Way of Life alternative for counters and timers
Way of Life combines quick check-ins with notes and charts. miniHabits focuses on four ways to record an action.
The short answer
Consider miniHabits if you want to record counts, durations or quantities alongside checkbox habits. Do not choose it expecting a replacement for Way of Life’s diary or reminders.
What Way of Life does
Way of Life’s official site describes colour-coded habit check-ins, reminders, diary notes and charts across longer periods. Its notes can capture context that a simple completion mark cannot. Source: Way of Life.
miniHabits does not currently provide a habit-note entry interface or notification reminders. If writing why a day went badly is central to your review, that is a reason to keep a tool with notes.
miniHabits today
miniHabits is a paid iPhone habit tracker for iOS 17 and later. It has four tracking modes: checkbox, counter, timer and quantity. Schedules can be daily, selected weekdays or a number of times per week. Its heatmap shows 26 weeks.
Streak shields bank on satisfied days and are spent automatically on a missed day when available. A protected day stays visible in the history; it is not recorded as a completed habit. Break mode pauses judgement for all habits without spending shields.
Your device’s iCloud account is required for backup and sync. There is no free tier or free trial. After onboarding, a purchase or restore is required to enter the tracker. The two plans are an auto-renewing yearly subscription and a one-time lifetime purchase. EUR reference prices are 25 € per year and 34,99 € lifetime. Your App Store checkout shows the local price and currency.
miniHabits does not currently offer Android, web or Apple Watch apps, widgets, Live Activities, Apple Health integration, notification reminders, or CSV/JSON import and export. Switching means recreating habits manually, not transferring an existing history.
What changes when a habit has a number?
“Practised today” is a different record from “practised for twelve minutes.” miniHabits’ modes let you choose which information belongs to the habit.
More detail is not automatically better. If a checkbox already answers your question, adding a duration can create extra work. Use a counter, timer or quantity only when the measurement helps you make a decision.
The heatmap shows the pattern over 26 weeks. A shielded day remains distinct from a completed day, so protection does not manufacture a successful entry.
Before moving
There is no Way of Life importer. Keep your old history and notes where they are, and recreate habits manually if you switch. miniHabits cannot turn diary entries into imported logs.
miniHabits requires an iCloud account and a purchase. Choose it for the current modes and shield mechanic. Keep Way of Life if quick check-ins with contextual notes and reminders are what you need.
Sources and method
This comparison is written by the maker of miniHabits. Competitor details were checked against the official sources linked here on September 4, 2026. This is a documentation-based comparison, not a hands-on test. Features and offers can change; check the current store listing before paying.