15 Best Habit-Tracking Apps for Sticking to Your Goals

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You may not realize it, but habits shape the quality of your life.

Once habits are set, they are very difficult to break. The brain clings to habits so tenaciously. Nearly half of the actions we perform daily are not based on thought-out decisions, but are well-entrenched habits instead.

Considering that our actions are mostly done out of habit, the quality of our lives can be affected either positively or negatively by our personal habits. It is important to note that the brain cannot distinguish between a bad and a good habit.

Thus, for the sake of our health and well-being, it’s necessary to build good habits.

Of course, with all the distractions around us, building positive habits can be challenging. Fortunately, habit trackers can help us stick to our goals to improve our health, wealth, and happiness, no matter how long it takes to form a new habit.

Today, we’re taking a look at 15 of the best habit-tracking apps that help us achieve our goal of forming positive habits.

Read on to find out more about these apps.

(Side note: Another positive ​way to improve your life is to read and learn something new every day. A great tool to do this is to join over 1 million others and start your day with the latest FREE, informative news from this website.)

This app was formerly known as Lift, but got a name change and a major makeover. The final result is Coach.me, and is perhaps your best partner for self-improvement.

It has all the features of a top-performing habit tracker.

The app allows you to customize the habits you want to work on, and set them as private or public undertakings. When a habit is set to public, other users can post comments or give you support for doing it.

via StickK

This app provides science-backed habit tracking. Behavioral economists at Yale University designed and created this platform, helping users develop accountability and leveraging rewards and incentives to keep them on track with their goals.

Upon signing up, you draw a contract with yourself to fully commit to reaching your goals. The incentive allows you to bet money on yourself.

You can also assign an accountability partner to monitor your efforts as you work toward your goals. This way, you stay motivated and conscious about staying on track.

Start a new healthy habit, or break a bad one—just don’t break the chain. This habit tracker helps you stay committed to your goals.

This is a web-based habit tracker. Specify the habits you want to build or break, and the tracker provides a visual representation of your “streaks” toward your personal goals.

Users are motivated to follow through each day. They are fully aware that neglecting to do the habit can break the chain, requiring them to begin anew.

via Momentum

This app is inspired by Jerry Seinfeld’s “don’t break the chain” approach to productivity. As you do a habit every day, your chain grows longer.

When a habit has become part of your system, you’ll be more likely to stick to it.

If you’re interested to see how you’re progressing, you can export the data about your habit to Excel. You get reminders to ensure that you don’t miss a habit. Set weekly targets by specifying the number of days in a week you want to develop (or break) a habit.

via HabitShare

This app combines habit tracking and social media to keep you accountable for building or breaking personal habits.

With this app, you’ll get reminders about the habits you’ve scheduled. You can add daily or weekly habits.

If you’re concerned about privacy regarding the habits you’re posting, you don’t need to worry. You are in control of what specific habits you show your friends so they can provide the support and encouragement you need to stick to a habit.

This app not only tracks the habits you want to improve or get rid of, it is also a great productivity tool. Self-employed individuals, entrepreneurs, software developers, and business managers can benefit from using Y-Productive.

The interface graphics are visually pleasing, and the app provides information about your efficiency and distractions in real time.

If you are aiming to develop the habit of productivity at work, this is the ideal app for you.

via ORCAS

Form a new healthy habit with the help of this app. Large goals are broken down into manageable steps. Doing these steps leads to the accomplishment of a target habit.

If you want to workout more, start eating healthier, or manage your stress levels, this app provides the support you need, both through the app’s features and from other users.

The app provides reminders of what you need to accomplish on a daily basis.

MindSet also has a journal feature that’s accessible when you view your habit for the day. You can write down your thoughts and details of the day, or record information for future reference.

At present, this app is only available for members of certain organizations.

via IFTTT

This app helps you stick to your goals through monetary incentives. You pay a penalty (called a pledge) whenever you get off track.

When you set a goal, the app’s self-tracking system provides quantifiable data that you can monitor through a graph. You can view graphs of your different goals.

The creators of the app used akrasia—or human beings’ tendency to be weak-willed—to develop this habit tracker.

Some goals that users have reached using Beeminder are:

Eliminating debt

Eating healthy

Losing weight

Doing some form of sport or exercise

Reading books

via AppAdvice

Here’s an app that helps curb your Facebook addiction.

Most people can’t put down their phones. This has become a problem for many, affecting their relationships, productivity, health, and safety. So here’s an app that helps limit your phone usage.

This app promotes mindfulness, enriching relationships, and other healthy habits that happen away from the negative influence of technology.

With friends, you plant a virtual tree and make it grow by avoiding distractions (gaming apps, social media, etc.) on smartphones. When someone uses their phone for any of these distractions, the tree dies.

The app has an incentive where you can set a price for a tree before it’s planted. When the tree dies, the user who killed it must pay that price for an actual, real tree to be planted in a chosen rural community in Southeast Asia or Africa.

via Online Course Insider

If you want to form or improve a habit using a simple interface, this app is for you. Its features include reminders, a streak calendar, and motivational quotes and sayings.

You can view your progress through visually appealing graphs that can motivate users to stay on track. A built-in discussion forum is your avenue for getting support and suggestions from other users.

There are two versions of the app—the free one and the premium one. The free one allows you to track up to five habits, with reminders provided. Meanwhile, you can track up to 100 habits on the premium version, as well as have backup and syncing on Cloud, CSV export, and widgets.

via Productive App

With this app, you can form and track good habits, improve your productivity, and stay motivated while you’re working on hitting your goals.

In the app, your goals are categorized into morning, evening, and “do anytime.” Before 12:00 PM, you’re only able to view your morning habits. The scheduling helps pace how you accomplish your habits throughout the day.

via Strides

Strides comes with all the expected features of a good habit tracker, plus some extras. It is quite simple to use, and you can easily customize it based on your needs for habit tracking.

The color-coded system allows you to see where you are hitting your targets and where you need some improvement. Charts and graphs allow you to see the statistics of your efforts to reach your goals.

This app’s interface is clean and well-organized, making the use of it a pleasant experience.

via Cinnamon Sunrise

The creation of this app is backed by science, considering that its inception was at Duke University’s Behavioral Economics Lab. It promises to “transform your life” and “reset your habits.”

The app’s appearance is worth noting. Its interface has vibrant colors, making it a bit different from other habit trackers in the market.

This app lets you create journeys—helping you work on small habits at first, and then moving on to bigger and bigger ones. The idea is that as you form habits through the use of the app, your life will undergo profound positive changes.

The journeys in this app focus on helping users with:

Concentration and focus

Becoming more energized

Better sleep quality

Healthier eating

via Matt Mazur

This habit tracker allows you to see how well you’re progressing with forming a good habit or breaking a negative one. It asks you whether you did a habit, and, based on your answer, displays a progress report. The inquiry takes less than a minute.

Users are motivated to stick with or get rid of habits because they know that they’ll have to report on how they fared each day.

The app sends reminders when you forget to make a daily report. Graphs show your progress, so you’ll know at a quick glance whether or not you are on target.

A note-taking feature allows you to jot down details and information for future reference.

This app has been voted as Healthline’s “Best Motivation App of 2019.”

via Beautiful Pixels

This app’s beautiful images are designed to motivate users as they work toward their goals. It also provides information about the user’s progress.

With Today, you are not only tracking your habits, you are also constantly experiencing a visually delightful treat. When you set a habit, you can also select an inspiring image for each of your goals.

The app allows users to customize the dashboards of their habits. A streak calendar is available to see how well you’re doing at achieving your target.

The app can be connected to Apple’s Health, and users can view relevant Health Data resources. Users can also earn badges upon completion of a goal.

Conclusion

That’s a wrap! We’ve gotten to know 15 habit-tracking apps that help you stay on track with your personal goals. Do you have a favorite among the ones featured today? (If you're looking for an app specific to goal setting, check out our post on the best goal-setting apps.)

Building good habits in all areas of our lives is important. All of our actions have an impact on our health, wealth, and happiness. Thus, let’s all strive to make that impact a positive one.

If you are interested to know more about good habits, check out this post featuring a definitive list of good daily habits that energize your day.

Finally, if you want another positive ​way to improve your life, then read and learn something new every day. A great tool to do this is to join over 1 million others and start your day with the latest FREE, informative news from this website.