Driftwise vs Timeshifter
Timeshifter is a good app. It is grounded in circadian science, it is well made, and it has helped a lot of travelers think about light and sleep instead of just toughing it out. It is built around flights, and it does that well.
Driftwise takes a different shape. If your trips rarely fit in a single seat, if you would rather own an app than rent it per trip, and if you want your travel plans to stay on your phone, here is where the two differ. We have tried to keep this fair.
Where Driftwise is different
Timeshifter is built around flights. Driftwise builds one continuous adaptation plan across flights, trains, buses, cars, and ferries, with advice for the time you spend in transit. Real itineraries rarely end at the airport, and the plan shouldn't either.
Timeshifter gives you the first plan free, then charges for each jet lag plan, and also sells a subscription. Driftwise never charges per trip. Your first trip is free, then you own it for life or take a simple annual plan, and there is nothing extra to pay before a journey you have already paid for in every other way. The amounts, side by side, are in the table below.
Driftwise has no account and no tracking. Your trips and your plan stay on your device and sync only through your own private iCloud, never our servers. The only network call happens if you choose to look up a flight, and it sends just the flight number and date. Timeshifter is account-based and runs in the cloud.
Driftwise shows a forward timeline with named phases, Prep, In transit, Arrival, and Adjusting, so you always know what to do now and what comes next. And when your real day drifts from the plan, you can edit it to match instead of following it to the minute.
Side by side
| Driftwise | Timeshifter | |
|---|---|---|
| Travel modes | Flights, trains, buses, cars, ferries, planned as one continuous journey, with in-transit advice. | Flight-centric. |
| Pricing model | First trip free. Then a year, or own it for life at ( as a founding price during the launch). No per-trip charge. | First plan free, then for a jet lag plan. There is also a subscription. |
| Data and privacy | On device (private iCloud, never our servers), no account, no tracking. Opt-in flight lookup only. | Account-based, cloud, often bundled through airline partners. |
| Plan flexibility | Forward timeline with named phases, editable to your real day. | Guided plan, less room to adjust to your reality. |
Both columns quote US App Store prices, in US dollars, so the two apps are compared like for like. Your own App Store shows the price for your country, which is not a conversion of these. Timeshifter's amounts are taken from its US App Store listing, checked on 14 July 2026, and can change without our knowing. Comparison based on Driftwise's design and Timeshifter's publicly described approach as of July 2026. Both apps are planning tools grounded in circadian science, not medical devices. See our medical disclaimer.
In fairness
If you only ever fly, if you already use Timeshifter and like it, or if you want an app with years of reviews and a large user base behind it today, Timeshifter is a solid, well-made choice and we would not argue otherwise. It has helped a lot of travelers, and it earned that.
Driftwise is for the trips that do not end at the airport, for people who would rather own their app than pay per trip, and for anyone who wants their travel plans to stay on their own phone. If that sounds like you, the differences above are why we built it.
Available now
Driftwise is on the App Store. If the four differences above sound like the way you travel, it was built for you.
Driftwise