75 Hard and 75 Soft get compared constantly, but most explanations gloss over exactly where they diverge. Here’s the full breakdown.
Comparison table: 75 Hard vs 75 Soft
| 75 Hard | 75 Soft | |
|---|---|---|
| Workouts | Two 45-minute workouts a day, one strictly outdoors | One 45-minute workout a day, indoors or outdoors |
| Diet | Strict diet, zero cheat meals for 75 days | A diet of your choosing, followed consistently |
| Alcohol | Banned entirely | Allowed in moderation if it fits your chosen diet |
| Water | 1 gallon (3.7L) daily | Consistent daily hydration (commonly ~3L) |
| Reading | 10 pages of non-fiction daily | 10 pages daily (genre more flexible) |
| Progress photo | Daily | Daily |
| Miss a day | Entire challenge restarts from day 1 | No restart, you continue the next day |
| Customization | None, rules are fixed | Habits can be adapted to your goals |
What’s the real difference between 75 Hard and 75 Soft?
The workouts and diet get most of the attention, but the single biggest structural difference is the restart rule. 75 Hard’s all-or-nothing reset is what makes it notoriously difficult to finish. A huge share of attempts end somewhere in weeks 2 to 4 after one missed requirement wipes out all prior progress. 75 Soft removes that mechanism entirely while keeping everything else that makes the 75-day format effective: daily habits, visible progress, and a long enough timeframe for the habits to actually stick.
Is 75 Soft still a real challenge, or is it too easy?
75 Soft is still a genuine daily-discipline challenge, you’re building five consistent habits for 75 straight days, which is harder than it sounds for most people. What it removes is the punishment for imperfection, not the difficulty of showing up. For people who find even 75 Soft too easy after a few weeks, 75 Medium sits between the two as a natural next step up.
Which one should you actually do?
If you’ve never completed a 75-day challenge before, or you’ve tried 75 Hard and lost momentum after one bad day, start with 75 Soft. See the full breakdown of the rules to get started today. If you’re already consistent with daily workouts and a strict diet and want the added mental toughness of an all-or-nothing structure, 75 Hard is the better fit. Either way, the mechanism that actually builds the habit is the same: a visible, honest record of every one of the 75 days. Thrive’s garden timeline is built specifically for that, one plant per day, thriving or wilted, the whole 75 days laid out where you can see it.