Parents compare Thriive and Goally a lot, so here's the honest answer up front: they aren't really rivals. Goally is built for your child. Thriive is built for adults with ADHD, which often includes the parent doing the comparing. Written by the Thriive team, bias declared.
Goally is for your child. Thriive is for you.
Goally is a dedicated, locked-down tablet your child owns, running visual schedules, timers, and reward systems: structure delivered through hardware. Thriive is an app for ADHD and AuDHD adults: you tip out everything on your mind, Rex sorts it into what's next and helps you start. Goally structures your child's day. Thriive takes some of the load off yours.
The device is the point: no YouTube, no games, no negotiating over your own phone. For children who need heavy visual structure, especially younger kids or those with higher support needs, a dedicated device with schedules and rewards can genuinely smooth the day. The trade-off is cost: roughly $199 to $249 for the device, plus a subscription for the full feature set. It's a real investment before you know if it fits your child.
Thriive won't run your child's routines or track their behaviour. It's for you. If you're the one holding the school forms, the appointments, the work deadlines and everything else, you tip it all out and Rex sorts it into today, this week and later, then helps you start the first one, with a tiny first step when something feels too big. ADHD runs in families, so plenty of parents reading this have a head that's just as full as their child's day is busy. That's who Thriive is for. Thriive is free to start; Pro is £35.99 a year (that's £2.99 a month), with a 7-day free trial.
Pick Goally if your child needs their own distraction-free device, thrives on heavy visual structure, and the hardware budget is comfortable. Pick Thriive if the person who needs help keeping on top of everything is you. Plenty of families could use both: Goally for your child's day, Thriive for yours. They don't overlap at all.
