Where do the facts on this site come from?
Every app fact comes from the app's own website, pricing page or official store listing, and each comparison states the date we checked. Research claims link to the published study. When a vendor makes a claim we can't verify, such as user counts or outcomes, we label it as the vendor's claim rather than repeating it as fact.
All vendor facts on the current pages were checked on October 30, 2026. Prices change often, so the vendor's live page always beats ours.
What criteria do we compare accountability tools on?
We compare five things: who or what checks on you (person, group, AI, or stakes), how the check-in reaches you (app, text, call, video), what happens after a miss, published price and free options, and platforms. These come from what accountability needs to work: a check, a schedule, and a consequence.
| Criterion | What we look for |
|---|---|
| The check | Who sees your progress: a person, a group, software, or nobody |
| Delivery | Whether it reaches you (texts, calls, notifications) or waits for you to open it |
| Miss response | What actually happens when you skip: a nudge, a strike, a charge, nothing |
| Price | Published price on the vendor's page or store listing, with any free tier |
| Platforms | iPhone, Android, web, SMS |
Do we test apps hands-on?
Where a page says only that a feature exists, that comes from the vendor's own description. We don't publish scores, rankings by "test results" or claims about how well an app performed unless we can show the method and the data. Rankings on this site are organized by fit for a need, not by a number we made up.
How do we handle The Operator Standard?
We work on The Operator Standard team, so we disclose it next to every mention in a comparison and describe its limits alongside its features: no free plan, a higher price than most AI coaches, and an 18+ age rating in the App Store. Its facts come from the official page and its App Store listing, like every other app.
How do we keep pages current?
Each page shows a last-updated date. When a vendor changes its price or features, we update the page and the date. If you spot something out of date, the vendor's current page is the source of truth, and we'll fix ours.