A free habit tracker without a subscription: what to look for

What "free" often means

Many habit apps are free to download and then draw the line somewhere: three habits at most, statistics only in premium, reminders or themes behind a subscription. That's a fair business model, but it's worth knowing before you put weeks of data into an app.

• Freemium: free with a cap on habits, unlimited only with a subscription
• Paywalled stats: ticking off is free, seeing your progress isn't
• One-time purchase: pay once, often per platform
• Free and open source: often without an account and without sync between devices
• Ad-funded: everything free, paid for by ads

A checklist before you choose

• How many habits can I track for free?
• Are statistics and history free, or only the last 7 days?
• Does it work on all my devices, and does the data sync?
• Can I export my data, for example as CSV?
• What happens to my data, and is it used for ads?
• Can I track amounts and things I want to do less of, not just yes or no?
• What happens to my streaks when I'm on holiday or ill?

How habiloop answers those questions

• Unlimited habits and categories, all free
• Statistics, 365-day heatmap, streaks and recaps without a paywall
• Works in any modern browser and can be installed on iPhone, Android and desktop, same data everywhere
• Export as JSON or CSV in the settings, account deletion with one confirmation
• Habit data is only used to run the app, never sold, shared or used to target ads
• Count habits with units, weekday schedules, weekly goals as days or totals (150 minutes a week) and quit habits with daily limits
• Pause for holidays or sick days, skip a rest day, calm mode without confetti: all included, nothing extra to pay

How it's paid for

I run habiloop myself, as Daniel Leuchter with Leuchter.ORG from Edewecht in Germany. Servers and email cost money, so there are ads on three calm pages: statistics, badges and the end of the landing page. Never while you tick off habits and never full screen. Ads only load if you allow them in the cookie banner. Say no, and there are no Google ads and no ad cookies at all.

When another app fits you better

habiloop needs an internet connection and an email address for logging in, it isn't in the app stores and it doesn't connect to Apple Health or Google Fit. If you want a tracker that works fully offline without an account, a local app is the better choice. If you want something free that works on every device and doesn't nag, give habiloop a try.