Colors
Streaks alternative: Colors, and when Streaks still wins
Published 6 August 2026 · Updated 10 August 2026
The short version. If you are shopping for a Streaks alternative, the honest answer depends on why you are leaving. Streaks is still the better buy if you are all-in on Apple, want to pay once and never think about it again, and want your habits talking to Apple Health. Colors is the better fit if you want to try a habit tracker without paying anything, if you keep several habits at once and want to see which ones you finished on a given day, and if you would rather no account existed at all.
Both are good apps. They disagree about what a month should look like.
Side by side
| Streaks | Colors | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99, one-time | $4.99/mo · $29.99/yr · $49.99 lifetime |
| Free tier | None, paid up front | 3 habits, this month and last, 1 reminder |
| Platforms | iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac, Vision | iPhone (Android planned) |
| Data model | On device, Apple Health integration | On device, no account, no analytics |
| Visualisation | Task grid with streak counts | Month calendar, one color per habit |
| Limits | Up to 24 tasks | Unlimited habits on Premium |
Colors prices are US pricing and may vary by region. The yearly plan includes a 7-day trial.
Choose one or the other
Choose Streaks if…
- You want to pay once. $5.99 and it is yours; no subscription to remember, no renewal to cancel.
- You use Apple Health and want habits to sit alongside the rest of your health data.
- You want it on Apple Watch, iPad, Mac or Vision as well as your phone. Colors is iPhone only today.
- You are happy deciding up front. Streaks has no free tier, so the $5.99 is the trial.
Choose Colors if…
- You want to try before paying. Three habits, free, for as long as you like.
- You track several habits and want to see which ones you did on a given day rather than how many.
- You want no account anywhere. Colors has no sign-up and no analytics of any kind.
- You want more than 24 habits eventually. Streaks caps at 24 tasks.
What the difference actually looks like
The interesting difference is not price, it is what a finished day looks like.
Streaks shows tasks with their streak counts: how many days in a row you have kept each one going. It is the model the app is named after, and it is good at the question “am I keeping this up?”
Colors shows a month calendar where each day is a ring split into one segment per habit you completed. Four habits done is a day with four colored arcs; one habit done is a solid disc of that habit’s color. The question it answers is different: not “how long is my run” but “what did my August actually look like?” Glance at the month and the shape of your life is visible: the weeks you read every night, the fortnight the gym stopped happening.
Which of those two questions matters more is genuinely a matter of taste. If streak counts motivate you, Streaks is built around them. If a streak counter makes you anxious and you would rather see the pattern, that is what Colors draws.
Price, honestly
$5.99 once is very hard to beat, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. Over three years Streaks costs $5.99 and Colors on the yearly plan costs about $90. The lifetime purchase at $49.99 is the closest comparison, and it is still eight times more.
What you get for that difference is a real free tier (you can use Colors for three habits forever without paying) and no cap on habits once you do. Whether that is worth it depends on whether three habits is enough for you, and whether 24 tasks is a ceiling you would ever reach.
If paying once matters most to you, buy Streaks. That is a real answer, and it is the right one for a lot of people.
Platforms
Streaks wins this outright today. iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac and Vision, with widgets, all included in the one purchase.
Colors is iPhone only, with Android planned after launch. If you want your habits on your wrist, Streaks is the one that does that now.
Privacy
Both apps keep your data on your device, which puts them in the same small category: neither is running your habit journal through a server for advertising.
The difference is at the edges. Streaks integrates with Apple Health, which is a feature if you want it and a data flow if you do not; Health data stays on your device and under your control, but it is a connection Colors does not make. Colors has no account, no sign-up, no analytics and no advertising identifier, and its history lives only in a database on the phone. The trade-off for that is real: Colors has no sync between devices in version 1, so your backup is your iPhone backup plus the CSV export.
Questions
Does Streaks have a free version?
No. It is a one-time $5.99 purchase with no free tier, so the decision happens before you have used it. Colors has a free tier of three habits.
How many habits can each track?
Streaks supports up to 24 tasks. Colors allows 3 on the free tier and no limit on Premium.
Can I use either on Apple Watch?
Streaks yes. Colors is iPhone only for now.
Do either of them need an account?
Neither requires one. Colors has no account system at all.
What is the best Streaks alternative?
It depends on what you want instead of it. Colors if you want a free tier and a calendar that shows which habits you did. HabitKit if you need Android, or prefer a per-habit grid. Habitify if you want your habits synced across every device. Our buying guide goes through all of them by category.
Colors is our app. Facts checked August 2026 from public listings; if something is outdated, tell us at hello@getcolors.app.