Comparison

Just Focus vs Pause

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

Head to head
About

Just Focus

Features
Read full description

It's quite simple really - the 'best' focus timer on the market. Why? Because that's all it does. Focus. Break. Focus. Break. Reset. Repeat...

About

Pause

Features
Read full description

Pause puts a capybara between you and your feed. Open Instagram, YouTube, or any app you pick, and you don't land on the feed. You meet Kapi, a capybara holding the key. Do one small thing that's good for you, then decide how long you're really going in for. The app is still there. So is your attention. Not a blocker you rage-quit after three days. Not a timer you swipe away. A short, real pause, every single open. REAL BLOCKING, NOT WILLPOWER Pick the apps that eat your time. Pause shields them with Apple's Screen Time. Open one and you meet Kapi instead of the feed. No timer to ignore, no "just five more minutes." WHAT TURNS THE KEY Pick your mix. Every gate is one of these: โ€ข Words: learn a new English word with a memory key that makes it stick. 340+ words, most useful first. Built for exam prep. โ€ข Sudoku: a mini 4ร—4 grid against the clock. Beat your own time. โ€ข To-do: see today's tasks and tick one off. A full to-do list with due dates, reminders, and repeats lives inside the app. โ€ข Breathe: nine guided patterns (box, 4-7-8, coherent, vagus and more) with Kapi breathing beside you, inhale for inhale, with soft breath sounds you can follow eyes closed. โ€ข Lesson: a 2-minute lesson from Atomic Habits, Deep Work, Indistractable, Dopamine Nation and more. 270 lessons from 10 books, each with a try-this and a quiz. THEN YOU CHOOSE After the gate, pick how long you're going in for: 5, 10, 15, 30 or 60 minutes. When time's up, the shield comes back on its own. PAUSE PASS Three passes a day lift the shield for 15 minutes each. Real life happens. Passes reset at midnight. SEE YOUR REAL PATTERN Your actual screen time, shown to you straight. Then watch what Pause saves you, counted in hours of your life back. WATCH IT GROW Every pause grows a pearl on the plant on your home screen. Keep the streak, get a recap every Monday, and share cards of your streak, your garden, and the hours you got back. WHO IT'S FOR Students preparing for exams (the Words gate was made for you). Anyone who opens Instagram "for a second" and loses an hour. Anyone who has tried app blockers and deleted them. Free to download and use. Sign in with Apple or Google to keep your progress if you change phones. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your app choices and usage never leave your phone. Apple's Screen Time framework keeps that data sealed on-device. We couldn't read it if we wanted to. Your account holds only your progress, tasks, and streaks. Your scroll can wait. Kapi has the key.

Screenshots

Just Focus4 screens
Pause4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Just Focus at 16.6 against Pause's 18.2. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Just Focus versus Pause: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJust FocusPause
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyโ€”Every 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.6 โ€” better18.2
Further details โ€” not scored
Size0 MB58 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlisdair TaylorAbhishek Jain

In-app purchases

None

Just Focus

No in-app purchases

None

Pause

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Just Focus free?
Just Focus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pause free?
Pause is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Just Focus or Pause have ads?
Neither Just Focus nor Pause shows ads.

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