Comparison

Lilo vs Mello

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

Head to head
About

Lilo

This app helps students focus by offering study timers, Pomodoro sessions, and friendly challenges with friends. Track progress, maintain study streaks, and climb leaderboards to stay motivated. Includes focus music and customizable scenes to enhance concentration.

Highlights
  • Study timer and Pomodoro
  • Challenges with friends
  • Weekly leaderboards
  • Daily study streak protection
  • Focus music and scenes
  • Day planner and stats
Features
Read full description

Lilo is the study timer you use with friends. Start a focus session or a Pomodoro, challenge your friends, climb the weekly leaderboard and keep your study streak alive. 500K+ students have downloaded Lilo and left 200K+ ratings, because studying together works better than studying alone. STUDY TIMER AND POMODORO - Focus timer, stopwatch and Pomodoro with breaks. - Pick a subject and tasks before you start, so every session counts toward a goal. - Timer scenes and a full screen mode keep your phone out of the way. - A Live Activity and a home screen widget show your session and streak at a glance. CHALLENGES WITH FRIENDS - Invite friends to a study challenge: streak, time goal, speed race or ranking battle. - Follow everyone's progress live and see who stays focused the longest. - Join a challenge from a link, even before you create an account. LEADERBOARDS AND STREAKS - Weekly rankings with your friends. - Daily study streak with streak protection, so one bad day does not erase your progress. - Comment on your friends' sessions and keep each other accountable. PLANNER AND STATS - Day planner with tasks and subjects. - Study history, subject distribution, activity heatmap and advanced stats. - Share your weekly results to Instagram Stories in one tap. FOCUS MUSIC AND SCENES - Lofi, nature sounds and white noise inside the timer. - Choose a timer scene and an accent colour that matches your mood. WHO IS LILO FOR High school and university students, exam season, homework, language learning, thesis writing, and anyone who focuses better with a bit of friendly competition. Lilo is free to use. Lilo Premium adds Pomodoro and stopwatch modes, the full focus music library and extra scenes. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Terms: https://lilostudytimer.com/terms/ Privacy: https://lilostudytimer.com/privacy/

About

Mello

This app helps students manage their academic life with a customizable planner. It includes features for events, timetables, tasks, and a built-in Pomodoro timer for focused study sessions. Stay organized and in control of your studies with a clean and visually appealing interface.

Highlights
  • Customizable student planner
  • Event and task management
  • Clean timetable view
  • Built-in Pomodoro timer
  • Personalized profile options
Features
Read full description

Mello is an all-in-one student planner designed to help you stay organized and in control of your academic life. Built around the way students actually work, Mello combines everything you need into one clean and customizable experience. Personalize your profile with custom images and choose an accent color that matches your vibe. Stay organized with events, a clean timetable view for your schedule, and tasks with custom symbols to keep everything visually distinct. Need to focus? Use the built-in Pomodoro timer to stay on track during study sessions. Mello brings your classes, deadlines, and study time into one place — designed to look as good as it works. https://mellotheapp.com/terms

Screenshots

Lilo4 screens
Mello4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Mello at 95% against Lilo's 68%. Mello also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.7) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 10 days). Lilo's advantage is ratings volume (4.7K vs 126) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Lilo sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Mello sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Mello holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Lilo has 4.7K ratings behind it against 126, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Lilo's written reviews are positive against 95% of Mello's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lilo ships an update every 10 days, Mello every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Lilo versus Mello: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLiloMello
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (4.7K ratings)4.9 (126 ratings) — better
Positive reviews67.7% of reviews95.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.7K — better126
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size184 MB20 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperPawel GladyszIris Arteaga

Customer experience

Lilo

All ratings4,681 ratings
Positive92.1%
Neutral2.6%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews62 reviews
Positive67.7%
Neutral3.2%
Negative29.0%

Mello

All ratings111 ratings
Positive99.1%
Neutral0.9%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews104 reviews
Positive95.2%
Neutral2.9%
Negative1.9%

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Lilo

Subscriptions5
  • Premium Access Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Premium Access$6.991 Month
  • Premium Access Yearly$25.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Premium Access Yearly$29.991 Year
  • Premium Access3 Days trial$39.991 Year
2 purchases

Mello

Subscriptions2
  • Mello Member Monthly Subscription$2.991 Month
  • Mello Member Yearly Subscription$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Lilo free?
Lilo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mello free?
Mello is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Lilo or Mello?
Mello is rated higher. Lilo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.7K ratings, while Mello averages 4.9 from 126 ratings.
Do Lilo or Mello have ads?
Neither Lilo nor Mello shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lilo or Mello?
Lilo ships an update every 10 days, and Mello every 4 days. Most recently, Lilo was updated on November 5, 2026 and Mello on November 1, 2026.

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