and F-Droid.
- Pricing
- Free, with no in-app purchases and no ads.
- Platforms
- Android, from Google Play or F-Droid.
- Ratings
- 4.7 from 63,671 ratings on Google Play.
TickTickNo 05 · Best For Tasks And Habits Together
Screenshots from the TickTick listing on the App Store. Images by its developer.
If you used Productive for routines as much as habits, TickTick may suit you better than a pure habit tracker. It's a to-do list and calendar with a habit tracker built in, plus a focus timer, so the habits sit next to everything else you plan.
The free plan includes five habits. Premium raises that to 299 and unlocks the full set of widgets, at $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year.
What it does well
- Tasks, calendar and habits in one app, synced on every platform.
- Five habits free, more than most habit-only apps.
- Habit widgets for today, the week and a monthly heat map.
Where it falls short
- No one-time purchase. Premium is a subscription only.
- Habits are a side feature of a busy to-do app.
- Logging from a phone widget isn't confirmed in its help pages.
- Pricing
- Free for five habits. Premium is $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year.
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Android, Wear OS, Windows and the web.
- Ratings
- 4.9 from 46,895 ratings on the US App Store and 4.6 on Google Play.
Which One Should You Pick?
- If the price is why you're leaving: pick HabitKit for four habits free indefinitely, or Loop on Android for everything free.
- If you want to pay once and never again: Streaks at $5.99 on Apple, or HabitKit Pro Lifetime on iPhone and Android.
- If you want your Productive history to come with you: Habitify, which imports it.
- If you need a watch, a Mac or the web: Habitify or TickTick.
- If your habits live next to your tasks: TickTick.
Our guide to habit trackers without a subscription looks at the one-time and free options in more depth.
Keep Your History When You Switch
Whatever you pick, two things make the move painless. First, export what you can before you cancel. Productive doesn't document an export on its listing, but Habitify's import guide says Productive "typically exports data as a .sqlite file", so look in its settings before your subscription ends.
Second, don't try to rebuild years of history by hand. Recreate the three or four habits you care about, fill in the last few weeks, and let the new record grow from there. The recent end of a record is the part you'll actually look at.
Then make sure the new history can't be lost. In HabitKit the phone keeps its last seven daily backups by itself. A daily backup also goes to your own iCloud on iPhone, or to your Google Drive on Android once you turn it on, with no HabitKit account (automatic backups).
A diagram of HabitKit's automatic backups, not an exact app screen. Backups are written on days you open the app; on Android, the cloud copy goes to Google Drive once you turn it on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is There A Free Alternative To The Productive Habit Tracker?
Yes. HabitKit is free for four habits on iPhone and Android with no time limit, Loop Habit Tracker is completely free on Android, and TickTick and Habitify have free plans for five and three habits.
Can I Import My Productive Data Into Another App?
Habitify can: its Import from Productive option reads the database file Productive exports, with your habits and past check-ins. HabitKit, Streaks, Loop and TickTick don't document a Productive importer, so you would recreate your habits and fill in recent days by hand.
Which Productive Alternative Has A Lifetime Purchase?
HabitKit sells Pro as a one-time Lifetime purchase, Streaks costs $5.99 once, and Habitify sells Pro Lifetime for $119.99 on the US App Store. Loop is free, so there's nothing to buy.
Who Owns The Productive App?
Its US App Store listing names Mosaic S.r.l. as the seller and Bending Spoons Operations S.p.A. as the copyright holder.
Which Alternative Works On Both iPhone And Android?
HabitKit, Habitify and TickTick. Streaks is Apple only, and Loop is Android only.
Final Thoughts
Most people leave Productive over money, not features. So pick the alternative whose price you're comfortable with for years, not just the first month: free, once, or a subscription you'd happily renew. Then start small, with the habits that matter, and let the record build.
HabitKit is free for four habits, with Pro also sold once. Get it on the App Store or Google Play.
Sources
Checked on the date at the top of this page. App names, icons and screenshots belong to their developers and are shown to identify and illustrate each app; HabitKit is not affiliated with any of them. Review themes are from the most recent reviews on the US App Store.
- Productive - Habit Tracker on the US App Store, its recent reviews and Google Play
- HabitKit on the US App Store and Google Play
- Streaks on the US App Store and exporting from Streaks
- Habitify on the US App Store, Google Play, its recent reviews, its plans, importing from Streaks, importing from Productive and its pricing page
- Loop Habit Tracker on Google Play, F-Droid and its source code
- TickTick on the US App Store, Google Play, TickTick Premium and its widget help
