What's the difference between a Commit and a Challenge?

A Commit is private and settles one check-in at a time, so the most you can lose is the ones you missed. A Challenge is all or nothing against a shared deadline, and pays the people who finish a share of what everyone who dropped out forfeited.

What happens if I miss one?

On a Commit you lose that check-in's stake and it carries on — no grace days, no disqualification. On a Challenge a grace day is spent for you; miss one with none left and you are out on the spot, for the whole stake, with no rejoining.

What do I get back, and what do you take?

Finish a Challenge and you get your stake back plus a share of the forfeited pool, after a platform fee (12% unless the challenge shows otherwise) taken from that pool only, never from a finisher's own stake. Your share is smaller if you used grace days. Say ten people stake $50 and seven finish: the fee takes $18 of the $150 pool, so if nobody used a grace day each finisher gets $50 back plus about $18.85. Commits have no fee at all. If everyone finishes there is no pool, so everyone is simply refunded.

How do Grace Days work?

Challenges only. Each one sets its own free allowance, and you can buy more at $3 each, up to that challenge's limit. One covers a missed or rejected check-in, but every one you spend cuts your share of the pool by up to half. Bought ones are not refunded. Commits have none.

Where is my money held?

In escrow, never in an Accustom bank account. You pay by card and can cash out to a bank in the US, Australia, Brazil, India and the eurozone. Behind the scenes it's held as USDC, a digital dollar, in the Accustom escrow contract on Base; you don't need to know anything about crypto to use it. A Commit stakes up to $9,999 in total, and a Challenge's stake is shown on the challenge.

How is a check-in verified?

You submit a photo, an in-app camera shot, a screenshot or a timelapse video — the Challenge picks which, and on a Commit you do. A moderator reviews every one, usually within 36 hours, against the commitment you wrote. A rejected check-in costs exactly what a missed one costs.

You can cancel a Commit at any time, and it forfeits everything still held — including the check-ins you already made. Forfeited money goes to Accustom. It is not donated.

How will I be reminded?

Push notifications in the app, always on, and email if you want it. Nothing else — SMS and WhatsApp are not delivered.

It is encrypted and stored securely. Evidence is only used for verification, and it is kept until you delete your account. We do not sell it or share it for advertising.

Put money on a habit.Get it all back.

Unless you don’t do it.

Every check-in you prove comes back. Miss one, lose that one.

Commit to a habit Or join a group challenge

Live from the app

Check‑ins made
Avg. per check‑in
Success rate

How it works

A commit, start to finish.

Write it
Name the habit and what counts.
Schedule it
Daily, a few times a week, or once.
Stake it
Set what each check-in is worth.
Prove it
Upload proof. A moderator checks it.
Get it back
Collect every check-in you kept.

Example

Go to the gym

11 of 12 kept

3× a week · 4 weeks · $10 a check-in

KeptMissed

Held while it ran: $120.00
1 missed check-in: −$10.00
Back to you: $110.00

The research behind it

Four findings from peer-reviewed trials.

81%

Locking money away works

People who locked their savings away until they hit a goal saved 81% more in a year than people who didn’t.

QJE, 2006

2×

It works on the people who say yes

Trying to quit smoking, people who put down their own money did twice as well as people paid a reward.

NEJM, 2015

47%

It outlasts the money

A year on, people who’d staked their own money still kept up about half their extra gym visits. People only paid to go kept 16%.

AEJ: Applied, 2015

4×

Something to win gets people in

Adding a chance to win made people four times more likely to sign up, and it worked just as well. One study, 137 students.

Psych. Sport Exerc., 2024

Two ways to take part

Both put real money behind a habit. They settle very differently.

Commits

You against yourself

Private, and settled one check-in at a time.

Grace days: None
Platform fee: None
You get back: Every verified check-in
Cancelling: Forfeits everything held

Commit to a habit

Challenges

You against a group

Everyone stakes the same. Finish and you split what the people who dropped out forfeited.

Grace days: Set per challenge
Platform fee: 12% of the pool
You get back: Stake + a share of the pool
Disqualified: Whole stake, no rejoining

Browse challenges

Say ten people stake $50

Seven finish, three drop out. The three forfeit $150. Accustom takes 12% — $18 — and the other $132 splits seven ways. Each finisher gets their $50 back plus about $18.85, less any grace days they spent.

Prove it your way

A challenge picks one. On a commit, you do.

PhotoCamera onlyScreenshotTimelapse

Questions to ask first

Day one is today.

Pick the habit. Name the number.