What each app is for
Tiimo is a visual planner. Its core screen is a colour-coded plan of the day, with tasks as blocks you can drag around, an AI co-planner that helps you break down and prioritise, a to-do list, a focus timer and sync with Apple Calendar and Reminders. It is built for people whose difficulty is that time is invisible: a day that exists as a list feels like nothing, while a day drawn as a plan feels real.
Orbit is a routine runner. It has no day view. It holds one sequence — a morning, a wind-down, a deep-work block — and moves through it with you, one step at a time, showing the current step on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. It is built for people whose difficulty is not seeing the day but getting through the sequence without stopping.
That difference explains almost everything else about the two apps.
Side by side
| Tiimo | Orbit | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | tiimo ApS, Copenhagen, Denmark | Aron de Groot (Groot Apps), Netherlands |
| Apple devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone only |
| Other platforms | Web version (Pro) | None |
| Minimum iOS | 18 | 26 |
| Languages | 24 | English |
| Download | Free, with a limited free version | Free, with a free trial |
| Paid tier | Tiimo Pro subscription | Orbit Pro: weekly, yearly or lifetime |
| Core screen | Visual plan of the whole day | One step of one routine |
| AI planning | Yes, AI co-planner | No |
| Runs a routine step by step | Focus timer per task | Yes, as the main function |
| Missed days | Not described in the listing | Streak freezes rescue a streak when you return |
| Account required | Yes | No |
| Storage | Cloud account | On device, optional private iCloud |
| US ratings (10 Sep 2026) | 4.6 from 19,480 | New — released 30 Aug 2026 |
Platform facts are from each app's App Store listing, checked on 10 September 2026. Prices change often enough that it is worth checking the current numbers in the App Store before deciding.
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.
Tiimo is stronger at things Orbit does not do: a visual plan of the whole day, an AI co-planner, iPad, Apple Watch and web versions, 24 languages, family profiles and a free version.
This page is written by the maker of Orbit; both lists below are specific so you can check them.
Where Orbit is genuinely better
It runs the routine rather than displaying it. Once a routine is started, the current step follows you out of the app — Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, widget. Getting distracted costs thirty seconds instead of the whole morning, because the recovery cue is already on the screen you were about to pick up.
Missing a day does not cost you anything. Orbit earns you a streak freeze for every five days in a row. Nothing has to happen on the day you miss; when you come back, it shows which streaks a freeze can still rescue and you pick one. If streaks have ended apps for you before, see why streaks break ADHD brains.
No account, and the data stays put. Orbit needs no sign-up and stores routines on the device, syncing only through your own private iCloud if you turn it on.
There is less to manage. No day to arrange, no tasks to triage, no AI to talk to. One tap starts the routine. For some people that simplicity is the point; for others it is a limitation.
Where Tiimo is genuinely better
It plans the whole day. Tiimo will hold your appointments, one-off tasks and recurring blocks in one visual plan, and its AI co-planner helps turn a brain dump into a schedule. Orbit deliberately handles only routines and will not replace a planner or calendar.
The visual plan is a real answer to time blindness. Seeing the day as coloured blocks, with a countdown on the current one, is more effective for many people than any amount of text. If time blindness is your main problem, that is a strong reason to choose Tiimo.
It covers more devices and more people. iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and the web, in 24 languages, with up to five family profiles. Orbit is iPhone-only and English-only.
It has a free version and a track record. Tiimo's free tier covers a basic planner. Its App Store listing names it Apple's iPhone App of the Year 2025 and an Apple Design Awards finalist in 2024. Orbit is one person and new, which has advantages, but track record is not one of them.
Who should pick which
- "I lose the day because I can't see it." Tiimo.
- "I know exactly what my morning should be and still can't get through it." Orbit.
- "I need my partner or kids on the same plan." Tiimo, with family profiles.
- "I've quit habit apps after breaking a streak." Orbit.
- "I want one app for everything." Tiimo covers more ground; Orbit is deliberately narrow.
- "I use an iPad or Android." Tiimo — Orbit is iPhone-only.
Can you use both?
Yes, and they do not conflict. A common setup is a planner for the shape of the day and a routine runner for the two or three sequences that decide whether the day starts at all — the morning, the start of work, the bedtime wind-down. Tiimo holds the appointments; Orbit runs the routines at the edges of the day.
Switching from Tiimo to Orbit
If Tiimo's plan is working but your routines keep falling apart inside it, move only the routines. Rebuild your morning as a short list of steps in Orbit — or start from one of its 14 templates — and keep Tiimo for everything that has a time attached. Expect to lose the day view for those routines; that is the trade.
Looking at other options too? See the best Tiimo alternatives, which covers visual planners, routine apps and simpler timers.