Comparison

Foku vs Minus 5

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

Head to head
About

Foku

This app helps you stay focused and build productive habits using timed work sessions and breaks. It offers customizable timers, progress tracking, and a clean interface for deep work.

Highlights
  • Customizable Pomodoro timer
  • Live Activity & Dynamic Island integration
  • Home Screen Widgets
  • Detailed statistics and session history
  • Streak tracking and activity grid
  • Customizable color themes
  • Notifications for sessions and breaks
Features
Read full description

Foku is a beautifully designed Pomodoro focus timer that helps you stay productive and build consistent work habits. Whether you're studying, working, coding, or creating — Foku keeps you in the zone with timed focus sessions followed by short and long breaks. The classic Pomodoro technique, reimagined with a clean, minimal interface. HOW IT WORKS - Start a focus session (default 25 minutes, fully customizable) - Take a short break when the timer ends - After completing a full cycle, enjoy a longer break - Repeat and watch your productivity grow FEATURES - Pomodoro Timer: Fully customizable focus, short break, and long break durations - Live Activity & Dynamic Island: See your timer right on your lock screen and Dynamic Island - Home Screen Widgets: Small and medium widgets showing today's focus time, sessions, and streak - Statistics: Daily, weekly, and monthly charts to visualize your progress - Session History: Review every completed session with duration and type - Streaks: Build a daily focus streak and stay motivated with an activity grid - Activity Grid: See your focus consistency over the last 5 weeks at a glance - Custom Color Themes: 7 themes to personalize your focus space (2 free, 5 Pro) - Cycles: Set custom sessions per cycle for your ideal workflow - Notifications: Get alerted when your session or break ends - Landscape Mode: Full landscape support for desk use FOKU PRO Unlock the full experience with Foku Pro: - Full statistics with weekly and monthly charts - Custom color themes (5 additional themes) - Custom timer durations - Auto-start breaks and focus sessions - Minimal mode for distraction-free focus - Support ongoing development WHY FOKU? Foku is built for people who value simplicity. No sign-ups, no clutter, no distractions — just you and your timer. Everything runs locally on your device, keeping your data private. No account required, ever. PERFECT FOR - Students studying for exams and building consistent study habits - Professionals doing deep work and focused project sprints - Developers, designers, and creators managing creative flow - Anyone building better daily routines with the Pomodoro method Start your free trial today and take your focus to the next level. Privacy Policy https://baransel.dev/foku/privacy Terms of Use https://baransel.dev/foku/terms

About

Minus 5

This app limits your daily tasks to five slots, encouraging completion. Unfinished items carry over with visual cues to track their age. It offers recurring tasks, customizable levels, and weekly reviews to boost productivity.

Highlights
  • Five daily task slots
  • Age badges for overdue tasks
  • Recurring task setup
  • Level-based slot increases
  • Weekly review charts
  • Markdown export
  • Widgets and Siri integration
Features
Read full description

Minus 5 is a daily to-do list with one rule: five things. That's it. Every other task app gives you infinite room, and infinite room is how you end up with a 40-item list you're too tired to look at. Minus 5 gives you five slots. Most to-do lists count up forever. This one counts down to zero. If you open your task manager, feel your stomach drop, and close it again — this is built for you. — THE RING — One neon progress ring is the entire interface. The big number in the middle is what's LEFT, not what you've done. When it hits zero: "you've earned the day." Close the app. Go outside. — FIVE SLOTS, ON PURPOSE — The cap isn't a limitation, it's the product. Five is roughly what a person actually finishes in a day. Everything beyond five is a wish list pretending to be a plan. — STREAKS THAT DON'T PUNISH YOU — Finish at least one thing a day and your streak grows. Miss a day and a Streak Freeze covers you automatically — you earn one every 10 days and can bank two. No shattered-streak animation, no guilt trip, nothing to buy back. A day off isn't a character flaw, it's a Tuesday. An optional evening nudge (off by default, at a time you pick) tells you what's still open before midnight. — AGE BADGES — Anything you don't finish carries into tomorrow with a small 1d / 4d / 2w tag, warming from grey to red the longer it sits. A nudge, not a punishment — delete what's not going to happen. You'll feel better. — LEVELS — Consistency unlocks capacity. Start at 5 slots. Clear your whole list seven days in a row and the next level opens: 7 slots at Level 2, 11 at Level 3, and up. The app rewards follow-through, not list-making. — RECURRING THINGS — Daily, weekly, monthly, or custom-day things that appear on schedule, with reminders that say exactly what — no generic "tackle your things." Stretch every morning. Pay rent on the 1st. Gym Mon/Wed/Fri. — PROGRESS — A 30-day curve, your weekly rhythm, and a consistency grid where each square is one week of the year. Best streak, active days, and how many days you cleared all five. Honest numbers, no dashboards. — RANKINGS (optional) — See how your streak stands against everyone else's, worldwide and in your own country. Free, and off until you switch it on. You get a made-up name like "Bright Otter" plus a few digits of your own — no real names, no accounts, no email. — WIDGETS & LOCK SCREEN — Home Screen (small and medium), and all three Lock Screen styles — circular, rectangular, and inline. Your ring, glanceable, without opening anything. — SIRI & SHORTCUTS — "Hey Siri, add a thing to Minus 5." Works from the Lock Screen, AirPods, CarPlay, anywhere Siri lives. — APPLE WATCH — A real Watch app and complication. Check things off from your wrist. — EXPORT — Copy your list as Markdown, share it, or send things straight to Things 3 or Reminders. Your data is portable. — CALENDAR MIRROR (optional) — Pull today's events in as read-only one-liners ("Meeting · 6–8pm"). They don't count toward your five and don't carry over — just context. — iCLOUD SYNC — Your things sync privately across your devices through your own iCloud account. No accounts, no tracking, no telemetry, no analytics. The only thing that ever leaves your iCloud is a streak number — and only if you turn on Rankings. — THEME & ACCESSIBILITY — Light, Dark, or System. Nine neon accent colors with automatic contrast. Text size override (Default / Large / Larger / Huge). Full VoiceOver support. — MINUS 5 PRO — The five things stay free, forever. Pro is a one-time unlock — bought once, not rented — adding progress stats and streak history, the Apple Watch app and complication, the calendar mirror, unlimited recurring templates, and custom reminder times. Widgets, Siri, export, Rankings and iCloud sync stay free for everyone. No ads. No subscription. No analytics. No tags. No projects. Just five things.

Screenshots

Foku4 screens
Minus 54 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Minus 5 at none against Foku's 3. Minus 5 also leads on device support (4 vs 2). Foku's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Foku sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Minus 5 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Foku against 5.0 for Minus 5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Foku versus Minus 5: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFokuMinus 5
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysEvery 6 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size56 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBaransel ArslanVictor Florian

Customer experience

Foku

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Minus 5

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Foku

Subscriptions2
  • Foku - Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Foku - Yearly$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Foku - Lifetime$19.99
None

Minus 5

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Foku free?
Foku is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Minus 5 free?
Minus 5 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Foku or Minus 5?
Foku and Minus 5 are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Foku or Minus 5 have ads?
Neither Foku nor Minus 5 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Foku or Minus 5?
Foku ships an update every 6 days, and Minus 5 every 6 days. Most recently, Foku was updated on October 12, 2026 and Minus 5 on October 9, 2026.

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