A habit tracker for Mac and iPhone, without a subscription

Streaks counted from the day you started, a grid per habit, and nothing to sign up for.

Most habit trackers are a phone app with a Mac version bolted on, or a Mac app with none, and nearly all of them want a monthly payment for the privilege of counting your own days. Cadence is one native app on both, and habits are one of its four core modules: always in the sidebar, Command 4 away on the Mac, and in the tab bar on the iPhone.

The part that matters is how it counts. Start a habit in March and the completion rate begins in March, rather than dividing your fortnight by a whole year and reporting seven percent for something you have never missed. Every habit shows its current streak, its best, and its rate, with a grid of days behind it that keeps the bad fortnight visible in June.

There is no account to make, because there is no server to keep one on. The app is free on one device, and iCloud sync across your Mac and iPhone is $14.99, paid once, with no subscription behind it.

Five habits, each with a coloured streak grid and its current streak, best streak and completion rate.
A grid each, so a bad fortnight stays visible in June.

What you get

  1. Rates that are not rigged

    Start something in March and it opens at the rate you have kept since March. The window begins when the habit did, so nothing divides your fortnight by a whole year.

  2. Whatever your schedule is

    Every day, a few times a week, or particular weekdays. A habit you do on Mondays should look fine on Tuesday.

  3. Fill in the day you forgot

    Tick today from the list, or go back into the grid on Thursday when you remember that you did in fact go on Tuesday.

  4. The grid keeps the bad fortnight

    Every day you did it gets a square, and the empty ones stay empty. A rough two weeks in April is still visible in June, which is the useful part.

Questions people ask first

Is the habit tracker free?

Yes. Habits, and every other module, are free on one device with no trial and nothing withheld. The only purchase in the app is iCloud sync across devices, $14.99 once.

Can a habit be a few times a week rather than daily?

Yes. A habit can be every day, a number of times a week, or particular weekdays, and a Monday habit looks fine on Tuesday rather than broken.

What if I forgot to tick a day?

Go back into the grid and fill it in. A day you did but did not record on the day is still a day you did.

Is there an Android or Windows version?

No. Cadence is written for the Mac and the iPhone only, and there is no web version, because there is no server for one to run on.

The modules behind it

Thirty modules, and not one of them wants your email address