Comparison

Study Buddies vs Exocus

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

Head to head
About

Study Buddies

This app uses a gamified Pomodoro technique to help users focus on tasks and reduce phone usage. It offers ambient sounds and competitive features to motivate users to build better habits and improve productivity.

Highlights
  • Gamified focus timer
  • Pomodoro technique
  • Habit tracking and building
  • Ambient sounds (lo-fi, white noise)
  • Competitive features with friends
  • Phone addiction reduction
Features
Read full description

Study Buddies is a unique productivity app that helps you focusing and spend less time on your phone in a Fun way! This app is perfect for studying students in university, high school, college and any sort of education, but also for working people that want to focus on tasks or just want to get rid of their phone addiction. This app uses a focus timer pomodoro method that motivates you to not close the app while you work on your habits, exams or other task level by level. A perfect habit tracker and habit builder for students with add & adhd. With productive ambient music, lo-fi, white noise, brown noise, pink noise and satisfying backgrounds. pomodoro method is scientifically proven to create optimal focus. Compete against your productive friends and get smarter and stressless together! The most effective way to test your brain with daily habit tracker and planner. Study Buddies: Focus timer is a focus timekeeper, a study timer, and a focus gamified study app. It helps you to beat phone dependence , increase productivity, tone- control, and attention on study and work. Stay focused! Get as numerous shops and monsters as you can, and turn the land into timber. You can use a preamble study plan or a Pomodoro timekeeper. It also supports contemplation twinkles from study timekeeper like plantie, foliage green focus, concentrate to do, timetree, calm, study shamus, headspace, timber app, habitica, nox ocean, factory nurse, eggzy, flipd, flip, socratic, planty, study bunny, tomato timekeeper, pomodoro timekeeper, Studbuddies, Studybuddies: focus, be concentrated, studysmarter, bunnies, concentrate keeper, flip focus, study blue, study chum, saplingy, sleep city, yeolpumta, my study life, study islet, forrest, pomofocus, finch, emphasis, flat tomato, virtual cabin, aloe cub, lifeat, concentrate mate, treedom, offtime, study diary, time tree, focos, study with me, tomatodo, forrest, forest, trello, study buddy, Study Friend, etude, productive, mindly, planta, endel, ypt, andetc and mixes this with monster collection tamer games like pokemon or dragon city. use this study aid when you want to put down your phone and concentrate on what’s important in real life. Every task needs a specific time to be produced and as time goes by, you'll complete the task. still, if you can not repel the temptation of using your phone and leave the app, Keep in mind that Focus needs to be fed! The sense of achievement of running your own task and the responsibility for completing on time named Focus will encourage you to stay down from your phone. Focus will help you make better use of your time. Stop getting detracted by your phone, make you tone- motivated, and get further effects done. This is a special productive study and work timekeeper app. Studybuddy concentrate timekeeper is heavily gamified, motivating, and competitive. You can call it a life hack because it helps you to develop healthy habits. Study musketeers concentrate timekeeper is a great tool to fight your phone dependence and to ameliorate your attention span so you can become more productive. Throw away traditional time shadowing and hourglass apps. FEATURES * A unique game to beat phone dependence , help with ADHD, ameliorate productivity and work attention * Help with to do, uni, and work * Hundred of stages- Battle your way through colorful stages * Save the world- collect monsters and bring time order back to Focusland * Records- Stay on track on your to do tasks to help with work productivity and tone- control * prices- Gamified tasks and prices help you stay on track of your pretensions and to do Feedback & Support Us Let us know how much we can improve Study Buddies: Focus timer and tell us about bugs, questions, feature requests, or any other suggestions you like to add through Jason.punselie@gmail.com. If you like it please give a review. The game is still changing and with your help we'll improve the app.

About

Exocus

This app transforms focus sessions into a gamified experience, visualizing your concentration as a planet's evolution. Earn rewards, unlock new designs, and overcome procrastination with engaging, pixel-art visuals and a unique reward system.

Highlights
  • Gamified focus timer
  • Planet evolution visualization
  • Pixel art design
  • Stage-based incentives
  • Unlockable planet designs
  • Hardcore Mode for increased stakes
Features
Read full description

Exocus is a pixel-art, gamified focus timer app. Here, your focus is no longer boring, repetitive, or meaningless because every moment of your focus will transform your very own planet. Do you struggle with staying motivated when you commit to doing something valuable in the long run, like learning new words, practicing an instrument, working out, or mastering a new language? Initially, you're full of enthusiasm, but soon, your passion wanes. Memorizing words becomes a chore, the instrument is neglected, workouts turn into a burden, and progress in the new language stalls... You start doubting yourself: “Maybe I just don’t have what it takes to stick with long-term commitments.” That’s not true! Let us explain the real reasons. ● Lack of Immediate Rewards: You understand the long-term value of these tasks, but how much does this half-hour of focus matter right now? ● Repetition Leads to Boredom: When the initial novelty wears off, the repetitive nature of the task can make you feel bored and tired. ● Overly Negative Focus: Focusing on what you haven't accomplished rather than acknowledging what you have done can lead to negative self-evaluation and loss of motivation. Let Exocus Help You! ====== Exocus Solutions ====== Exocus is a gamified focus timer that visualizes your concentration as a planet's evolution, helping you achieve long-term, pain-free focus. ● Emotional Design and Sense of Meaning After each focus session, you’ll see the story of what happened to your planet during that time. Even five minutes of focus equals 38.53 million years of evolution for your planet, so your focus is crucial. Want to raise the stakes? You can enable “Hardcore Mode,” where failing to focus might cause your planet to be destroyed! ● Stage-Based Incentives Short-term Incentives: After each focus session, the planet’s landscape changes and tells you its story. Medium-term Incentives: After several hours of focus, the planet undergoes more significant transformations, like forming magma, oceans, and land. Long-term Incentives: After around ten hours of focus, the planet completes its evolution. You can then add it to your star system, with each project corresponding to a star system, showcasing your long-term accumulation in that project. ● Continuous Freshness We offer hundreds of unique planet designs, satisfying your curiosity and desire to collect with constant surprises. See a planet's full appearance only after evolving it through focused efforts. Earn Stardust coins by focusing to unlock new planet seeds, motivating continuous concentration. ====== What Makes Exocus Special? ====== ● Meticulously Crafted Design Exocus uses a unique pixel art style, maintaining simplicity while incorporating delightful little Easter eggs for you to discover. We believe the beauty of Exocus can bring joy, which will ultimately translate into more focused time. ● Fun Game Elements Exocus embraces gamified design in a bold yet restrained and professional manner. We hope the game elements help you enjoy focusing, and we also care deeply about your ability to truly focus. We’ve eliminated anything that could distract you because we genuinely want to focus on achieving long-term goals with you. ● Flexible Focus Modes Exocus supports countdown timers, stopwatch mode, and the Pomodoro technique. In the Pomodoro technique, you can flexibly set focus and break durations and specify longer breaks after several focus cycles. ● Convenient Project Management Each project corresponds to a planet. You can track different categories of focus time with projects and quickly switch between projects on the home screen by swiping left or right. ● Personalized Statistics Based on your focus data, we provide personalized charts to help you understand your focus patterns and stay motivated to maintain consistent focus. Terms of Use: https://byland.work/exocus/terms-en.html Support: exocus@byland.work

Screenshots

Study Buddies4 screens
Exocus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Study Buddies at none against Exocus's 7. Exocus's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, review sentiment, 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

Both are free to download. Exocus sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Study Buddies asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Study Buddies ships an update every 2 months, Exocus every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Study Buddies versus Exocus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStudy BuddiesExocus
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.9 (131 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better96.2% of reviews
Number of ratings—131 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size738 MB80 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerjason punselieByland Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

Study Buddies

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

Exocus

All ratings131 ratings
Positive99.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.8%
Written reviews210 reviews
Positive96.2%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.9%

In-app purchases

None

Study Buddies

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Exocus

One-time7
  • Newcomer Pack$0.29
  • Cosmoney x 5$0.99
  • Cosmoney x 30$4.99
Show 4 more
  • Cosmoney x 100$13.99
  • Exopass$17.99
  • Exopass + Cosmoney x 200$34.99
  • Exopass$34.99

Questions

Is Study Buddies free?
Study Buddies is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Exocus free?
Exocus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Study Buddies or Exocus have ads?
Study Buddies shows ads; Exocus does not.
Which is updated more often, Study Buddies or Exocus?
Study Buddies ships an update every 2 months, and Exocus every 3 weeks. Most recently, Study Buddies was updated on September 17, 2026 and Exocus on October 5, 2026.

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