Comparison

Exocus vs Pomo

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

Head to head
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

About

Pomo

A beautifully designed Pomodoro timer for focused work and study sessions. It offers customizable cycles, app blocking, and insightful statistics without any ads or tracking.

Highlights
  • Customizable Pomodoro cycles
  • App blocking for distraction-free sessions
  • Insightful focus statistics
  • Live countdown on lock screen
  • Companion smartwatch app
  • Calendar sync option
Features
Read full description

Pomo is a calm, design-led Pomodoro timer for deep, focused work — and the study sessions in between. No trees, no pets, no gimmicks. Just a beautiful instrument that helps you start, stay in flow, and see the rhythm of your focus. Everything stays on your device. No account, no cloud, no ads — ever. — A TIMER YOU'LL WANT TO LOOK AT — Choose from a gallery of meticulously crafted focus faces, from a minimalist minute grid to a flowing tide, in warm paper-light and calm dark themes. — BUILT FOR WORK & STUDY — Run classic Pomodoro cycles or set your own focus and break lengths. Long breaks, auto-start and simple labels shape each session around deep work, study, revision or any task. — STAY IN FLOW — Gently block distracting apps for the length of a session, silence notifications, and get a quiet nudge if you wander. Turn on strict mode when you really need to commit. — SEE YOUR RHYTHM — An editorial stats ledger turns sessions into insight: a focus heatmap, per-label breakdowns and all-time totals. Understand your concentration without turning it into a game. — ALWAYS A GLANCE AWAY — A live countdown on your lock screen and a companion smartwatch app keep the timer close. Optionally sync finished sessions to your calendar. — POMO PRO — The core timer is free, forever. Pomo Pro unlocks every focus face, the full stats ledger, app blocking and calendar sync, with a free trial and monthly or yearly billing. No ads, no account, no tracking. Focus, beautifully. Private by design.

Screenshots

Exocus4 screens
Pomo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Exocus at 131 against Pomo's 4. Exocus also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, 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. Exocus sells 7 one-off in-app purchases and Pomo sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Exocus against 5.0 for Pomo. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Exocus has 131 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Exocus ships an update every 3 weeks, Pomo fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Exocus versus Pomo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterExocusPomo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (131 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews96.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings131 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS13.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperByland Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.Chirag Arora

Customer experience

Exocus

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

Pomo

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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
2 purchases

Pomo

Subscriptions2
  • Pomo Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Pomo Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$17.991 Year

Questions

Is Exocus free?
Exocus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pomo free?
Pomo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Exocus or Pomo?
Pomo is rated higher. Exocus averages 4.9 out of 5 from 131 ratings, while Pomo averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Exocus or Pomo have ads?
Neither Exocus nor Pomo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Exocus or Pomo?
Exocus ships an update every 3 weeks, and Pomo fortnightly. Most recently, Exocus was updated on October 2, 2026 and Pomo on October 3, 2026.

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