Storey App01 / AT A GLANCE
Storey vs Finch at a glance
20 features, side by side Scroll to compare on smaller screens →
| Feature | Storey | Finch |
|---|---|---|
| Core concept | Build a city from your habits | Care for a virtual bird through self-care |
| Primary focus | Habit consistency | Self-care and daily wellness |
| Habit visualization | Each habit becomes its own tower | Goals help energize and grow your birb |
| Daily completion | Lights a window | Gives Energy or Rainbow Stones |
| Weekly habit goals | Yes | Recurring goals can be customized |
| Long-term visual progress | Growing city and towers | Growing birb, discoveries and adventures |
| Streaks | Yes | Yes |
| Journaling / reflections | No | Yes |
| Breathing exercises | No | Yes |
| Focus timers | No | Yes |
| Virtual pet | No | Yes |
| City building | Yes | No |
| Customization | Buildings, architecture and finishes | Birb outfits, colors, furniture and home |
| Social features | City sharing | Friends, Good Vibes and shared goals |
| Seasonal events | No | Yes |
| Missed-day punishment | None | No traditional punishment; streak repair available |
| Home-screen widget | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Coming later | Yes |
| Best for | Seeing habits accumulate over months and years | Gentle self-care and emotional encouragement |
Finch describes itself as a gentle self-care companion built around small daily actions, while Storey is focused more narrowly on making long-term habit consistency visible.
02 / COMPANION VS CITY
The biggest difference: companion vs city
Both apps use something visual to make abstract progress feel more tangible.
They just represent that progress differently.
Storey: your habits become the city
In Storey, the reward isn't separate from your habit.
The building is the habit.
Create a reading habit and Storey gives it a tower.
Read today and one of its windows lights up.
Set a weekly goal of reading four times and reach it? Another storey gets added to that tower.
Keep going for months and the building becomes a visual record of how consistently you've kept that habit.
Storey's basic system is:
1 habit = 1 tower
1 completed day = 1 lit window
1 successful week = 1 new storey
Your city gradually becomes a representation of the habits you've maintained.
Finch: your habits care for your birb
Finch approaches motivation through companionship.
Completing daily goals gives your birb energy. Once energized, your birb can go on an adventure, return with stories, make discoveries, and continue developing its personality. Goals can also earn Rainbow Stones that you can spend on customization.
You can dress your birb, decorate its home, unlock items, travel to different locations, and collect discoveries as you continue checking in.
The emotional loop is different from Storey.
With Storey, the motivation is:
“I want to keep building this.”
With Finch, it's closer to:
“I want to come back and see my birb.”
03 / HABITS & SELF-CARE
Habit tracking vs self-care
This may be the most important distinction when deciding between Storey and Finch.
Finch is broader than a habit tracker
Finch describes its goal as making daily self-care something people actually want to do. Its experience extends beyond recurring habits into breathing exercises, reflections, focus timers, self-care areas, quests, social encouragement and other wellness activities.
That makes Finch useful even when your goal isn't necessarily:
“I need a better habit tracker.”
You might open Finch because you want to reflect.
Or breathe for a minute.
Or check on your birb.
Or complete a simple self-care goal.
Or send encouragement to a friend.
Storey stays focused on habits
Storey is much narrower.
You create habits.
You decide how many times you want to complete them each week.
You check them off.
Your buildings grow.
The app includes streaks, reminders, progress history, a yearly activity view and a city showing everything you've built, but those features all revolve around the same core behavior: keeping habits over time.
If you want one app for self-care, reflection and emotional encouragement, Finch has considerably more built around that experience.
If you primarily want to build and maintain habits, Storey's narrower focus may be an advantage.
04 / GAMIFICATION
Which has better gamification?
Both are gamified, but neither works like a traditional RPG.
Finch uses virtual-pet gamification
Your birb is at the center of the experience.
Completing goals generates Energy or Rainbow Stones. Your birb goes on adventures, makes discoveries and can be customized with clothing, colors and furniture. Finch also runs quests and seasonal events that provide additional rewards and collectible micropets.
There is always something new to interact with.
That can make Finch particularly effective if immediate rewards and emotional attachment help you come back.
Storey uses accumulation
Storey's reward system is slower.
You don't complete a habit and receive coins.
You don't feed a character.
You don't buy an outfit.
You light a window.
Then another.
Then another.
Eventually those individual check-ins turn into another floor.
Over several months, those floors turn into a skyscraper.
Storey's gamification is built around accumulation rather than rewards.
That means Storey may feel less exciting after one individual check-in, but considerably more meaningful once you've built months of visible history.
05 / LONG-TERM PROGRESS
Short-term rewards vs long-term evidence
This is where Storey and Finch diverge most.
Finch gives you frequent reasons to return.
Your birb needs Energy.
There's an adventure waiting.
There may be a seasonal quest.
You can earn Rainbow Stones.
There are outfits, furniture, discoveries and micropets.
Friends can send Good Vibes.
Storey has fewer moving parts.
Instead, it tries to answer a different question:
What would six months of consistency look like if you could actually see it?
A six-month reading habit doesn't just exist as a number in your statistics.
It exists as a building.
A running habit might be taller.
Your journaling tower might have dark windows from a difficult month.
A habit you stopped might still exist in the skyline exactly as you left it.
Storey turns your history into architecture rather than continually replacing one reward with the next.
06 / MISSING A DAY
What happens when you miss a day?
Neither Finch nor Storey is built around harsh punishment.
But they handle missed days differently.
Storey
Miss a habit today and that day's window stays dark.
Miss your weekly goal and another storey isn't added.
That's it.
Nothing you've already built gets removed.
Your previous floors remain exactly where they were, and you can continue building whenever you return.
Finch
Finch also takes a gentle approach.
Its streak is based on checking into the app, and Finch provides streak repairs if you miss a day. Users can spend Rainbow Stones on repairs and can earn free Streak Repair Savers through continued adventures. Finch also offers a Pause Mode that freezes the streak when you intentionally take time away.
That fits Finch's broader philosophy of encouraging consistency without demanding perfection.
The distinction is subtle:
Finch helps protect your streak.
Storey makes the streak less important because the work you've already done is still standing.
07 / HOW STREAKS WORK
Streaks work differently
Both apps include streaks, but the numbers represent different things.
Finch's primary streak increases when you return and check into the app each day.
Storey's habit tracking is tied directly to individual habits.
A workout habit, reading habit and meditation habit can each develop their own history while the city shows the combined result.
Storey also gives you a yearly view where individual days appear across a calendar-style activity mosaic, alongside the towers themselves.
That makes Storey more useful if you care about seeing:
Which habits did I actually keep?
rather than simply:
Did I check into the app today?
08 / SELF-CARE TOOLS
Self-care tools
Finch wins this category easily because self-care tools are a major part of the product.
Finch includes activities such as:
- Breathing exercises
- Reflections and journaling
- Focus timers
- Self-care goals
- Quests
- Guided activities
- Social encouragement
Finch's stated philosophy is to make small self-care actions feel achievable and rewarding rather than overwhelming.
Storey doesn't try to compete here.
You could certainly create habits like:
Meditate
Journal
Drink water
Walk outside
Read before bed
But Storey tracks whether you did them.
It doesn't provide the meditation, journal prompts or breathing exercise itself.
If those tools are important to you, Finch is the better fit.
10 / CUSTOMIZATION
Customization
Both apps offer considerable customization, but again the object being customized is different.
Finch
Finch lets you personalize your birb and its surroundings with things such as:
- Clothing
- Furniture
- Colors
- Locations
- Micropets
Many of these are earned or purchased with rewards from completing goals and participating in events.
Storey
Storey lets you customize the city itself.
Buildings can use different architecture styles, facades, silhouettes, windows, crowns and premium finishes.
Storey includes multiple architectural styles and landmarks that can be earned as your city grows.
If you like dressing up a character, Finch will probably be more satisfying.
If you'd rather design a skyline, Storey probably will.
11 / SIMPLICITY
Which app is simpler?
Storey.
Finch has substantially more things to explore.
There's your birb.
Goals.
Adventures.
Quests.
A shop.
Furniture.
Outfits.
Locations.
Friends.
Micropets.
Reflections.
Breathing exercises.
Timers.
Seasonal events.
That breadth is part of Finch's appeal.
Storey's daily interaction can be much smaller:
Open Storey → check off today's habits → watch the windows light → leave.
You can explore your city and progress when you want, but you don't need to interact with a larger game system every day.
For someone who specifically wants a simple gamified habit tracker, that can matter.
12 / CHOOSE STOREY
Choose Storey if…
Storey may be the better Finch alternative if:
- You primarily want to track habits rather than self-care activities.
- You want each habit to have its own visual history.
- You like the idea of building a city through consistency.
- You care about weekly goals.
- You want progress to remain visible even after breaking a streak.
- You prefer lighter gamification without virtual currency management.
- You don't need journaling or breathing exercises built into your habit app.
- You like seeing months or years of progress accumulate.
- You want something you can check in with quickly.
- You use an iPhone.
13 / CHOOSE FINCH
Choose Finch if…
Finch may be the better option if:
- You want self-care support as much as habit tracking.
- You like virtual pets.
- You want journaling and reflection prompts.
- You use breathing exercises or focus timers.
- Immediate rewards help motivate you.
- You enjoy collecting outfits, furniture and other items.
- You want seasonal events and quests.
- You want to send encouragement to friends.
- You want to work on shared goals with someone else.
- You use Android.
- You want a particularly gentle approach to daily consistency.
14 / THE VERDICT
Storey vs Finch: which should you choose?
Choose Finch if you want a companion.
Finch is built around making self-care feel easier to return to. Your birb gives those actions personality, and the surrounding system of adventures, reflections, rewards, friends and wellness exercises makes Finch much more than a traditional habit tracker.
Choose Storey if you want a record.
Storey doesn't give you another character to take care of.
Instead, it gives the work you've already done somewhere to live.
Every building represents a habit.
Every light represents a day.
Every new storey represents a week when you reached your goal.
Months later, you aren't looking at a score telling you that you were consistent.
You're looking at the place that consistency built.
Finch makes caring for yourself feel like caring for a companion.
Storey makes staying consistent feel like building something you get to keep.
15 / FAQS
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between Storey and Finch?
Storey is primarily a habit tracker that turns individual habits into buildings. Completing habits lights windows, and reaching weekly goals adds storeys to those buildings.
Finch is primarily a self-care app built around a virtual bird companion. Completing goals gives your birb energy and rewards while Finch also provides reflections, breathing exercises, focus timers, adventures and other self-care activities.
Is Storey a good Finch alternative?
Storey can be a good Finch alternative if you like visual motivation but want something more focused on habit consistency.
Instead of raising a virtual pet, Storey lets you build a city where every habit has its own tower and every successful week becomes another floor.
If you rely heavily on Finch's journaling, breathing exercises or self-care content, Storey is less of a direct replacement.
Is Storey simpler than Finch?
Yes.
Storey primarily focuses on habits, streaks, weekly goals and the city those habits create.
Finch has a broader experience that includes goals, a virtual pet, adventures, quests, shops, friends, reflections, breathing exercises, focus timers and seasonal events.
Does Storey have a virtual pet like Finch?
No.
Storey's central visual metaphor is a city. Every habit becomes a tower and your consistency determines how that building grows.
Finch's central metaphor is a virtual bird that develops as you complete self-care goals.
Does Storey punish you for missing a habit?
No.
Missing a day leaves that day's window dark. Missing the weekly target means another storey isn't built that week.
Nothing you've previously built is removed.
Does Finch punish you for missing a day?
Finch takes a gentle approach to missed days. Its streak system allows streak repairs, including free repair savers that can be earned through adventures, and users can use Pause Mode when intentionally taking time away.
Does Finch track habits?
Yes. Finch allows users to create recurring goals and choose how often they should be completed, including daily and weekly schedules. Completing goals earns Energy or Rainbow Stones and helps your birb progress.
Does Storey have journaling or breathing exercises?
Not as built-in self-care exercises.
You can create habits such as “Journal” or “Meditate” and track whether you complete them, but Storey is designed to track the habit rather than provide the activity itself.
Finch includes reflections, breathing exercises and focus timers directly in the app.
Is Finch free?
Finch's core self-care experience is free, with Finch Plus available as an optional subscription for additional customization and content.
Is Storey free?
Yes. Storey lets you track up to 5 habits free on iPhone, with city growth, streaks, and reminders included. Storey Pro is an optional monthly or annual subscription for unlimited habits, premium finishes, the Building Studio, and editing check-ins older than yesterday. See current prices in the app before subscribing.
Is Storey available on Android?
Not yet.
Storey currently supports iPhone, with Android planned. Finch supports both iOS and Android.
Can I use Storey and Finch together?
Yes.
They solve different enough problems that using both can make sense.
Finch can serve as a broader self-care companion for reflections, breathing, emotional encouragement and daily wellness activities.
Storey can serve as the long-term visual record for the few habits you most want to maintain.
You could use Finch to help make today easier and Storey to see what those days eventually add up to.
09 / SOCIAL FEATURES
Social features
Finch has more developed social features.
You can add friends, send Good Vibes, check in on each other's progress and share certain goals through Goal Buddies. Goal Buddies allows two friends to work toward the same recurring daily goal and encourage each other as they complete it.
Storey's social layer is lighter.
Your city is private by default, but you can choose to share a city snapshot showing your buildings and optionally parts of your habit information.
That creates a different social dynamic.
Finch is more about:
“We're doing this together.”
Storey is more about:
“Here's what I've built.”