Comparison

Flow vs Thrive

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

Head to head
About

Flow

Features
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In today's fast-paced world, it's easy to get overwhelmed by distractions and lose focus. Flow: Focus Training is your personal brain trainer, designed to help you sharpen your focus, clear your mind, and enhance your concentration skills. GET ALERT AND FOCUSED Engage in fast-paced exercises that demand your full attention and quick reflexes. It's like a high-intensity workout for your brain, helping you get into an alert and focused state. CLEAR YOUR MIND When you have too much on your mind, it can be difficult to concentrate. Flow: Focus Training offers a collection of exercises that help you declutter your mind and prepare for work or studies. TRAIN YOUR FOCUS Treat your mind like a muscle and train it to focus better with Flow. With regular use, Flow: Focus Training can help you improve your overall ability to focus and concentrate. You'll find yourself able to stay on task, resist distractions, and achieve your goals more efficiently. KEY FEATURES Enhance your focus and concentration with four engaging brain training games. Choose your preferred exercise duration from 30 seconds to 5 minutes in each game. Track your progress and challenge yourself with the top 25 list of scores in each game. Enjoy the app in light mode or dark mode! WHO IS IT FOR? Flow: Focus Training is designed for anyone who wants to improve their focus, concentration, and productivity. Whether you're a knowledge worker who needs to stay focused on complex tasks, a student who needs to concentrate during exams, an athlete who needs to be mentally sharp during competitions, or a gamer who wants to enhance their reaction time, Flow can help you achieve your goals. ENJOY FLOW EITHOUT ADS Flow offers flexible plans to suit your needs, whether you're a student, a professional, or anyone seeking to enhance their focus. Sign up is not required, and all games are free to play. You may encounter occasional ads before starting exercises. For a seamless and ad-free experience, consider upgrading to Flow+. A single payment without recurring fees grants you lifetime access to Flow+.

About

Thrive

Features
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The most important subject you'll ever study is yourself. Thrive is a private self-discovery practice designed to surface what you've been carrying without quite putting into words. Ten questions per session. One at a time. A personalized synthesis at the end. No advice, no fixes, and no one else listening. Just the kind of deep conversation you don't usually get to have, in a space quiet enough to answer them honestly. Most apps tell you what to do. Thrive asks you what you actually think. — THREE TERRAINS — • Past — Trace the patterns, bonds, and stories that shaped how you move through the world today. • Present — Sit with what's alive in you right now: thoughts, feelings, values, what you're resisting. • Future — Name who you're becoming, what you actually want, and what it will ask of you. — 38 LENSES ON YOUR INTERIOR — Thrive is organized into 38 distinct "modes" — each a different lens for looking at yourself, rooted in a real psychological or philosophical tradition. Open the one that fits today; the others are waiting. PAST — what shaped you • Your Hidden Self (Jungian shadow work) • Your Core Beliefs (schema therapy) • Your Relational Self (attachment theory) • Your Younger Self (IFS / inner child) • Your Honored Losses (grief work) • Your Forged Self (kintsugi / wabi-sabi) • Your Family Patterns, Your Story, Your Resilience, and more. PRESENT — what's alive in you now • Your Emotional World (DBT / affect labeling) • Your Thought Loops (CBT) • Your Thought Distance (ACT defusion) • Your Inner Parts (IFS) • Your Kinder Voice (self-compassion) • Your Values (Stoic philosophy) • Your Observing Self (Advaita Vedanta) • Your Natural Flow (Taoist wu wei) • Your Flourishing (Aristotelian eudaimonia), and more. FUTURE — what you're moving toward • Your Real Why (motivational interviewing) • Your Future Self (future-self research) • Your Purpose (ikigai) • Your Legacy (existential therapy) • Your Worst Case (Stoic premeditatio) • Your New Identity (identity-based change) • Your Commitments, Your Energy, Your Circle, and more. — PRIVATE BY DESIGN — What you're willing to say changes completely when you know no one else is listening. Thrive is built around that fact. • Conversations are never stored on our servers. • Sessions clear from your device automatically. • No sign-up required to begin — anonymous account by default. • Optional Face ID / fingerprint lock on the app itself. • Voice input is processed by your phone's built-in speech recognition; we never receive the audio. Bring the version of yourself no one else gets to meet. That's the one worth getting to know. — BUILT ON 2,500 YEARS OF KNOWING YOURSELF — Thrive draws from the traditions that have actually helped humans live well — Stoicism, Taoism, Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, Jungian depth psychology, IFS, CBT, ACT, DBT, schema therapy, narrative therapy, logotherapy, and more. The frameworks are real; the questions come from them. Thrive simply makes the practice easy to return to. — FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE DONE WITH SHALLOW — Thrive is for you if you've outgrown affirmations and surface-level mood trackers. If you journal but want better questions. If you're between therapy sessions and want somewhere to take a thought. If you're curious about shadow work, parts work, Stoic reflection, or the examined life — and want a structured place to actually do it. A single session is a conversation. A thousand sessions are a transformation. — WHAT'S INCLUDED — • A free trial, then monthly or annual subscription. • 30 guided sessions every month, across all 38 modes. • Goals that quietly carry forward between sessions. • A reading library of short essays, beautifully typeset for slow attention. • Optional gentle notification reminders. — WHEN TO OPEN THRIVE — • When a thought won't leave you alone. • When trying to get clarity on your life. • On the days you'd usually scroll instead.

Screenshots

Flow4 screens
Thrive4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Thrive at none against Flow's shown. Thrive also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 9 months). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Flow sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Thrive sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flow ships an update every 9 months, Thrive every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 4 level
Flow versus Thrive: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlowThrive
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNano Digital Helsinki OyTrends Technology LLC

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Flow

Subscriptions2
  • Flow+ Subscription One Month$2.991 Month
  • Flow+ Subscription One Year$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Flow+ Lifetime$9.99
5 purchases

Thrive

Subscriptions2
  • Thrive Pro Monthly3 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Thrive Pro Annual3 Days trial$79.991 Year
One-time3
  • 10 Session Pack$4.99
  • 25 Session Pack$9.99
  • 50 Session Pack$17.99

Questions

Is Flow free?
Flow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Thrive free?
Thrive is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Flow or Thrive have ads?
Flow shows ads; Thrive does not.
Which is updated more often, Flow or Thrive?
Flow ships an update every 9 months, and Thrive every 3 days. Most recently, Flow was updated on October 11, 2026 and Thrive on October 6, 2026.

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