Comparison

BUSY vs Shlinkly

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

Head to head
About

BUSY

Enhance your productivity by blocking distracting apps and muting notifications. This tool offers customizable focus sessions, including Pomodoro-style workflows, and provides insights into your distraction attempts to help you improve focus.

Highlights
  • Customizable focus sessions (timer, Pomodoro, no time limit)
  • Distraction blocking (apps, notifications)
  • Accountability features (no skipping sessions)
  • Distraction attempt tracking
  • Apple Watch integration
  • Customizable timer themes
Features
Read full description

BUSY — Focus Timer & Distraction Blocker
 Stay focused. Get more done. 
Block distracting apps and notifications while adding structure to your day. Choose short focus sessions with regular breaks or switch to deep focus mode. Work without interruptions on iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac.
 FEATURES: - Instant Focus. Start focusing in one tap. Choose Pomodoro-style sessions with breaks or work without time limits. - BUSY Bar Сontrol. Connect and manage your BUSY Bar from your phone. Start focus sessions, block distractions, update firmware, connect to Wi-Fi, and more. - Music Themes. Choose visual themes with music designed to support deep, focused work. - Block Distractions. Automatically block distracting apps and mute notifications so you stay in control. - Track Your Attempts. See how often you try to open blocked apps and build stronger focus habits. - Structured Focus Sessions. Stay consistent with focus intervals designed to improve productivity. - Apple Watch & Mac Support. Start, stop, or manage sessions from your Apple Watch or Mac. Everything syncs instantly.
 BUSY helps you stay focused, reduce distractions, and build better work habits — across all your devices.

About

Shlinkly

Features
Read full description

Shlinkly is a fast, native client for Shlink — the self-hosted URL shortener — built for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Connect your own Shlink server and manage every short link, campaign, and click from one app that feels right at home on Apple platforms. Whether you're tracking marketing campaigns or just tidying up long URLs, Shlinkly gives you the full picture without leaving the Apple ecosystem. Shlinkly is an unofficial, open-source client for the self-hosted Shlink URL shortener. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Shlink project. Shlinkly requires a self-hosted Shlink server. WHAT YOU CAN DO - See all your short links in one place — search, tags, and sorting - Create links in seconds: custom slugs, tags, UTM forwarding, expiry dates, and visit limits - Track every click — real-time visits, people vs. bots, countries, and traffic sources, per link - Shorten straight from the share sheet in any app - On Mac, generate a short link from your clipboard right in the menu bar YOUR KEYS, YOUR CHOICE Your API keys never leave your control. Keep them on-device only, or sync them across your devices with iCloud Keychain — end-to-end encrypted by Apple. We never see them, and Shlinkly collects no data of its own. BUILT FOR APPLE Native on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with the touches you'd expect — share extension, menu-bar quick actions, and a layout that adapts to each device. REQUIRES A SHLINK SERVER Shlinkly is a client for your own self-hosted Shlink instance (shlink.io). You'll need a running Shlink server and an API key to get started.

Screenshots

BUSY4 screens
Shlinkly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: BUSY at fortnightly against Shlinkly's monthly. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BUSY ships an update fortnightly, Shlinkly monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
BUSY versus Shlinkly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBUSYShlinkly
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (12 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews58.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings12 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size173 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFlipper - FZCOAnton Hodge

In-app purchases

None

BUSY

No in-app purchases

None

Shlinkly

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BUSY free?
BUSY is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shlinkly free?
Shlinkly is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do BUSY or Shlinkly have ads?
Neither BUSY nor Shlinkly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BUSY or Shlinkly?
BUSY ships an update fortnightly, and Shlinkly monthly. Most recently, BUSY was updated on October 4, 2026 and Shlinkly on October 2, 2026.

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