Comparison

Zone vs Cucumber Timer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Zone

This app helps you maintain focus and boost your productivity using a time management technique. It provides a simple interface to manage your work and break intervals effectively.

Highlights
  • Focus management
  • Efficiency improvement
  • Time management tool
  • Work interval tracking
  • Break interval tracking
Features
Read full description

Make time for focused work and restful breaks. Zone combines a simple focus timer with ambient sounds for work, study and reading. • Set your rhythm: customize work sessions, short breaks, long breaks and the number of sessions per round. • Independent ambient audio: choose rain, forest, night, campfire or airplane sounds. Listen in the background, with or without the timer. • Review your progress: view completed sessions and total focus time by day, week or month. • Optional iCloud sync: synchronize focus records through your own iCloud account. • Your language and layout: switch languages in the app and use layouts adapted for iPhone rotation and iPad windows. Choose a time. Start focusing.

About

Cucumber Timer

This app helps users focus on tasks and manage breaks effectively using a visual timer. It offers customizable intervals, intuitive time displays, and battery-saving features to enhance productivity and prevent burnout.

Highlights
  • Customizable focus and break intervals
  • Intuitive visual time display
  • Adjustable intervals on the go
  • Customizable display themes and brightness
  • Minimal battery consumption
  • Choice of notification sounds or vibration
Features
Read full description

-- Is this app for me? -- Students, software developers, writers, artists — anyone with a todo list. Cucumber Timer is for those who want to achieve their daily goals regularly. Set a rhythm of focused work and regular breaks so you get more done while saving your energy. With a non-distracting overview of elapsed and remaining time, Cucumber Timer helps you stay motivated, avoid distractions, and avoid sitting too long without a break. -- No ads -- Cucumber Timer helps you concentrate on what's important to you. Feature-rich for free: you can adjust focus and break intervals to reflect your preferences. Extra customization can be unlocked with a one-time payment: beautiful themes, specially recorded sounds, and a fixed brightness setting that helps the battery last longer. -- Adjust on the go -- Adjust remaining interval with 2 taps any time without affecting your usual settings. Sometimes you might have less time than usual, say you prefer to work for 25 minutes but now have just 10 before an appointment. Or perhaps you're feeling especially focused and would like to sit undisturbed for a longer time than usual. You can either select a new duration of the current interval (e.g., 20 minutes) or end time (finish at 15:30). -- Intuitive visual time -- The interval rings make the current time immediately recognizable. You already have an intuitive feel for how many minutes a portion of a watch face represents — a quarter of an hour is a quarter of the circle, no counting needed. -- Customize display -- 8 beautiful dark color themes that are non-distracting, visually balanced, and readable. Choose to keep the screen always on as a reminder that you're focusing. Lower the brightness to make the battery last longer — or to stay discreet on your desk in an office or library. The in-app brightness slider holds your chosen level whenever Cucumber Timer is in the foreground, so you don't have to adjust it by hand each time. -- Save battery -- Minimal battery use in the foreground; none in the background. When you start an interval, Cucumber Timer schedules notifications for upcoming focus and break intervals — no code running in the background to drain your battery. -- Choose sounds -- Choose whether the app plays a sound, vibrates, or stays silent when an interval starts. 19 unique sounds recorded specifically for Cucumber Timer.

Screenshots

Zone4 screens
Cucumber Timer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Zone at none against Cucumber Timer's 1. Cucumber Timer's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 9 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Cucumber Timer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Zone asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zone ships an update every 9 months, Cucumber Timer every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Zone versus Cucumber Timer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZoneCucumber Timer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size40 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer灿锋 朱Dmytro Serdiuk

Customer experience

Zone

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Cucumber Timer

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Zone

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Cucumber Timer

One-time1
  • Full Version$3.99

Questions

Is Zone free?
Zone is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cucumber Timer free?
Cucumber Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Zone or Cucumber Timer have ads?
Neither Zone nor Cucumber Timer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zone or Cucumber Timer?
Zone ships an update every 9 months, and Cucumber Timer every 9 days. Most recently, Zone was updated on November 1, 2026 and Cucumber Timer on November 3, 2026.

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