What each app is for
Brili calls itself a visual planner and timekeeper for the ADHD community. Routines become well-paced playlists: each task is a card with a timer, and a dynamic visual clock keeps calculating how much time is left to finish everything that remains. Around that are a calendar with day and week views, notifications (visual or with sound), task notes, an "Info Boost", achievements and rewards you set yourself. It ships templates curated by ADHD and routine experts, and says it draws on ADHD research and cognitive behavioural therapy practice.
Orbit is a routine runner with as little on screen as possible. The current step is an orb that breathes through its duration; once you start, it follows you onto the Lock Screen and into the Dynamic Island. There is no calendar, no rewards and no score — only streaks, with freezes earned from consistency.
Both are aimed squarely at ADHD. The difference is how much structure and feedback each puts around the routine.
Side by side
| Brili | Orbit | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Brili GmbH | Aron de Groot (Groot Apps), Netherlands |
| Apple devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone only |
| Minimum iOS | 15.6 | 26 |
| Runs routines step by step | Yes, as timed playlists | Yes |
| Time display | Visual clock of time left for all tasks | Countdown of the current step, plus the estimated finish time of the whole routine |
| Calendar view | Yes, day and week | No |
| Rewards and achievements | Yes, customisable | None |
| Lock Screen and Dynamic Island | Not described in the listing | Yes, as a Live Activity |
| Missed days | Not described in the listing | Streak freezes rescue a streak when you return |
| Templates | Curated by ADHD and routine experts | 14 built-in templates |
| US ratings (10 Sep 2026) | 4.6 from 600 | New — released 30 Aug 2026 |
Platform facts are from each app's App Store listing, checked on 10 September 2026.
The short verdict
For running a routine, pick Orbit. It walks you through the sequence one step at a time, keeps the current step on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, offers a streak freeze to rescue a streak after missed days, and needs no account.
Brili is stronger at things Orbit does not do: a calendar view, achievements and custom rewards, iPad and older iPhones.
This page is written by the maker of Orbit; both lists below are specific so you can check them.
Where Orbit is genuinely better
Quiet. No badges, no rewards, no second screen of information. For people who find feedback loops stressful — or who burn out once rewards stop feeling new — less is the feature.
It lives on the Lock Screen. The current step is visible without unlocking the phone, in the Dynamic Island and as a Live Activity.
Missed days are forgiven. One freeze for every five days in a row; when you come back after a miss, Orbit offers to rescue the streak.
No account, data on the device. Nothing to sign up for.
Where Brili is genuinely better
The clock is drawn, not written. Both apps tell you when the whole routine ends, which is a real answer to time blindness. Brili draws the remaining time as a visual clock; Orbit shows an estimated finish time ("~ 08:10") during the routine and a whole-routine progress bar on the Lock Screen. If a clock face reads faster for you than a time, Brili's version is the better one.
More structure. A calendar view and scheduling around your week help people who want routines placed into the day, not only run.
Rewards. Achievements and rewards you choose yourself give an extra pull that some ADHD brains need, especially early on.
iPad and older iPhones. Brili supports iPad and iOS 15.6.
Who should pick which
- You always run out of time before the routine ends: either. Brili if you want it as a clock face, Orbit if a finish time is enough.
- Rewards keep you going: Brili.
- You use an iPad: Brili.
- You want the least possible on screen: Orbit.
- You have quit apps after breaking a streak: Orbit.
If you are choosing between several routine runners, the best Routinery alternatives covers Brili, RoutineFlow, Orbit and others on one page.