Habitica Alternatives: 8 Apps for Building Habits With Friends

Habitica gets one thing very right: other people. When you join a party and miss your dailies, your friends take damage from the boss. That small bit of shared consequence keeps a lot of people going far longer than any solo tracker would.

But plenty of people who search for apps like Habitica aren't leaving because of the friends part. They're leaving because of everything around it: the pixel-art RPG, the setup time, the gold and gear, the to-do list that grows into a second job. What they want is the party without the game.

This list is for them. It's eight Habitica alternatives judged on one question: how well does it help you build habits with friends or a group? If you're after a straight head-to-head with one app, our Habitica alternative comparison covers Daily Pact vs Habitica feature by feature. This post is the wider view.

A note on fairness: we build Daily Pact, so it's on the list and it's first. Everything below sticks to features each app is well known for. Apps change their pricing often, so where we aren't sure of a current price we say so. Check the app store listing before you commit.

What to look for in a Habitica alternative

If friends are the reason you liked Habitica, these are the features that matter:

• A shared goal, not just a shared view. Some apps let friends see your habits. Others put everyone on the same challenge with one scoreboard. The second kind is closer to a Habitica party.
• A visible consequence. In Habitica it's boss damage. Elsewhere it might be a broken group streak, a leaderboard, or losing credits. Something has to make a missed day feel real.
• Easy invites. If getting friends in takes ten minutes of setup each, half of them won't make it.
• Room for bad days. Groups fall apart when one miss feels like failure. Look for pauses, freezes or forgiving rules.

The quick comparison

1. Daily Pact: the party without the RPG

Daily Pact is the closest thing to a Habitica party with the game taken out. You create a private group, set a shared challenge (daily, or a few times a week), and everyone checks in with one tap. The challenge screen shows who has checked in today, the leaderboard ranks the group by consistency, and your phone buzzes the moment a friend finishes. If someone hasn't shown up by evening, you can send them a nudge. It's the same "don't let the party down" feeling, without having to open a game to get it.

The equivalent of party damage is the group streak: you each have your own streak, and the pact has one together, so a missed day is something the whole group notices. When someone is sick or travelling, the group can vote on a PactPause so the streak survives, which keeps the group together through bad weeks.

Try it on iPhoneTry it on Android

Good for friends and groups:

• Groups of any size, up to 1,000 people
• Invite four ways: one link in the group chat, several contacts at once, a pasted email list, or a QR code
• Leaderboards and streaks per challenge
• Takes about a minute to set up, with no character to build

Pricing: each person gets a 14-day free trial, then Pro is $0.99/month, $9.99/year or $39.99 once. If one person would rather pay for everyone, the Group plan covers a whole group: up to 15 people for $9.99/month, 50 for $24.99 or 200 for $49.99. It's bought in the app.

Not for you if: you love the RPG layer. There's no avatar, gear or quests, on purpose.

2. HabitShare: free sharing with close friends

HabitShare is the simplest app here. You track your own habits and choose, habit by habit, which friends can see your progress. It's free, with no premium tier at the time we last checked.

Good for friends: private by default, per-habit sharing, very little setup.

Not for you if: you want a shared goal or any competition. There are no group challenges and no leaderboard, so it's closer to sharing a view than joining a party. The app also hasn't seen many updates in recent years.

3. Habit Huddle: seasons and a bigger community

Habit Huddle organises people into "huddles", which can be public communities or invite-only groups. Everyone keeps their own streak while adding to a shared chain, and monthly seasons reset the leaderboard so newcomers can still win. It's also forgiving, with streak freezes and a vacation mode.

Good for friends: private huddles, plus public ones if your friends drop out. Works on the web and through Discord as well as on phones.

Not for you if: you want something minimal. There's a lot to learn, and the paid plans are on the expensive side for this category. Check current pricing on their site.

4. Squad: stakes, with a start and an end

Squad runs time-boxed challenges of one to four weeks. Private squads with friends are free; public squads use credits that you earn back by checking in and lose when you miss. If Habitica's boss damage was what motivated you, the credit system is the closest real-world version on this list.

Good for friends: a clear start and finish, honest logging of misses, free private squads.

Not for you if: you want an ongoing habit with no end date. Challenges finish after a few weeks. Check current pricing for credits and Squad Pro.

5. Cohorty: when your friends won't commit

Cohorty matches you into a small cohort of strangers doing the same challenge. There's no group chat and no pressure to cheer anyone on. You check in, your cohort sees it, and that's it.

Good for: people whose friends keep dropping out of challenges. It's "quiet accountability" with people who chose the same goal.

Not for you if: you specifically want to do this with people you know. Platform support was limited to web and iOS when we last checked.

6. Forest: focus together, phones down

Forest is a focus timer: you plant a virtual tree, and it grows as long as you leave your phone alone. Its Plant Together mode lets friends start a session at the same time, and if anyone picks up their phone, the tree dies for everyone. That's a very Habitica-like shared consequence, applied to one habit.

Good for friends: study groups, co-workers and anyone fighting phone habits together.

Not for you if: you want to track habits beyond focus time. Pricing differs between iOS and Android, so check the store listing.

7. Strava: the social network for workouts

If your habits are mostly running, cycling or workouts, Strava may already be where your friends are. Clubs, group challenges, segments and kudos make it intensely social. It's not a general habit tracker, but for fitness habits few apps match the network.

Good for friends: clubs, shared challenges and seeing every friend's activity in one feed.

Not for you if: your habits aren't exercise. Reading, sleep or meditation don't fit. Strava has a free tier and a paid subscription; check current pricing.

8. Focusmate: a partner for work habits

Focusmate pairs you with another person for a live video co-working session. You each say what you'll work on, work in silence, then check in at the end. It's built on the body doubling idea, and it works well for people who find solo tracking too easy to ignore.

Good for: work, study and writing habits. You can book with the same partner repeatedly, but it's usually one-to-one with strangers.

Not for you if: you want a group of friends on one challenge. Check current pricing; there's a limited free plan and a paid one for unlimited sessions.

Which Habitica alternative should you choose?

• You want Habitica's party, minus the game → Daily Pact
• You just want friends to see your habits, free → HabitShare
• You want seasons and a community → Habit Huddle
• You want real stakes → Squad
• Your friends keep quitting → Cohorty
• Your main habit is focus or phone use → Forest
• Your main habit is exercise → Strava
• Your main habit is getting work done → Focusmate

Running a group of more than a few friends?

Habitica parties are small by design. If you want to run a challenge for a bigger group, like a team at work, a gym, a class or a coaching cohort, the problem changes: you need everyone in on the same day, and you need nobody to drop off at a payment screen.

That's what the Daily Pact Group plan is for. One person pays and covers everyone in their groups, members never see a paywall, and you can paste up to 200 email addresses at a time and see who opened the invite and who joined. See how it works for workplace wellness challenges, coaches and their clients or a group fitness challenge.

Quick answers

Is there an app like Habitica but simpler? Yes. Daily Pact keeps the group accountability and drops the RPG: one shared challenge, one tap to check in, and a leaderboard.

What's a free Habitica alternative for friends? HabitShare is free for sharing habits with friends. Squad's private squads are free. Daily Pact has a 14-day free trial, then $0.99/month.

Which Habitica alternative works for a whole team? Daily Pact, since one person can cover the whole group with a Group plan. For more options built for groups, see our best apps for group challenges.