Coming soon · Android + iOS
Twelve weeks of Stoic practice. One short card a day.
Each day brings one card: a quote, a concept, a practice, a scenario, a person who lived it, or a look at today's world, with a weekly review on day seven. It takes about ten minutes. Your progress, notes and journal stay on your phone. No account, no ads, no tracking.
The Stoics taught that philosophy is something you practise, not something you read about. The Stoa gives you one small piece each day, in this order every week.
Each card is short: an idea, where it comes from, one thing to try today and a question to think over. Mark it complete when you're done.
One missed day each week is forgiven, so a busy Tuesday doesn't undo a good month. Missing a day is a sign to slow down, not a failure.
All twelve weeks on one timeline, with what you've done and what's next. Tap any day to read its card.
Every quote, all 84 course days and five longer station pages, searchable in one place. Bookmark what you want to keep.
A note on every card, a morning, midday and evening practice tracker, a memento mori, an evening journal and a look back at what you wrote.
No account and no internet needed. The Android app has no internet permission at all. An optional daily reminder is scheduled on your phone.
Daily for today, Course for the journey, Library for everything else. Every screen below is a real screenshot of The Stoa; the colonnade at the top of the page is an illustration.
The Daily tab opens on a progress ring with your day out of 84, this week's theme, your streak and whether this week's rest day is still free. Below it is today's card. The arrows (or a swipe) show yesterday, tomorrow or any earlier day. One button marks the day complete, with a small check and a tap of the phone. Then come a reading, the day's practice and an evening reflection.
The Course tab shows your day, your streak and the concepts you've practised, then the twelve weeks as a timeline. Each week shows its title, how many days are done and seven cells, one per day. Tap a day and its card slides up from the bottom, with its practice, a link to the idea on the Map and room for your note.
Search every quote, all 84 course days and the station pages at once. Accents don't matter: type “oikeiosis” and it finds Oikeiōsis. Matches are highlighted, and tapping one opens the page at the right place. Explore walks the six stations, Quotes lists every quotation, and Saved keeps your bookmarked quotes and days.
Six stations go deeper than a daily card. Foundations covers the three disciplines and what is up to us. Lineage is the people who built the school. The Map shows how physics, ethics and logic fit together, with each idea's Greek name. Practice holds the daily exercises, with timers and logs. Exemplars is people who held their ground, and Applied asks the same questions of a modern life.
The Stoa comes in Stone, a dark theme with gold, and Parchment, a warm light one. This site has both: use the switch at the top. In Settings you can also turn on a daily reminder at a time you choose. It is scheduled on your phone, so it needs no connection.
The course follows the stations of the Library, from the first idea of Stoicism to the inner fortress Marcus Aurelius wrote about.
After day 84 the course starts again as round two. Your notes and journal are kept.
The first time you open The Stoa, start the course today or look around first. Day one begins when you say so.
A quote, an idea or a story from the Stoics, explained in plain English. A minute or two.
One small thing to practise that day, and a question for the evening. Write a note if you like.
Your streak grows, and one missed day each week is forgiven. On day seven, look back at the week.
“Of things some are in our power, and others are not.”
The Stoa has no account, no analytics, no ads and no server. The whole course is inside the app, and the Android app doesn't even have internet access. The only permission it asks for is notifications, and only when you turn on the daily reminder.
Read the privacy policyEverything The Stoa needs to run.
No subscription, no ads, no in-app purchases.
Coming soon to Android and iOS
About ten minutes. Read the day's card, try the one small thing it suggests, and write a line in your journal if you want to.
No. Week one starts with the first line of Epictetus' handbook: some things are up to us and some are not. Every card explains its idea in plain English.
One missed day each week is forgiven, so your streak survives it. The cards you missed are still there: go back with the arrows on the Daily tab, or open them from the Course tab.
Every quotation is checked against a public-domain translation (Long, Gummere, Hicks, Stewart or Yonge) and cited on the card. Modern sources are marked as such.
The course starts again as round two, with your notes and journal kept. Many Stoic exercises are meant to be repeated.
No. The whole course is inside the app, and the Android app has no internet permission at all. There is no account, no sign-in and no analytics.
Yes, if you want. Turn on the daily reminder in Settings and pick a time. It is a notification scheduled on your phone, so it works offline. On Android it can arrive up to about an hour late.
The Stoa is coming soon to Android and iOS. Leave your email on the contact page and we'll let you know when it's out.