Comparison

Flow vs Starbound

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

Head to head
About

Flow

Enhance your concentration and productivity with a scientifically proven method. This app divides your workflow into focused work intervals and scheduled breaks, helping you reduce stress and stay motivated. Ideal for work, study, or any task requiring deep focus.

Highlights
  • Pomodoro timer with work intervals and breaks
  • App and web blocking
  • Statistics tracking
  • Commitment mode
  • Inspirational quotes
  • Home & Lock Screen Widgets
Features
Read full description

Join hundreds of thousands of happy users who enjoy this simple way to stay focused and productive. Use Flow to get things done. Flow is a tiny but mighty app that helps you work on a task, study for school or simply stay focused without being distracted for a certain amount of time. Flow divides your workflow into sections with defined breaks, making it easy to stay focused. This method has been scientifically proven to be an effective way to increase your concentration and motivation while reducing your stress levels. The use of a Pomodoro timer can be a huge boost to your productivity. Use Flow to ... ... concentrate ... work on a task ... study for school ... code all night ... work from home Benefits of this technique • Improved focus and motivation • Increased productivity • Less stress and better health • Better management of interruptions Features • Pomodoro timer with work intervals and breaks • Statistics to keep track of your completed sessions • Notifications to remind you of short breaks • App and web blocking to combat distractions • Commitment mode for self-control • Inspirational quotes for motivation • Metronome for deep focus • Multiple duration options • Custom session title • Apple Calendar sync • Apple Health sync • iCloud sync of stats • Home & Lock Screen Widgets • Support for Live Activities & Dynamic Island YOU MATTER TO US We want to make Flow even better! Please give us your honest feedback in order to help us fix bugs and improve the app. We will regularly update Flow based on your feedback. Thank you! ABOUT US Yugen is a small independent developer studio based in Frankfurt, Germany. Our team is devoted to making great apps that we want to use ourselves. We strive to create products that help people in their everyday life with intuitive user experiences and minimalistic design. QUESTIONS? If you have any questions or problems, feel free to email us. We provide awesome support and love to help! www.flow.app support@flow.app Twitter: flow__app Facebook: flowapp.info Instagram: flowapp.info FLOW PRO Subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end of the current period through your Apple account. For more information, see our Terms of Use at https://www.flow.app/legal and Apple's Terms of Use (EULA) at https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/.

About

Starbound

Features
Read full description

Focus is hard to keep up when nothing comes of it. Starbound turns the time you spend concentrating into something you can see growing. Every session you finish builds a station on the planet Veltora. Put the phone down, do the work, and come back to a skyline that wasn't there yesterday. THREE WAYS TO WORK Pomodoro - focus and break lengths you set, four cycles to a lap Countdown - one fixed stretch, however long you need Stopwatch - open-ended, for work that doesn't fit a box BUILD AS YOU FOCUS Six stations to raise, from a first Outpost to Veltora Prime Each finished focus session builds one, and the day fills up beside it Abandon a session and nothing gets built - the skyline only counts real hours EARN WHILE YOU WORK 3 XP for every focused minute 1 Stardust for every five Thirty ranks to climb, from Cadet to Starbound SPEND IT Suits and ships in the shop, bought with Stardust Change your loadout whenever you like - your ship flies with your timer SEE THE WEEK HONESTLY Hours focused this week against last week Month and year views when you want the longer look A trend line instead of a vague sense of how it went BRING FRIENDS ALONG Find people by nickname and send a request See who's in a session right now - friends stay visible while they're focused, even with their phone in a pocket Star the ones you want at the top Starbound gets out of your way while you work: during a focus phase the shop and stats are out of reach, so the app can't become the distraction. Sign in with Apple, Google, or your email. Turn on notifications and Starbound tells you the moment a phase ends - even with the app closed.

Screenshots

Flow4 screens
Starbound4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Starbound at none against Flow's 3. Starbound also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). Flow's advantage is device support (5 vs 1). On price, update cadence and ads 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. Flow sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Starbound asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flow ships an update every 4 weeks, Starbound fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Flow versus Starbound: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlowStarbound
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.8K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews86.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.8K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB55 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYugen GmbHKushrajsinh Jhala

Bugs and requests

Flow

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Live activity feature not working consistently
  • Timer not recording sessions accurately
  • App blocking functionality not working as expected
  • Crashes and freezes on certain macOS versions

Requested features

6 requests
  • Allow custom work and break durations
  • Add option to pause and resume flow sessions
  • Implement real-time sync across devices
  • Provide more detailed productivity tracking and reporting
  • Include an Apple Watch app with complication support
Show 1 more
  • Add ability to block notifications from certain apps during flows

Starbound

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Flow

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Plan7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Plan14 Days trial$17.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pro Access$39.99
None

Starbound

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Flow free?
Flow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Starbound free?
Starbound is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Flow or Starbound have ads?
Neither Flow nor Starbound shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flow or Starbound?
Flow ships an update every 4 weeks, and Starbound fortnightly. Most recently, Flow was updated on October 27, 2026 and Starbound on October 24, 2026.

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