New Year's Resolution Tracker: 7 Ways to Track It (2027)

A New Year's resolution tracker is anything that records, every day, whether you did the one thing you promised yourself. The best one is the tracker you look at daily and that someone else can see too: a habit app, a shared app, a printable on the fridge or a simple spreadsheet all work if they pass that test.

Below are 7 ways to track a resolution in 2027, what each is good at, and how to set one up so it still gets used after the second week of January.

What makes a good resolution tracker?

A good resolution tracker is daily, fast and visible. Daily, because a resolution like "get fit" only becomes real as a daily action ("walk 20 minutes"). Fast, because you will skip any tracker that takes more than a few seconds. Visible, because a tracker you never open can't remind you of anything.

The fourth test is the one most trackers fail: does anyone else see it? In our app data, 88% of habits started with others got a check-in in their first week, against 39% of habits started alone, and the typical solo habit got its last check-in on day 3 (Daily Pact app data (Mar-Oct 2026, 3,723 habits)). A tracker you share keeps working on the days you would rather not look.

Before picking a tool, turn the resolution into one daily check-in. Our goal setting worksheet walks you through that in five minutes.

Resolution trackers compared

The short answer: use a shared app if you want someone in on it, a solo habit app if you track alone on your phone, and paper if you want zero setup. Prices below are from the App Store listings as of October 2026.

7 New Year's resolution trackers

1. Daily Pact (best for tracking with a friend)

Daily Pact is built for the fourth test. You and a friend (or a whole group) commit to the same daily habit, each person checks in with one tap, and everyone sees who showed up today. Streaks and a leaderboard keep score, and PactPause protects a streak on a planned day off, so one holiday doesn't end the year.

How to set it up: create a pact called "2027: walk 20 minutes", set it to daily, invite one friend with a link in your chat. Start it on January 1.

2. Streaks (best for solo iPhone users)

Streaks is a one-time $5.99 habit tracker for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, with up to 24 tasks a day and automatic tracking from the Health app (steps, workouts). It's fast and pretty, and it's Apple-only. Our Streaks app alternatives page covers options for Android and friend groups.

Best for: one or two resolutions you track on your own wrist.

3. Strides (best for number goals)

Strides handles both habits and targets: a streak for "no sugar", a target for "save $2,000 by June", milestones for a project. Free users get 3 trackers; Strides Plus (the developer lists the yearly plan at $39.99) unlocks unlimited trackers and sync. iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch only.

Best for: resolutions with a number at the end, like money, distance or books read.

4. Habitica (best if you like games)

Habitica turns habits into a role-playing game: check off a habit and your character earns gold and experience; skip one and you lose health. It is free at its core on web, iPhone and Android, and you can join a party with friends. Some people love it for a year, others find the game becomes the task. See Habitica alternatives for friends if the RPG part isn't for you.

Best for: gamers who want their resolution to feel like a quest.

5. A Notion template (best if you already live in Notion)

Notion's template gallery has resolution tracker templates: a database with one row per resolution and a checkbox per day or week. Great for reviewing the whole year in one place, weak at the daily nudge, because Notion doesn't remind you to open the page.

Best for: planners who open Notion every day anyway.

6. A printable tracker (best for zero setup)

Print a monthly grid, put it where you brush your teeth, cross off each day. It is the oldest tracker there is and still one of the best for a single habit, because you can't swipe it away. Our free habit tracker printable has a January 2027 page and a blank monthly version.

Best for: one resolution, one household, a pen on a string.

7. A spreadsheet (best for custom rules)

Dates down the side, resolutions across the top, a 1 for done and a 0 for missed. A spreadsheet lets you add your own rules ("4 workouts a week counts as a win") and a chart of the month. Share it with a friend and it becomes a lightweight shared tracker.

Best for: people who like to see the numbers and set their own scoring.

How to set up your resolution tracker for January 2027

Set it up before January 1, with one daily check-in per resolution and one person who sees it. Most resolutions don't fail on January 1. They fail in week two, around Quitter's Day (Friday, January 8, 2027), when the novelty is gone and nothing is checking on you.

1. One resolution, one daily action. "Read more" becomes "read 10 pages before bed". If you need ideas, our New Year's resolution ideas are written as daily actions.
2. Pick one tracker and only one. An app plus a printable plus a journal is three things to forget.
3. Decide where it lives. Home screen, fridge, or the browser tab you open every morning.
4. Add one person. A friend doing the same resolution, or one who just sees your check-ins. This is what an accountability partner is.
5. Write the missed-day rule now. "Never miss twice" works for most people: one missed day is life, two is a new habit.
6. Review on Sundays. Five minutes: what was hard this week, what to change for next week.

Tracking a resolution with friends

Tracking with friends works because a missed day becomes visible to someone who cares. In our app data, habits shared with one or two friends got 5.9 check-in days in the first month, against 1.7 for solo habits (Daily Pact app data (Mar-Oct 2026, 3,723 habits)).

You don't need a big group. One or two friends is the sweet spot: small enough that everyone notices, large enough that someone is always checking in. If you want a structured start, try the January challenge: one small habit, one friend, every day from January 1 to 31. And for the rest of the year, our guide on how to keep your New Year's resolution past January covers what to do when the tracker shows a gap.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best app to track New Year's resolutions?

It depends on how you track. If you want a friend in on it, use a shared app like Daily Pact. If you track alone on an iPhone, Streaks is simple and Strides handles number goals. Habitica suits people who like games.

Is there a free New Year's resolution tracker?

Yes. A printable tracker, a spreadsheet and Notion's resolution templates are free, and Habitica's core app is free. Our habit tracker printable has a January 2027 page.

How do you track a New Year's resolution?

Turn it into one daily action, record each day you do it in one place you see every day, and share that record with one person. Review it once a week and adjust the action if it keeps getting skipped.

How many resolutions should I track?

One, or two at most. Every extra resolution makes each one less likely to stick. Add a second habit in February once the first is automatic.

What should I do if I miss a day on my tracker?

Mark it honestly and do the habit the next day. One missed day doesn't break a habit; two in a row starts a new one. Decide this rule before January 1 so a single miss doesn't feel like failure.