Steppa vs stickK: A Commitment Contract or a Shared Step Pool

stickK is the better fit if your goal is anything other than steps, or if you want a free contract you can run alone on any phone or the web. Steppa fits if the goal is walking every day, you use an iPhone, and you would like finishing to pay you something rather than only saving you from a loss.

Key Takeaways

• stickK is a commitment contract for any goal: if you fail, your pledge goes to a friend, a charity or an anti-charity you chose.
• On stickK, success means you keep your money and win nothing; on Steppa, finishers split the stakes of everyone who missed a day.
• stickK relies on your own reports, confirmed by a referee; Steppa reads steps from Apple Health.
• stickK is free for individuals and runs on the web, iPhone and Android; Steppa is iPhone only and charges a service fee when you join.
• Choose stickK for goals that are not about steps; choose Steppa for a daily step goal with other players.

Both apps use the same trick: money you stand to lose. stickK was started in 2007 by Yale economists Dean Karlan and Ian Ayres with Jordan Goldberg, and Wikipedia reports a co-founder's figure that people with money and a referee on a contract reached their goal 78% of the time, against 35% without. Steppa makes this blog, so stickK's details below come from its listing and named sources.

Steppa vs stickK at a glance

How a stickK contract works

You write a contract: the goal, how long it runs, and how often you report. Money is optional. If you add a stake (PaidFromSurveys reports a $5 minimum per reporting period), you choose where it goes when you fail: a friend, one of more than 20 listed charities, or an anti-charity, a cause you would hate to fund. The App Store listing says the anti-charity is the most popular choice.

You can name a referee to confirm or dispute each report, and the referee's word is final. If you fail, the card on file is charged. Because you report the result yourself, the goal can be anything you and your referee can judge.

How a Steppa challenge works

Steppa has one kind of goal: a number of steps, reached every day. You join a challenge, pay the stake, and Apple Health on your iPhone tells Steppa whether you made it each day, midnight to midnight in your own time zone. Miss a single day and you are out. Official challenges mostly run one to two weeks, with plenty of three-day ones. A challenge you create runs 5 to 180 days at 5,000 to 50,000 steps, with a stake of $10 to $1,000.

Where the money goes

On stickK, money only moves when you fail, and it moves away from you. Say you pledge $30 a week to walk 10,000 steps a day. Keep it up and your card is never charged, but you gain nothing either. Miss it and $30 goes to the recipient you chose.

Steppa moves money in both directions. Here is a made-up 7-day challenge: 40 players stake $30 each and 32 of them finish. The $1,200 pool is shared by the 32 finishers, $37.50 each. Each paid a $1.70 service fee to join (for most players $0.50 plus 4% of the stake, shown before you pay), so a finisher ends $5.80 ahead and each of the eight who missed a day is down $31.70. Steppa keeps nothing from the pool.

The other side of that: stickK costs nothing when you succeed, while on Steppa the fee is paid whether you finish or not, and if everyone finishes, each player just gets the stake back.

Honesty and proof

stickK trusts you and your referee. That suits goals no sensor can measure, and it works well when the referee is someone who actually knows whether you went for that run. Some App Store reviewers say reporting takes too many taps, and others mention slow support, login trouble and charges they did not expect.

Steppa trusts Apple Health. It never counts steps itself, so the number comes from your iPhone or from an Apple Watch, Garmin, Fitbit, Oura or Whoop that syncs there. Anything typed into Apple Health by hand is ignored. A challenge settles at 12:00 UTC two days after its last day, which leaves time for a late watch sync, and winnings wait in your in-app balance. Cashing out to a US bank account by standard transfer has no Steppa fee, and PayPal is the other option, with any fee displayed before you confirm.

Who each one suits

stickK suits you if you:

• have a goal that steps can't measure
• want a free tool you can use on Android or the web
• are motivated by the idea of your money funding a cause you oppose

Steppa suits you if you:

• want a step goal checked by your phone, with no reports to file
• like the idea of winning something when you follow through
• would rather play alongside other people than keep a contract alone

Steppa's Terms set who can play for money: adults 18 and over, where local law allows it.

Our guide to the best step challenge apps covers the apps built around steps, and the comparison hub lists every other app we have compared with Steppa.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a stickK anti-charity?

It is a cause you would hate to support, picked as the place your money goes if you break your contract. The idea is that the thought of funding it pushes you harder than losing money to a charity you like. stickK's App Store listing calls the anti-charity its most popular option. Steppa has nothing like it: a missed day's stake goes to the other players who finished.

Does stickK cost anything?

Wikipedia describes stickK as free for individuals, with the company earning from versions it sells to employers. Putting money on a contract is optional; PaidFromSurveys reports a minimum of $5 a period if you do. Steppa charges a service fee each time you join a challenge, for most players $0.50 plus 4% of the stake, and the app shows it before you pay. Steppa takes nothing from the pool itself.

Can stickK track my steps automatically?

stickK contracts are self-reported. You tell stickK whether you kept your commitment, and a referee you name, such as a friend, confirms or disputes it, with the referee's word final. Steppa takes no reports at all: it reads your steps from Apple Health on your iPhone, including steps from an Apple Watch, Garmin, Fitbit, Oura or Whoop that syncs there, and steps typed in by hand never count.

Is stickK or Steppa better for a walking goal?

Steppa is built only for steps: one daily goal, read from Apple Health, with other players' stakes to win if you finish. stickK can hold a walking goal too, but you report it yourself and the money only ever moves when you fail. If your goal is not about steps at all, such as writing, saving or quitting a habit, stickK is the one that fits.

Does stickK work on Android?

Yes. stickK runs on the web, iPhone and Android. Steppa is iPhone only, with no Android or web app, and it needs steps flowing into Apple Health. If you use an Android phone or want to manage a goal from a laptop, stickK is the one of these two you can use.