Mijn Borgje
Building habit accountability through stakes
Financial accountability that actually works. Borgje helps you keep commitments through loss aversion How it works: Set a commitment with a location and time. Deposit money (you choose the amount). Show up on time and get your money back instantly. Miss it? Your deposit goes to charity. Perfect for gym consistency, punctuality, building location-based habits, or any goal where showing up matters. Win-win: Either you achieve your goals, or a good cause benefits.
Reviews
Borgje has completely changed my relationship with commitment. I'm someone who makes plans and then talks myself out of them constantly. Started with small €8 deposits for showing up to my local library for focused work sessions. The combination of financial loss aversion and location verification creates real accountability you can't weasel out of. Three months in, I've built a consistent routine of 4 work sessions per week, my productivity has doubled, and I've only lost €40 total. The streak tracking motivates me to keep going even on days when I don't feel like it. This app understands human psychology better than any other habit tool I've tried.
The library work sessions are such a smart use case. I do the same thing with coffee shop work blocks. The location requirement forces you to actually go to the focused environment instead of pretending you'll work from home.
Thanks! Love hearing about creative use cases like this. The location-based accountability for work sessions is becoming really popular - forces the environmental change that makes focused work easier.
Three months and only €40 lost with 4 sessions per week is a 92% success rate. The doubled productivity is probably worth way more than the €40 you lost building the habit.
The interface is clean and gets out of the way. Setting up commitments is straightforward: pick location, time, deposit amount, done. The map view for selecting your check-in location is intuitive. One small UI suggestion would be to show upcoming commitments on the home screen more prominently. Right now you have to tap through to see what's scheduled. Otherwise, the app does exactly what it promises without unnecessary complexity.
The core concept is great but I've had issues with the location check-in not registering properly twice in the past week. I was physically at my gym both times but the app said I was outside the geofence radius. Had to contact support to get my deposits back, which they did quickly, but it's frustrating when you actually show up and the tech fails. Running on iOS 17.2, iPhone 14. Hope they can improve the location accuracy because otherwise the app works well for accountability.
Had the same location issue last week. Support got back to me within a few hours and refunded the deposit, but it's definitely frustrating when you actually show up and the tech fails you.
Sorry about the geofence issues. We're actively working on improving location accuracy, especially for iOS 17+ devices. If you're still experiencing problems, please reach out to support with your specific location and we can adjust the detection settings for that area.
Solid accountability tool. I've been testing it for morning meetings where I'm always late. Set €10 deposits for 9am check-ins at my office building. The geofencing is accurate, picked up my location within seconds each time. Lost €20 in the first week (ouch, but deserved), but I've been on time for 12 straight days since. The charity donation aspect makes it feel less punishing and more purposeful.
Good concept but needs some refinement. The location radius for check-ins could be more customizable. My gym is in a large building complex and sometimes I'm close enough but the app doesn't register it. Also would be helpful to see which charity your missed deposits go to. I know it's about accountability not charity tracking, but transparency would be nice. That said, it has gotten me to the gym 15 times in 3 weeks when I'd normally go maybe 6 times, so it's working.
I've had the same issue with the gym geofence. Large building complexes can be tricky. Usually works if I wait a few seconds after entering but it's annoying when you're in a rush.
Thanks for the feedback. We're working on improving the geofence accuracy for large buildings. The customizable radius feature you mentioned is actually in development - should make it easier to set the right detection zone for complex locations.
15 gym visits in 3 weeks from 6 is still really good progress though. The system is working even with the occasional geofence issues.
Smart use of behavioral economics. I've tested Borgje for 5 weeks with commitments ranging from €5 to €30 deposits for gym sessions, language classes, and morning meetings. The flexibility in deposit amounts is key because you can adjust the stakes based on how difficult the commitment is for you. Location verification works reliably in my experience. Only wish there was a way to pause commitments for planned absences like vacations without losing your streak.
The flexible deposit amounts are key. I do €5 for easier commitments like morning walks and €25 for harder ones like early client meetings. Being able to calibrate the stakes makes a huge difference.
The pause feature for vacations would be really helpful. I lost a 40 day streak when I went traveling and it was demotivating to start over from zero even though the trip was planned.
Been using Borgje for gym consistency over the past 2 months and it's genuinely changed how I stick to commitments. The location-based check-in works perfectly at my local gym. I've set up €15 deposits for my 6am workouts, and knowing that money goes to charity if I skip has made me show up 28 out of 30 days. The instant refund when you check in on time feels rewarding, and the streak counter keeps me motivated. Would love to see a feature for recurring commitments so I don't have to manually set up each session.
28 out of 30 days at 6am is seriously impressive. The instant refund when you check in on time is such good positive reinforcement. Agree on the recurring commitments feature - would save time on setup.
Thanks for the feedback! Recurring commitments are high on our roadmap. We're designing it so you can set up weekly patterns (like Mon/Wed/Fri gym sessions) without having to create each one individually.
The streak counter is really motivating once you get going. I'm at 19 days for my morning writing sessions and not wanting to break it is almost as powerful as the deposit itself.
Love this app! Using it for yoga class consistency with €12 deposits. The financial stakes make such a difference compared to free habit trackers. I've shown up to 18 out of 20 classes in the past month, way better than my usual 50% attendance. The instant refund when you check in feels great, and knowing missed deposits go to charity takes the sting out of failure. Simple, effective, exactly what I needed.
18 out of 20 yoga classes is way better than 50%! That's exactly what I experienced too - the €12 sweet spot where it's enough to matter but not so high it feels risky.
Thanks! Really glad the financial stakes are making a difference for your yoga consistency. That jump from 50% to 90% attendance is exactly the kind of transformation we built Borgje for.
Perfect for building punctuality habits. I've been chronically late to everything my whole life, and Borgje has been the only thing that's actually worked. Set up €20 deposits for arriving at my coworking space by 8:30am. Three weeks in and I've only missed once (that €20 hurt). The location-based verification is genius because you can't cheat it. Would be amazing if they added a social feature where you could create group commitments with friends, like accountability buddies where everyone's deposits are pooled.
The group commitment pooling idea is really interesting. Would love to see something where you and accountability partners all commit together and the deposits get redistributed if everyone succeeds.
Thanks for the feedback! The social accountability feature is definitely on our radar. We're exploring how to implement group commitments in a way that maintains the individual motivation while adding that buddy system element.
Three weeks and only one miss is solid. I've been chronically late my whole life too and Borgje's been the only thing that's worked for me. Currently 6 weeks into my morning commitment.
Finally, an accountability app that actually has teeth. Free habit trackers are easy to ignore, but watching €15 disappear to charity when you flake is real motivation. I'm using it for consistent bedtime (checking in at home by 11pm) and early morning swimming (pool check-in by 6:30am). Two months in, my sleep schedule has never been better and I'm swimming 5 times a week instead of my previous once-a-week attempts. The psychological impact of having money on the line is no joke. Highly recommend if you struggle with follow-through like I do.
Two months of 5x weekly swimming from once a week is incredible progress. The bedtime check-in is a smart use case I hadn't thought of - using it for being home by a certain time.
Thanks! Your dual commitment setup (bedtime + swimming) is a great example of using Borgje for connected habits. The consistent sleep schedule probably helps with those 6:30am pool check-ins too.
Startup founder | Tech explorer
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