Gentle Timer vs Orli
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Gentle Timer
This app offers a visually appealing, ad-free timer for focus, productivity, and managing children's routines. It supports various timer types, including countdown, Pomodoro, and interval, with extensive customization options for backgrounds, music, and themes. It also includes helpful everyday tools like a calculator and breathing exercises.
- Visual countdown timers
- Pomodoro focus sessions
- Interval training timers
- Multi timer support
- Customizable backgrounds and music
- Everyday utility tools
Read full descriptionHide full description
Gentle Timer turns ordinary waiting into a calm, happy little moment. Set a time, choose an adorable animated character, a dreamy background and soothing music — then relax and watch a friendly countdown carry you to the finish. Most timers feel cold and stressful. Gentle Timer is the opposite — warm, playful and beautifully animated, so brushing teeth, focusing, cooking, working out or winding down all feel a little better. THE MAIN EVENT: A TIMER YOU'LL ACTUALLY ENJOY • A big, friendly countdown with a cute character that glides across the screen as time ticks down — time you can SEE • Hundreds of animated characters, backgrounds and effects — dreamy scenes, sparkle trails and joyful completion celebrations • Calming music while it runs and a gentle chime when it ends — or play your own tracks from your music library, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music or Amazon Music • Your pet turns up partway through to cheer you on — "You've got this!" … "Almost there!" • Dozens of pets to pick from — yours waits with you on the Lock Screen, in the Dynamic Island, on the timer, and through focus sessions. Poke it and the whole screen goes sparkly. • Add or remove time on the fly, pause anytime, and follow along on your Lock Screen with Live Activities SO MUCH MORE INSIDE • Pomodoro — focus-and-break cycles that help you get real work done • Interval — work/rest rounds for HIIT and workouts, with 3-2-1 countdown beeps • Focus — open-ended focus sessions with task names and a history of your time • Multi-Timer — run up to six timers side by side • Presets — one-tap timers for brushing teeth, screen time, tidying up and more • Stopwatch — clean and simple, with laps • Breathing — guided four-phase breathing to slow down and reset • Tools — a counter, dice / coin / spinner, and a full scientific calculator MAKE IT TRULY YOURS • Pick characters, backgrounds, music, effects for every mode • Draw your own characters and backgrounds — or turn any photo into one, right from your camera or library • Set your own encouragement messages, sounds and gentle haptics BUILT TO FEEL CALM No clutter. No pressure. No jarring alarms. Every detail is designed to lower stress instead of adding to it. LOVED BY • Parents & kids — brushing teeth, tidying up, screen-time limits, smooth transitions • Students — Pomodoro study sessions and focus tracking • Focused work — deep-work sprints and mindful breaks • Fitness — interval and HIIT training • Everyday life — cooking, naps, laundry, breathing and winding down FREE — NO ADS, NO SUBSCRIPTION Gentle Timer is free to download and use — every mode, plenty of characters, backgrounds and music, and no ads, ever. Love it and want more? One optional, one-time unlock adds the full collection plus the tools to create your own — pay once, keep it forever, never a subscription. Supports Family Sharing — one purchase covers your whole family. Download Gentle Timer on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch — and make your next minute a little more delightful.
Orli
This app creates a dedicated focus environment by blocking distracting applications, playing ambient sounds, and capturing stray thoughts. It offers customizable timers and task management tools to help users concentrate and be more productive.
- Pomodoro & Flow focus modes
- Customizable app blocking
- Focus sounds (binaural beats, brown noise)
- Thought capture
- Lock screen timer (Live Activity)
- Apple Watch integration
- Three-pool task organization
Read full descriptionHide full description
You don't need more willpower. You need a better setup. Most focus apps give you a timer and guilt. Orli gives you a complete focus environment. Press start, and everything transforms — distracting apps blocked, focus sounds playing, wandering thoughts captured, timer visible on your lock screen and wrist. When the setup is right, focus follows naturally. FOCUS SESSION FEATURES: - Pomodoro & Flow modes — 25-minute sprints or continuous deep work - App blocking — choose what to block or what to allow - Binaural beats & brown noise — scientifically-backed focus sounds - Thought parking — capture wandering ideas without breaking your session - Exit commitment — gentle friction that keeps you going - Live Activity — your timer stays visible on your lock screen, always - Apple Watch — full session control from your wrist SMART TASK MANAGEMENT: - Three-pool organization — Now, Next, Someday - Quick capture — add tasks without losing focus Orli Plus unlocks app blocking, premium focus sounds, advanced analytics, and full session customization. Focus shouldn't be a fight. Set up your environment. The rest follows. Privacy Policy: https://orliplanner.com/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Orli at 5.0 against Gentle Timer's 4.6. Orli also leads on iOS requirement (16.6 vs 18.0). Gentle Timer's advantage is ratings volume (361 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Gentle Timer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Orli sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Orli holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Gentle Timer has 361 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Gentle Timer ships an update every 3 days, Orli every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Gentle Timer | Orli |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (361 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 361 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Every 4 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 206 MB | 107 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JOHNNY LI | Ahmed Sayed Mokhtar Mohamed |
Customer experience
Gentle Timer
Orli
Bugs and requests
Gentle Timer
Reported bugs
3 issues- No sound issues reported
- Seconds not displayed on countdown
- Landscape mode not working
Requested features
8 requests- More free options
- Landscape mode support
- Ability to set specific seconds
- Toggle off motion on settings menu
- Cat character option
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- View of all timers set all time
- Ability to create 'Goals' (e.g., set 40 hours)
- Dinosaur character option
Orli
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Gentle Timer
- Go Premium$4.99
Orli
- Orli Plus - Weekly$3.997 Days
- Orli Plus - Monthly$9.991 Month
- Orli Plus - Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year









