Best Self-Improvement App of the Year: Six Apps Compared
🔍 I tested six energy apps so you don't have to.
Spoiler: the best one is the one you'll still open in a month.
When I started looking for an energy tracker, I made the classic mistake: I wanted the one with the most features. Then I realized I'd done this before — bought the most powerful habit app ever made and abandoned it by day five. So this time I reviewed differently: not "which is most powerful" but "which will you actually use?" That changed everything. Here's what I found.
The comparison table
| App | Price | Platforms | Apple Watch | Core focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylio | Free / Premium (~$20/yr) | iOS, Android | No | Mood + activity diary, micro-habits |
| Bearable | Free / Premium ($34.99/yr) | iOS, Android | No | Symptoms, mood, factors & correlations |
| Habitify | Free (3 habits) / Plus ($29.99/yr) | iOS, Android, Web | Yes | Habit tracking with streaks & widgets |
| Strides | Free / Plus ($39.99/yr or $79.99 one-time) | iOS, Mac | Yes | Goal & habit tracking with S.M.A.R.T. goals |
| Exist | Subscription only ($6.99/mo) | iOS, Android, Web | No | Automated correlations from your data |
| Minigoal | Free core / optional upgrades | Web, iOS, Apple Watch | Yes | Energy-first goals, wishes & small steps |
How to read this table (the honest way)
- Daylio — the friendliest mood diary. Great if you want one tap and done, less useful if you want energy channels.
- Bearable — the scientist's choice. Factor correlation is powerful, but the daily form is long; you must actually love data.
- Habitify — solid classic habit streaks with a watch app. Good if habits, not energy, are your main thing.
- Strides — S.M.A.R.T. goals done well, Mac + watch friendly. Best for goal junkies.
- Exist — set it and forget it; it finds correlations automatically. Beautiful — if you're okay with a subscription.
- Minigoal — energy-first with four channels and Apple Watch, free core. Disclosure: it's ours. We include it because we built it around the method in this article — and in fact, it's the only true "energy" app of the six: the others track moods, symptoms, habits, and goals; only this one tracks energy itself. But honestly, it's not for everyone. That's fine. Use Daylio. Use paper. The method matters more than the app.
Field notes from the person who actually used three of these: I tried Daylio (fun for a week, too shallow for energy), Exist (loved the auto-correlations, hated the price), and Minigoal (kept it — because it's the only one where the check-in is one minute and the four channels are right there). But that's me. My sister swears by Bearable and she's a completely different human. The right app is the one that matches your brain, not the one with the best review.
My honest verdict after all this testing: the tool matters 10%, the method matters 90%. Any of these six will work if you check in daily, watch the patterns for two weeks, and adjust your schedule to your fuel. And none of them will work if you don't. Start with the free tier of whichever looks closest to your brain — and give it a real two weeks.
🌿 Emma's gentle note: Don't shop for an app like it's a magic pill. Shop for it like it's a notebook you'll actually write in. The best tracker is the one that becomes invisible — and leaves only the habit.
But honestly — a paper grid, a wall calendar, or two ratings in a notes app works exactly the same. The tool is the excuse. Tracking your energy until you see your patterns is the point.
Emma and Lucia are fictional brand characters created by MiniGoal. All illustrations on this blog are AI-generated for inspiration only.