Daily Captain vs Motivation
Checked 26 Sep 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if something is out of date: hello@dailycaptain.app.
Motivation is built to put a quote on your screen. Daily Captain puts the words of people you follow on your screen, and a goal sheet behind them.
Daily Captain does one thing Motivation cannot: the words of people you follow come first, before a curated list of 365 lines, and you can add your own. Submit up to 3 a day, the founder approves each one by hand, and the quote sits on top of a full goal sheet: a morning list, a midday check, an honest count at night, and one buddy who sees your week. 7 free days, then $9.99 a month, no free tier.
If a quote on your screen is the whole job, Motivation does it well and has over a million App Store ratings to show for it. If you want the words of people you follow on your screen instead of a library, and a goal sheet behind them, this is that.
| Feature | Motivation | Daily Captain |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Putting a quote or affirmation on your screen, drawn from a library of thousands across 16-plus topics. | Deciding what today is for, and being honest about it at night. |
| Where the quotes come from | A built-in library of thousands of quotes, sorted into more than a dozen topics from motivation to Bible verses. | Friends you follow first, then a curated list of 365 quotes. |
| Follow people | None. No follow, friends or community feature is named; sharing sends a quote to outside apps, not to other users. | Follow anyone, one way. Free with any account. |
| Your own quotes | None named. Users can save a favourite from the library; nothing suggests they can add or share one of their own. | Submit up to 3 a day. The founder reads and approves each one by hand before it reaches anyone who follows you. |
| Widget on iOS | A home screen widget, described as customisable with unlimited widgets allowed, plus a promoted "Lock Screen" presence. Named sizes and a refresh interval are not printed in the listing. | iOS 17 and later: small, medium, and a lock screen rectangular widget. |
| Widget on Android | A home screen widget, plus a claim of Wear OS support. Sizes are not printed in the listing. | Android home screen only, 2x2 and 4x2 sizes. |
| Lock screen | Promoted as a feature line ("Motivation on your Lock Screen"), but a lock screen widget size or placement is not itemised the way it is for some competitors. | iPhone: yes, the lock screen rectangular widget. Android: no lock screen widget, home screen only. |
| How often it changes | Not stated in either listing. | Once a day, at local midnight. The widget holds a 14 day schedule so it keeps turning over with the app closed. |
| Customisation | Free tier: a few themes. Premium unlocks all themes and categories, a background photo and quote search. | Five themes. No fonts or backgrounds to choose. |
| Ads | Yes, on the free tier (Google Play's own "Contains ads" badge); Premium's benefits list includes removing them. | None. |
| Price | The App Store lists ten Premium prices, from $3.99 to $47.99, and describes Premium as a lifetime, monthly or yearly subscription; it does not label which row is which. One of the ten is $9.99, the same number as our monthly price. | 7 days free, then $9.99 a month. One plan, everything included. |
| Free tier or trial | Free to download, browse and get reminders. Premium adds themes, categories, a background photo, search and unlimited reminders. Whether there is a trial, and its length, is not printed on either listing. | No free tier. 7 days free, then one plan; the widget needs an active plan to keep updating. |
| What else you get | The quote library, saved favourites and reminders. Rated 4.8 out of 5 from over a million App Store ratings. | The daily goal sheet, the week and year views, three reminders a day and one buddy who sees your week. |
| Support | No support address or App Support link on the App Store page; the description asks for feedback in the reviews section. Developer site motivation.app, privacy policy on monkeytaps.net. | A person answers at hello@dailycaptain.app: email support from the founder. |
A library, or the people you follow
Motivation’s library runs to thousands of quotes across more than a dozen categories, from motivation and love to Bible verses, and a user can save a favourite but not add one of their own. Daily Captain works the other way: a daily quote comes from the people you follow first, round robin, before anything from the shared list, attributed by first name and linked to that person’s page.
The moderation is human, not automatic: submit up to 3 quotes a day, the founder reads and approves each one, and an approved quote joins both the shared list and the rotation of everyone who follows you. Motivation names no way for a user to add or share a quote of their own; the closest it offers is saving one from its own library.
One price, more behind it
One of Motivation’s ten listed Premium prices is $9.99, the same number as our monthly price; the App Store describes Premium as a lifetime, monthly or yearly subscription but does not say which of the ten rows is which. Theirs buys quotes. For $9.99 a month after 7 free days, Daily Captain buys the morning sheet, the midday check, the honest evening count, yearly goals, three reminders a day, one buddy who sees your week, and the widget itself. There is no free tier and no shop, and the widget needs an active plan to keep turning over.
Fewer places to look, one thing to see
Free, Motivation gives a handful of themes; Premium unlocks all of them, plus a background photo and search across the library. Daily Captain has five themes and no fonts or backgrounds to pick, because the point of the widget is the person who wrote the quote, not the frame around it.
What people who leave Motivation say, and what we did about it
We read about 40 critical (1 to 3 star) App Store reviews of Motivation, dated 23 Jul to 24 Sep 2026, plus its 3 newest Google Play reviews, on 26 Sep 2026. Three themes came up most.
- A trial that turns into a charge with no clear warning, and a slow or unhelpful path to a refund.
- What we did: The trial length and the price are on the home page before you sign in, an email goes out before the trial ends, and a person answers every message. Shared complaint in shape: we also charge automatically once the 7 free days end.
- Basics like themes, backgrounds and dark mode sit behind the Premium paywall.
- What we did: Nothing in Daily Captain is behind a second wall once the free days end: one price, everything included. Shared plainly: there is no permanently free tier, only a free trial period.
- Quotes feel repetitive or generic, with no way to add your own.
- What we did: Daily Captain’s own list is 365 lines chosen by hand, and the people you follow add to it in their own words, ahead of the list. You can submit your own too. Shared plainly: the curated list is far smaller than Motivation’s library.
Sources: Motivation on the App Store, Motivation on Google Play
Pricing
Motivation
Motivation is free to download, browse and set reminders, with ads on the free tier (Google Play labels it "Contains ads"). The App Store’s in-app purchase list showed ten Premium prices on 26 Sep 2026, from $3.99 to $47.99; Motivation’s own description says Premium comes as a lifetime, monthly or yearly auto-renewable subscription, but the storefront does not label which of the ten rows is which, and Motivation’s own site, motivation.app, prints no price at all. One of the ten prices is $9.99, the same number as our monthly price. Premium removes ads and unlocks all themes, categories, a background photo, unlimited reminders and quote search.
Daily Captain
Every account starts with 7 free days. After that it is $9.99 a month, one flat price with nothing behind a second wall: the buddy, the yearly goals, the reminders and the apps are all in it. Plus tax where it applies, shown before you pay. Cancel any time and your writing stays readable.
There is no free plan. If you want the method for free, the paper version, the Daily Goal Sheet PDF, is at heegstra.io/goal-sheet.
Sources: Motivation on the App Store (in-app purchases), Motivation on Google Play, Daily Captain pricing, on the home page
When to choose Motivation
- You want a quote on your screen from a big library, not a goal sheet behind it.
- You want thousands of quotes across a dozen-plus topics, from motivation to Bible verses.
- A widget on your home screen, and on Android a Wear OS app, is enough for you.
- You do not mind ads on the free tier, or one of Motivation’s several Premium prices to remove them.
When to choose Daily Captain
- You want the words of people you follow on your screen, not a library.
- You want to write your own quotes and have them reach the people who follow you.
- You want the quote to sit on top of a goal sheet: a morning list, a midday check, an honest count at night.
- You want one price with no shop and no free tier to be tempted by.
Trying it
Nothing to import and nothing to set up. Sign in, write what today is for, and tonight write tomorrow’s first goal. If it is not for you after 7 days, nothing has happened to your card and you have lost about a minute a day.
Questions
Is Daily Captain cheaper than Motivation?
Motivation lists ten Premium prices on the App Store, from $3.99 to $47.99, and does not print which is monthly, yearly or lifetime; one of the ten is $9.99, the same number as our monthly price. Daily Captain is one plan, $9.99 a month after 7 free days; theirs buys quotes, and ours buys the sheet, reminders, a buddy and the widget too.
How does following someone put their quote on my screen?
Follow them from their page. Once one of their quotes is approved, it joins your rotation: it can be your daily quote and it can show in your widget, attributed to them by first name and linked back to their page.
Can I submit my own quotes?
Yes, up to 3 a day. The founder reads and approves each one by hand; once approved, it can reach everyone who follows you and joins the shared list.
Which phones does the widget work on?
iOS 17 and later, in small, medium and lock screen rectangular sizes. On Android, a home screen widget in 2x2 and 4x2 sizes, no lock screen widget. There is no web or desktop widget.
Do I need to pay to use the widget?
Yes. The widget needs an active plan to keep updating; there is no free tier. If a plan lapses, the widget stops turning over, but your sheet and your writing stay yours.
Is there a free version of Daily Captain?
No. There are 7 free days, then one flat price of $9.99 a month. The free paper version of the same method, the Daily Goal Sheet PDF, is at heegstra.io/goal-sheet.
Why does someone else see my week?
Because being seen works, the way people work harder in a library than alone at home. One person who knows what you set out to do is enough. They see exactly what you wrote, and only when you send it.
Ready to try Daily Captain instead of Motivation
Start your first sheet7 days free, then $9.99 a month.