Comparison

Outliner vs Focus Timer

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

Head to head
About

Outliner

Organize your thoughts, tasks, and projects with a powerful outlining tool. Create structured lists, track project progress with visual indicators, and collaborate with others. Sync your work across devices and cloud storage for seamless access.

Highlights
  • Create structured outlines
  • Track project progress with pie charts
  • Sync with cloud storage (OneDrive, Dropbox)
  • Collaborate with other users
  • Drag and drop editing
  • Search and filter outlines
  • Archive old outlines
Features
Read full description

CarbonFin Outliner allows you to organize your thoughts, tasks, and projects. Easily create a todo list for today, or track an entire project anywhere you are. Share your outlines, edit them online, and collaborate with other Outliner users. Highlights • Create outlines full of notes, structured lists, tasks, or detailed projects • Sync your outlines automatically to Outliner Online, OneDrive, or Dropbox for web or desktop editing • Get a quick view of project progress - tasks with subtasks show a pie-chart indicating percent completed Organize • Search through all your outlines or an individual outline • Tag your outlines, and filter based on tag • Archive old outlines to hide them from view without deleting Easy-to-use Editor • Drag and drop to move items within an outline • Copy, paste • Undo, redo • Expand all, collapse all • Optional outline numbering • Zoom in to focus on a single subtree Outliner Online • Securely synchronize your outlines with Outliner Online • View and edit your outlines in any web browser • Import and export outlines as plain text or OPML • Keep all your devices synchronized • Share an outline with other Outliner users to collaborate OneDrive and Dropbox • Sync your outlines with OneDrive or Dropbox to allow quick import/export • Seamlessly access and edit across your iOS devices and PCs -= Recent version history =- Version 3.20 • iOS 27 support • Updated Dropbox and OneDrive integrations • Bug fixes Version 3.19 • iOS 26 support and adoption of liquid glass Version 3.18 • iOS 18 support • Dark and tinted app icons Version 3.17 • Minor bug fixes Version 3.16 • Minor bug fixes • iOS 17 support Version 3.15 • Fixed Dropbox integration • Show a warning when unlinking Dropbox/OneDrive if there are unsynced outlines • iOS 16 support Version 3.12 • Dark mode • Added confirmation to "Delete Completed" • Changing "Archived" won't update the outline's modification time • iOS 13 support Version 3.11 • OneDrive sync support Version 3.10 • Sync the order of outlines across devices (CarbonFin outlines only) • iOS 12 support Version 3.9 • iPhone X support • iOS 11 support Version 3.8 • Open In... support • Ability to hide the outline list on iPad • Minor UI tweaks

About

Focus Timer

Features
Read full description

Focus Timer: Pomodoro turns overwhelming work and study sessions into short, winnable focus sprints. Set a task, start the timer, and let proven work/break cycles keep you concentrated, fresh, and consistent — one Pomodoro at a time. Built for students, developers, writers, and anyone doing deep work, Focus Timer combines a beautiful distraction-free countdown with focus statistics, streaks, and ambient concentration sounds. No account, no ads, and everything works 100% offline. WHY FOCUS TIMER • FOCUS IN SPRINTS — A clean circular Pomodoro countdown with cycle dots keeps you on task. Label every session (Study, Coding, Reading, Writing…) so your time has a purpose. • SMART BREAKS, NO BURNOUT — Short breaks after every focus session and an automatic long break after each cycle keep your energy and concentration high all day. • TRACK YOUR PROGRESS — See today's focus time, weekly charts, best days, session history, and your daily goal. Watch your focus minutes grow. • BUILD A STREAK — Focus at least once a day and keep your streak alive. Small daily wins become a lasting deep-work habit. • FOCUS SOUNDS — Ticking clock, white noise, deep noise, and soft rain help you stay in flow while you work or study. • MAKE IT YOURS — Customize focus length, short and long breaks, cycles per set, daily goal, and session alerts. Classic 25/5 Pomodoro, 50/10 deep work, or fully custom. • SESSION ALERTS — Get notified the second a focus session or break ends, even when your phone is locked. • PRIVATE BY DESIGN — No account, no tracking, no data collection. Your focus history never leaves your device. FOCUS TIMER PRO (PURCHASE REQUIRED) Focus Timer requires a Focus Timer Pro purchase to use the app. Choose the plan that fits you (US prices; local prices may vary): • Yearly — $19.99/year with a 3-day FREE trial • Monthly — $2.99/month • Lifetime — $39.99 one-time payment, yours forever Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. The free trial converts to a paid yearly subscription unless cancelled before the trial ends. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://appios432.blogspot.com/p/privacy-policy_0805149280.html Start your first focus sprint today — your future focused self will thank you.

Screenshots

Outliner4 screens
Focus Timer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Focus Timer at Free against Outliner's $4.99. Outliner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Focus Timer is free to download; Outliner costs $4.99 up front. Focus Timer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Outliner asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Outliner versus Focus Timer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOutlinerFocus Timer
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (88 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews86.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings88 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCarbonFinMD Shahariar Nazim Joy

Bugs and requests

Outliner

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unexpected error: 500 when saving data
  • Pane that lists outlines won't go away or resize
  • Keyboard takes up too much screen space

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add due dates and priority levels for tasks
  • Improve export and sharing options (e.g., PDF, Word)
  • Implement better organization and search capabilities
  • Introduce a desktop companion app for easier editing
  • Add support for voice notes and other multimedia

Focus Timer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Outliner

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Focus Timer

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly3 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is Outliner free?
Outliner costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Focus Timer free?
Focus Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Outliner or Focus Timer have ads?
Neither Outliner nor Focus Timer shows ads.

Other comparisons