Comparison

Exocus vs Villa Focus

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

Head to head
About

Exocus

Transform focus sessions into a rewarding journey by visualizing your concentration as a planet's evolution. Earn rewards, unlock new designs, and build a star system of your accomplishments. This gamified timer helps combat procrastination and maintain motivation for long-term goals.

Highlights
  • Gamified focus timer
  • Planet evolution visualization
  • Stage-based incentives
  • Hundreds of unique planet designs
  • Pixel art style
  • Hardcore Mode for increased stakes
  • Stardust coins for unlocks
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

Villa Focus

Features
Read full description

Studying alone is exhausting. In Villa, every focus session becomes a house in your town, and you study together with your friends. HOW IT WORKS • Pick a subject and how long you want to focus. • Stay focused until the timer ends. • Session complete, house built. The more you study, the more your village grows. STUDY WITH YOUR FRIENDS • Create a group for your class, study club or study buddies and invite them with a link. • See who in your group is studying right now. • Compete on the weekly leaderboard of study hours and celebrate each other's progress in the group feed. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS • Set goals and track your hours by subject. • Keep your daily study streak going. • See your stats and share your achievements. • Reminders to keep your routine on track. WHO IT'S FOR For anyone studying for medical school, residency, college, entrance exams or public service exams who wants consistency, discipline and company in their study routine. Turn your study hours into a town that grows with you.

Screenshots

Exocus4 screens
Villa Focus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Villa Focus at none against Exocus's 7. Villa Focus also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). Exocus's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price and device support 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. Villa Focus asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Exocus ships an update every 3 weeks, Villa Focus weekly. Both last shipped on November 10, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Exocus versus Villa Focus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterExocusVilla Focus
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (163 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews96.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings163 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size82 MB57 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperByland Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.Beatriz Aruk da Silva

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
  • Exopass$13.99
  • Cosmoney x 100$13.99
  • Exopass + Cosmoney x 200$32.99
  • Exopass$34.99
None

Villa Focus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Exocus free?
Exocus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Villa Focus free?
Villa Focus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Exocus or Villa Focus have ads?
Villa Focus shows ads; Exocus does not.
Which is updated more often, Exocus or Villa Focus?
Exocus ships an update every 3 weeks, and Villa Focus weekly. Most recently, Exocus was updated on November 10, 2026 and Villa Focus on November 10, 2026.

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