Comparison

Focus Timer vs Drafty Story

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

Head to head
About

Focus Timer

Features
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Plan your day in time boxes, focus on one block at a time and see where the time went, on iPhone and now on Mac. PLAN THE DAY โ€ข Pick up to three priorities for today: your Big 3. โ€ข Put tasks into time boxes on a timeline, each with a real start and end. โ€ข Unfinished tasks come back to the list with a miss recorded, so the ones you keep dodging rise instead of sinking. FOCUS โ€ข Start a box and the session counts down to its end, on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island too. โ€ข Add at most three new tasks mid-session, so the running block doesn't turn back into an inbox. โ€ข Widgets for your Big 3, today's focus progress and a quick way into your tasks. LOOK BACK โ€ข A short review after each session: what got done, what went back and how it went. โ€ข A monthly calendar shows focus time and finished tasks day by day. โ€ข Insights chart your focus by week, month and year. ON IPHONE AND MAC โ€ข With Premium, iCloud keeps tasks, time boxes and sessions in sync between your iPhone and your Mac. โ€ข FocusMind for Mac adds a floating focus bar and a timer in the menu bar. โ€ข Import a TickTick backup or a CSV file, and export your data any time. โ€ข A Premium subscription or lifetime unlock covers both iPhone and Mac. FocusMind Premium Includes unlimited daily focus time, history older than 3 days and iCloud sync between iPhone and Mac. โ€ข Length: 1 month or 1 year, renewed automatically each period โ€ข Price: see in-app pricing for your region โ€ข Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase โ€ข Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period โ€ข Subscriptions may be managed and auto-renewal turned off in your Account Settings on the App Store Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.pentarab.com/focusmind/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.pentarab.com/focusmind/privacy

About

Drafty Story

A writing app designed to reduce pressure and build habits, especially for neurodivergent individuals. It offers a distraction-free environment with features like typewriter mode and flexible scheduling, keeping all your work private on your device.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free writing environment
  • Typewriter mode with no delete key
  • Flexible scheduling and progress tracking
  • Markdown support for formatting
  • Automatic session pausing
  • Privacy-focused, no network connections
  • Export to EPUB or plain text
Features
Read full description

Your stories belong to you. No cloud. No subscriptions. No AI reading your drafts. Drafty Story is a writing habit app built for people who want to write more and stress less, including writers with ADHD, anxiety, dyslexia, or a brain that just works differently. One-time purchase. Everything stays on your device. Just write. No pressure. Typewriter mode removes the delete key so you stop second-guessing and keep moving forward. Choose how the stopwatch appears: full seconds, minutes only, or hidden entirely. Time works for you, not against you. If life interrupts, your session pauses automatically when you lock your phone. Shape your story, stay in the flow. Markdown support lets you add italics, bold, and headers using simple text symbols. Structure without menus, without breaking your rhythm. Built for how your mind actually works. Flexible scheduling lets you pick the days that suit you. The writing calendar shows your progress over time without punishing you for missing a day. Writing prompts appear gently, never on a countdown, so they inspire rather than pressure. Privacy by design, not by policy. Drafty Story uses zero network connections. There are no accounts to create, no passwords to remember, and no servers storing your work. Export your stories to EPUB 3.0 or plain text at any time: your words, your way. One purchase. Yours forever. No subscriptions. No ads. No data selling. Just a quiet space for your stories.

Screenshots

Focus Timer4 screens
Drafty Story4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Focus Timer at Free against Drafty Story's $3.99. Focus Timer also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly). Drafty Story's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On ads 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

Focus Timer is free to download; Drafty Story costs $3.99 up front. Focus Timer sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Drafty Story asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Focus Timer ships an update every 5 days, Drafty Story fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences ยท 4 level
Focus Timer versus Drafty Story: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFocus TimerDrafty Story
PriceFree โ€” better$3.99
Positive reviewsโ€”100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 5 days โ€” betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
Monetizationโ€”Paid
DevicesiPhone, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS26.015.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size10 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPentarabDreangine

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Focus Timer

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Premium$2.997 Days
  • FocusMind Premium (Monthly)$4.991 Month
  • FocusMind Premium (Yearly)$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • FocusMind Premium (Lifetime)$39.99
None

Drafty Story

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Focus Timer free?
Focus Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Drafty Story free?
Drafty Story costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Focus Timer or Drafty Story have ads?
Neither Focus Timer nor Drafty Story shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Focus Timer or Drafty Story?
Focus Timer ships an update every 5 days, and Drafty Story fortnightly. Most recently, Focus Timer was updated on October 9, 2026 and Drafty Story on September 30, 2026.

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