OpenHabitTracker vs Habitica, Loop Habit Tracker, Streaks, and Everyday

#opensource #productivity #privacy #habittracker

This article compares OpenHabitTracker with four popular alternatives: Habitica, Loop Habit Tracker, Streaks, and Everyday. Not to declare a winner, but to help you figure out which one fits how you actually work.

🖥️ Platforms

The first question is always: does it run on my device?

	OpenHabitTracker	Habitica	Loop	Streaks	Everyday
Windows	✅	🌐 browser only	❌	❌	🌐 browser only
Linux	✅	🌐 browser only	❌	❌	🌐 browser only
Android	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅
iOS	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅
macOS	✅	🌐 browser only	❌	✅	✅
Web / PWA	✅	✅	❌	❌	✅

Loop is Android only - there is no official iOS version. Streaks is Apple only - no Android, no Windows, no Linux. Habitica works in the browser on any platform but has no native desktop app. Everyday comes close to full coverage but skips Windows and Linux.

OpenHabitTracker is the only one in this list with a native app on Windows and Linux, alongside Android, iOS, macOS, and a PWA.

💰 Price and business model

	OpenHabitTracker	Habitica	Loop	Streaks	Everyday
Free tier	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	❌ no free tier	3 habits only
Paid tier	none	$4.99/month	none	~$5 one-time	~$30/year or $100 lifetime
Ads	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌

A few things worth noting:

Habitica's subscription is cosmetic only - the core RPG features are completely free
Loop has no in-app purchases whatsoever
Streaks is a one-time purchase with no ongoing cost
Everyday's free tier caps you at 3 habits, which is enough to try it but not enough to actually use it

OpenHabitTracker is free with no habit limit, no subscription, and no ads.

🔒 Privacy and data storage

This is where the differences get more significant.

	OpenHabitTracker	Habitica	Loop	Streaks	Everyday
Account required	❌	✅	❌	❌	✅
Data stored	on your device	cloud	on your device	device + iCloud	cloud
Open source	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Optional self-hosting	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌

Habitica and Everyday require an account and store your data on their servers. If either service shuts down, your data goes with it. Loop and Streaks keep everything local, which is good for privacy but means no sync between devices. Streaks syncs via iCloud, so it stays within Apple's ecosystem.

OpenHabitTracker stores data locally with no account required. For anyone who wants to sync across devices without relying on a third-party cloud service, there is a Docker image that runs a self-hosted server. Any native version of the app - desktop or mobile - can log in to your own instance and sync, so your data travels across devices through infrastructure you control.

Habitica and Loop are both open source, which means anyone can read the code and verify what it does. Streaks and Everyday are closed source.

📅 Habit tracking features

	OpenHabitTracker	Habitica	Loop	Streaks	Everyday
Streak tracking	❌ by design	✅	✅	✅	✅
Interval-based urgency	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Habit strength algorithm	❌	❌	✅	❌	❌
Flexible schedules	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Weekly stats	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌
Apple Health integration	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌
Gamification	❌	✅	❌	❌	❌
Reminders	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Habit limit	none	none	none	24	3 (free)

The biggest philosophical difference is in the first two rows.

Four out of five apps use streak counters. Miss a day, your streak resets to zero. OpenHabitTracker was designed around a different idea: instead of tracking streaks, it tracks time elapsed since your last completion and compares it to the habit's desired interval. A habit with a 10-day interval that's 2 days overdue shows at 120%. A habit with a 4-day interval that's also 2 days overdue shows at 150% - because relative to its schedule, it's more urgent. Missing one day doesn't reset anything, it just shifts the percentage a little.

Loop takes a similarly forgiving approach with its habit strength algorithm - consistency builds up a score gradually, and missing days dips it gradually rather than wiping it out entirely.

Streaks integrates with Apple Health, so habits tied to steps, exercise, or sleep can complete automatically based on what your iPhone or Apple Watch already tracks. Nothing else in this list does that.

Habitica's gamification is either the main reason to use it or the main reason not to - completing habits earns XP, gold, and gear, and you can go on quests with other players.

📝 Notes and tasks

This is a category most habit trackers don't have at all.

	OpenHabitTracker	Habitica	Loop	Streaks	Everyday
Notes	✅ Markdown	❌	❌	❌	❌
Tasks	✅	✅ To-Dos	❌	❌	❌

Habitica has a to-do list as part of its task system, but it's tied to the RPG mechanics - completing a to-do gives your character XP. Loop, Streaks, and Everyday are habit-only apps.

OpenHabitTracker combines Markdown notes, tasks, and habits in one place. If you want to keep your daily notes, your task list, and your habit tracker in the same app without switching between three different tools, it's the only option in this comparison that supports all three.

🌍 Languages and customization

	OpenHabitTracker	Habitica	Loop	Streaks	Everyday
Languages	20	22	~10	~10	~10
Themes	26	limited	limited	limited	limited
Dark mode	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

OpenHabitTracker is available in:

English, German, Spanish, Slovenian, French, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, and Serbian.

It ships with 26 themes in both dark and light modes, which is more than any of the alternatives. Habitica has the edge on language count thanks to its large community of volunteer translators.

⌨️ Accessibility and keyboard navigation

	OpenHabitTracker	Habitica	Loop	Streaks	Everyday
Keyboard navigation	✅	✅ partial	➖ N/A	✅ VoiceOver	❓ unknown
Screen reader support	✅	⚠️ partial	⚠️ partial	✅ VoiceOver	❓ unknown

Streaks has the strongest accessibility track record in this list. VoiceOver is explicitly supported on iOS and macOS, the App Store accessibility declarations are fully filled out, and the developer has a reputation for being very responsive to blind users.

Habitica has partial keyboard navigation - Tab key navigation is documented and works across the web client, and ARIA labels were added to habit and task controls in 2023.

Loop has addressed accessibility issues when reported - color contrast, touch target sizes, missing content descriptions, and respecting the system reduce motion setting.

OpenHabitTracker follows the ARIA menu pattern in the sidebar - arrow keys move between items. The habit calendar follows the ARIA grid pattern:

← → arrow keys to move between days
↑ ↓ arrow keys to move between weeks
Home and End for the start and end of a week
Page Up and Page Down to switch months

Every button has a descriptive ARIA label. The layout uses semantic HTML landmarks. Focus moves into sidebars when you open them and returns to where you were when you close them.

🏁 Which one is right for you

Habitica - if you want gamification and accountability through a community. The RPG mechanics are unlike anything else and the core features are free.
Loop Habit Tracker - if you are on Android and privacy is the priority. Open source, completely free, stores everything locally, and the habit strength algorithm is one of the most thoughtful approaches to streak tracking available.
Streaks - if you are deep in the Apple ecosystem and want seamless Health integration. The one-time price is fair and automatic completions via Apple Watch are genuinely useful.
Everyday - if you want something visual and beginner-friendly across mobile and web. Just be aware of the 3-habit limit on the free tier.
OpenHabitTracker - if you want a free, open source habit tracker that runs natively on every platform, skips the streak counter in favor of interval-based urgency, keeps your data on your device, and can optionally sync across all your devices through a self-hosted Docker instance.

🌐 openhabittracker.net
📱 PWA: pwa.openhabittracker.net
💻 Source: github.com/Jinjinov/OpenHabitTracker