Task Sense vs Cortex
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Task Sense
A simple and beautiful task manager that organizes your to-do list into smart views like 'Today' and 'This Week'. Collaborate with others by sharing lists, assigning tasks, and leaving comments. Customize lists for any purpose and receive gentle reminders to stay on track.
- Smart task views (Today, This Week)
- Collaborative list sharing
- Task assignment and comments
- Customizable lists
- Gentle reminders
- Dark mode support
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Life gets busy. Tasks pile up. And somehow, the important stuff always slips through the cracks. Task Sense helps you stay on top of everything without the overwhelm. It's a simple, beautiful task manager that shows you exactly what needs your attention — today, this week, or whenever you're ready. See your day at a glance Your tasks are organized into smart views: Today, This Week, This Month. No more scrolling through endless lists wondering what to do next. Work together, effortlessly Share lists with family, friends, or teammates. Assign tasks, leave comments, and get things done together — whether it's planning a trip, managing a project, or just splitting the groceries. Make it yours Create custom lists for anything: work projects, home errands, bucket list dreams. Star the tasks that matter most. Check things off and feel that sweet satisfaction. Never miss a thing Get gentle reminders so deadlines don't sneak up on you. See what's overdue at a glance and tackle it before it becomes a problem. Light or dark, your choice Easy on the eyes with automatic dark mode. Works beautifully whether you're planning your morning over coffee or checking tasks before bed. Terms of Use: https://tasksense.me/terms Privacy Policy: https://tasksense.me/privacy
Cortex
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Cortex is a focus timer for deep work and study — Pomodoro 25/5, Long Focus 50/10, Short Sprint 15/3, an open-ended Flow mode, 19 ambient tracks and a sleep timer. Built for people who think for a living: students revising for exams, developers and designers in deep work, writers, and anyone with ADHD who needs sound and structure to get started. Four timer modes, three focus sounds, session history, streaks, heatmaps and Apple Health are free. Premium adds the AI Adaptive mode, 16 more sounds, the sleep timer, custom presets, Health Insights and the weekly report. No ads, no account, no sign-up. You track your workouts. Your sleep. Your macros. But not your focus. Cortex closes that gap: it measures your sessions, sizes the next one around your recovery, and shows you the hours your attention actually peaks. STRUCTURED FOCUS MODES Pomodoro (25/5) — Classic deep work intervals Long Focus (50/10) — Extended sessions for complex tasks Short Sprint (15/3) — A low-friction way to start on a bad day Flow Mode (no limit) — Open-ended, stop when you are done AI Adaptive (Premium) — Session length set for you, not guessed Custom Timers (Premium) — Your own work rhythm, up to 10 presets AI ADAPTIVE TIMER (PREMIUM) Instead of asking how long you can concentrate, Cortex works it out. With Apple Health connected it reads your heart rate variability and last night's sleep; without Health it falls back to a time-of-day model. Keep finishing your sessions and it extends them. 19 AMBIENT TRACKS Focus: lo-fi beats, acoustic, downtempo, neo-classical, space ambient, cinematic, chillwave, jazz hop, deep pulse, ethereal piano. Sleep: ethereal pads, deep drone, analog wash, submarine, harp lullaby, binaural, distant choir, zen garden, zero gravity. Three focus tracks ship inside the app and are free. The other 16 come with Premium and download on demand, Wi-Fi recommended. Audio keeps playing with the screen locked. SLEEP TIMER (PREMIUM) Six durations from 15 minutes to 2 hours. Sound fades out gradually and stops — no alarm at the end. A morning check-in records how you slept and whether you woke up rested; with Apple Health connected, the sleep screen also shows last night's stages and a sleep score. DATA, NOT FEELINGS Focus Score — weekly performance metric Peak Hours — the hours your attention actually peaks Heatmaps — focus patterns across the month Weekly Report — personalized recommendations computed on device from your own sessions (Premium; the first week is free) Streaks & Achievements — gamified progress that compounds daily CSV export of every session (Premium) APPLE HEALTH, READ ONLY Only when you tap Connect, and only three data types: heart rate variability, resting heart rate and sleep analysis. Cortex never writes anything to Apple Health. Those readings, and the recovery and sleep scores computed from them, stay on your device and are not sent to analytics. The app works fully without Health. 10 languages · Neo-brutalist design · No ads · No data selling · Usage analytics can be switched off in Settings Built for people who use Notion, Linear, and Arc — not pastel wellness apps Your brain is a machine. We help you run it at peak RPM. --- SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Cortex Premium is available as Monthly, Annual, or Lifetime purchase. - Payment is charged to your Apple ID at purchase confirmation - Subscriptions automatically renew unless canceled 24+ hours before period end - Manage or cancel anytime in Account Settings after purchase - Privacy Policy: https://cortex-focus.com/privacy/ - Terms of Use: https://cortex-focus.com/terms/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Cortex at every 5 days against Task Sense's every 2 weeks. Task Sense's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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. Task Sense sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Cortex sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Task Sense ships an update every 2 weeks, Cortex every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Task Sense | Cortex |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 78 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Sense Sensei Solutions | Dmitry Afanasyev |
In-app purchases
Task Sense
- Tasksense Pro$3.991 Month
- TaskSense Team$6.991 Month
- Tasksense Pro Yearly$39.991 Year
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- TaskSense Team Yearly$69.991 Year
Cortex
- AI Focus Timer Premium7 Days trial$6.991 Month
- AI Focus Timer Premium7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- AI Focus Timer Lifetime$99.99









