A sober day counter you actually look at
The streak is the point. Tonight you go to bed knowing exactly what tomorrow is: day one, or day forty-one.
Sober Time Alternative: SoberBear vs Sober Time
Sober Time is a free, precise, heavily customised counter with a real community behind it. The trade is advertising in the free version, and a counter that measures elapsed time rather than what that time gave back.
SoberBear vs Sober Time, side by side
Sober Time details taken from its App Store listing, checked on .
Stay with Sober Time if…
- You want a free app and do not mind ads, or you would rather pay $29.99 a year than a higher price.
- You are tracking something other than alcohol, or several things at once.
- You want a community forum you can read without registering.
- You like making an app yours: backgrounds, icons, themes, counter formats.
- You want an Apple Watch app, which SoberBear does not have.
Try SoberBear if…
- You want no advertising at any tier.
- You want each skipped drink turned into hours of life and money, not a running clock.
- You want to know what is happening in your body at the milestone you are on.
- Your iPhone cannot run iOS 17, which Sober Time now requires.
- You do not read one of its 8 languages. SoberBear is in 17.
| Feature | SoberBear | Sober Time |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Subscription, free trial | Free with ads, Premium $4.99/month |
| Advertising | — | ✓ |
| Alcohol-free day counter | ✓ | ✓ |
| Money saved | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hours of life regained | ✓ | — |
| Body recovery timeline | ✓ | — |
| Daily private photo | ✓ | — |
| Community forum | — | ✓ |
| Tracks addictions other than alcohol | — | ✓ |
| Apple Watch app | — | ✓ |
| Minimum iOS | Older iPhones supported | iOS 17 |
| App languages | 17 | 8 |
A dash means the feature is not mentioned on that app's App Store listing. It is not proof the app lacks it.
What Sober Time does
Sober Time counts how long you have been sober, down to the second, for whatever you are giving up. It has 4.8 stars from about 41,000 US ratings and shipped a release the day before we checked, so it is well looked after.
Around the counter it puts the things people ask for: goals with notifications, relapse logging, a savings calculator, daily motivational messages, and a community forum you can read without making an account. It leans hard into customisation — scenic backgrounds or your own photos, custom headings, several counter display modes, fifteen-plus colour themes.
It is free. The App Store privacy section for the app declares Advertising, and the paid tier, Sober Time Premium, is described as removing ads and unlocking widgets and extras, at $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year.
Where SoberBear is different
No advertising anywhere. SoberBear has one tier, paid, and no ad slots at any price. Whether that is worth money to you is a fair question, and the answer is often no.
The number means something else. A counter to the second tells you how long it has been. SoberBear converts the same days into hours of life expectancy — using the 15 to 30 minutes per drink that research associates with alcohol — and into money aimed at a savings goal you pick. One measures duration; the other measures return. If the running clock stopped motivating you around week three, that is the difference worth testing.
A body recovery timeline. What is changing in your sleep, skin, liver and mind at the day you are actually on, from day one through month three and past it. Sober Time’s listing describes motivation and community rather than physiology.
A private daily photo. Each evening’s check-in ends with a sober selfie that stays on your device. Over weeks it becomes evidence rather than encouragement.
It runs on older phones. Sober Time now requires iOS 17. If your iPhone is stuck below that, this comparison is already settled.
Where Sober Time is better
It is free, and you can use it forever without paying. That is the whole first paragraph of any honest comparison.
It is not alcohol-specific. If you are giving up more than one thing, SoberBear cannot help you.
The forum. A place to read other people at 11pm, without registering, is a real feature. SoberBear has nothing equivalent.
Customisation. Sober Time lets you make the screen yours. SoberBear does not.
Apple Watch. They have an app; we do not.
Which one
If ads do not bother you and you want to spend nothing, Sober Time is a strong free counter with a real community, and there is no argument to make against it.
Take SoberBear if you want the days you did not drink translated into something — hours, money, what your body is doing — rather than counted; if you want no advertising; or if your phone cannot run iOS 17.
What neither app is
Neither is treatment. If you drink heavily every day, stopping suddenly can cause seizures and, rarely, a life-threatening delirium tremens. Speak to a doctor before you stop — you may need medication to do it safely.
What you get with SoberBear
Hours of life and money, not units drunk
Every skipped drink is counted as something you got back — time and money — instead of something you avoided.
A body recovery timeline
What is changing inside you right now: sleep, skin, liver, mind. From day one to month three and past it.
A private daily photo
End each check-in with a sober selfie. Watch yourself change week after week. Kept on your device, never shared.