stickK vs Beeminder: Which Commitment App Should You Use?

Pick stickK if you want a simple promise with a friend as referee and a lost stake that goes to someone else. Pick Beeminder if your goal is a number you can track, like daily steps, and you want the app to read the data and raise the price of each slip. Both are commitment tools: you can lose money, but you never win any.

Key Takeaways

• Both charge you for missing a goal and pay nothing for hitting it; neither has a prize or a pot.
• stickK sends a lost stake to a friend, a charity or an anti-charity you choose; Beeminder keeps derail charges as its business model.
• stickK relies on your own reports and a referee, while Beeminder can read steps from Apple Health, Fitbit, Garmin and Oura.
• Beeminder's pledge climbs after every miss, from $5 to $10, $30, $90 and beyond; stickK stakes stay at the amount you set.
• stickK is free for individuals; Beeminder is free for three goals, with paid plans from $8 a month.

The biggest practical differences are proof and where the money goes. stickK trusts your reports and your referee, and sends a lost stake to a friend, a charity or an anti-charity. Beeminder reads data from trackers and keeps the charge itself.

stickK vs Beeminder at a glance

How each one works

On stickK you write a commitment contract: the goal, a timeline and how often you report. You can commit with no money, or add a stake. Then you invite a referee, who confirms or disputes each report, and the referee's word is final. If you fail, your card is charged and the stake goes to the recipient you picked. stickK was founded in 2007 by Yale economists Dean Karlan and Ian Ayres.

On Beeminder you set a goal with a target rate, such as 10,000 steps a day, and it draws a line your data must stay on. If you are on the wrong side at the deadline, you derail: the current pledge is charged about 24 hours later and the goal restarts. Before it charges you, Beeminder asks whether the derail was legit, so a sync error can be contested.

What it costs and where the money goes

stickK is free for individuals, per Wikipedia, and earns from paid versions for companies. Guides such as PaidFromSurveys cite a minimum stake of $5 per reporting period. The anti-charity option, where your money goes to a cause you oppose, is a strong push for many users. Whether stickK takes any fee from a forfeited stake is not listed on their site as of October 2026.

Beeminder is free for three goals. Plans cost $8, $16 or $81 a month, and a $5 charge applies if you create no goal in your first week. Each derail moves your pledge up a ladder of $5, $10, $30, $90, $270, $810 and $2,430, until a cap you set, and lowering it takes seven days. All charges go to Beeminder, which its FAQ calls its business model.

How progress is checked

stickK relies on honesty. You report your own progress, and your referee confirms or disputes it. That makes it flexible for goals no tracker can see, such as writing or quitting smoking, but it puts a lot on picking the right referee.

Beeminder can read data for you. For steps, it syncs from Fitbit, Garmin, Oura and Apple Health, though its help page says the iPhone app must be opened regularly for Apple Health to sync. Manual entry is also allowed, so outside of synced data you police yourself.

What users say

stickK's iPhone app had 2.6 stars from 26 ratings in October 2026. Reviewers on JustUseApp report slow support, login trouble and unexpected charges. Its App Store age rating is 16+, and its minimum age is not listed on their site as of October 2026.

Beeminder had 4.2 stars from 77 App Store ratings. Users praise how the rising pledge keeps them consistent, while a post on its own forum says the many settings take time to learn, and broken syncs can cause derails.

Who each one suits

• stickK: you want a free, flexible contract for any goal, with a friend as referee and lost money going to someone else.
• Beeminder: you like data, want steps or other numbers synced, and accept paying the app when you slip.
• Neither: you want a reward for success, not only a penalty. Our lists of stickK alternatives and Beeminder alternatives include apps with prizes.

This is Steppa's blog, so one note on our own app. If you want a stake on daily steps with a prize for finishing, Steppa runs step challenges on iPhone: you pay a stake, hit one daily goal every day, and the finishers split the whole pool. Steps come from Apple Health and typed-in steps never count. For most players a service fee of $0.50 plus 4% of the stake is shown before you pay. Paid play is for adults where available under its Terms.

See every app we compare in the comparison hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is stickK or Beeminder better?

stickK is better if you want a simple contract with a friend as referee, and you would like a lost stake to go to someone else rather than the app. Beeminder is better if your goal is a number you can track, such as daily steps, and you want the app to read the data and raise the stakes after each miss. Both work best when the stakes sting a little.

Where does your money go on stickK and Beeminder?

On stickK, a lost stake goes to the recipient you picked: a friend, a charity from its list of more than 20 US organisations, or an anti-charity whose cause you oppose. Whether stickK takes a fee from forfeited stakes is not listed on their site as of October 2026. On Beeminder, derail charges go to Beeminder, and its FAQ says that is its business model.

Can stickK or Beeminder track steps automatically?

Beeminder can. It reads steps from Apple Health through its iPhone app, which must be opened regularly, and from Fitbit, Garmin and Oura. You can also type numbers in. stickK has no automatic step tracking that we could confirm as of October 2026: you report your own progress, and a referee you invite can confirm or dispute it.

Do stickK and Beeminder actually work?

Wikipedia cites stickK's own figure that about 78% of users with money at stake and a referee reach their goals, against 35% with no money. That is the company's claim, not an independent study. Beeminder users praise how the rising pledge keeps them consistent for years, though some on its forum say the many settings take time to learn.