Goal4 vs Productive - Habit Tracker

Quick answer

Productive - Habit Tracker by Mosaic S.r.l., called Productive in its own description, has been on the App Store since 2015 and holds 4.6 stars from 91,100 US ratings. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android, and it builds programs, challenges and articles around the tracker. The free version caps your habits, though, and the store lists eight in-app purchases from $3.99 to $79.99.

Goal4 is a habit tracker for iPhone, iPad and Android. You log progress with a tap, and each habit shows up as a contribution grid and a monthly calendar. It’s free to download, there’s no account, and your habits stay on the device.

For guided challenges, articles and an Apple Watch app, pick Productive - Habit Tracker. Pick Goal4 if you’d rather see your history at a glance, in an app whose privacy label declares no data used to track you.

Side-by-side

Where Productive wins

There’s more to it than ticking boxes. Productive’s listing describes programs, articles and challenges where you compete “with other users from all over the world”, plus “daily habit tips, reflection check-ins, and motivation prompts”. Premium adds “Endless motivation with various challenges” and full-text articles. The listing also says the app helps you “manage distractions and deal with ADHD by concentrating on a focused daily routine”. That’s the developer’s claim, not medical advice. Goal4’s listing names no programs or coaching content, and Goal4 has no social features.

It’s on your wrist. Productive runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch (watchOS 7.0 or later) and Android. The description doesn’t say what the Watch app does, though. Goal4 has no Apple Watch app.

Reminders by place, and a pause button. Premium adds location-based reminders and improved reminders for individual habits. The listing also says you can “create, complete, stop, or pause habits whenever it is convenient for you.” Goal4’s reminders go by time of day. It has no skip days or streak freezes, and its quiet days only mute reminders.

People like using it. The listing says you can name each habit, pick an icon and choose its color. Reviewers say the interface is simple and clean, and that the check-off sound and celebrations are satisfying.

Where Goal4 wins

Its privacy label declares no data used to track you. Productive’s label declares Purchases, Contact Info and Identifiers used to track you. It also lists Location and User Content as Data Linked to You, for analytics and app functionality, plus “Third-Party Advertising: Usage Data”. Goal4 has no account and keeps your habits on the device. Its label declares no data used to track you. It does list Identifiers, Usage Data and Diagnostics, not linked to you, for analytics.

You can see your history, not only a count. Productive’s listing names chains, perfect days and statistics, and keeps per-habit stats and week-by-week trends for Premium. It names no calendar or grid. Goal4 shows each habit as a contribution grid in five layouts and as a monthly calendar with a daily bar chart. Its stats cover total count, completion rate, current streak and best day. You can edit any past day from the calendar, and the app warns you before a streak breaks.

It comes in more languages, and you choose the look. Productive lists 19 languages, and its listing says nothing about themes. Reviewers say it has no light mode. Goal4 is available in 39 languages and has 16 themes, with light, dark and gradient options. Its iOS widgets show the contribution grid, progress bar and streak. Productive’s listing doesn’t mention widgets at all, and reviewers say its widget can be blank, stale or broken.

Pricing

• Goal4 is free to download and needs no account. Pro comes as a weekly or a yearly plan with a 7-day free trial. The free edition shows a card for our other apps, and Pro hides it.
• Productive - Habit Tracker by Mosaic S.r.l. is free to download, but the number of habits is capped, and the listing doesn’t give the number. Premium adds unlimited habits, challenges, full-text articles, location-based reminders, per-habit stats and weekly trends. The store lists Productive Premium 1 Year at $79.99 (twice), $59.99, $39.99 and $19.99, Productive Premium 1 Month at $10.99, a Weekly Bundle Premium with FT at $5.99 and Upgrade Productive at $3.99. It doesn’t say which annual price is the standard one, and it mentions a free trial without saying how long it lasts.

On the annual entries, a year of Productive Premium costs $19.99 to $79.99. Twelve months of the monthly plan come to $131.88. A recurring complaint in its recent US reviews is that the price is too high.

Which one should you pick?

Pick Productive - Habit Tracker if you want programs, challenges and articles around your habits, an Apple Watch app, location-based reminders or a way to pause a habit, and a Premium subscription fits your budget.

Pick Goal4 if you want each habit shown as a contribution grid and a monthly calendar, count goals you log with a tap, an app in 39 languages, and your habits kept on the device with no account.

Whichever you pick, our free habit streak calculator tracks milestones from 7 to 365 days, and the habit consistency calculator scores your consistency from 0 to 100. Both run in the browser with no download. For the rest of the field, see our best habit tracker apps roundup.