Comparison

Focus Zoo vs Sparkstep

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

Head to head
About

Focus Zoo

Features
Read full description

Stay focused. Earn paws. Grow your zoo. Focus Zoo turns focus time into something you can see. Set a timer, put your phone down and get to work. Every 5 minutes of focus earns you a paw. Spend paws to bring new animals into your zoo. PICK A TIME Drag the slider to set a session from 5 minutes to 3 hours. Press start and let your animal keep you company. STAY FOCUSED Tap the screen to dim it while you work. The screen stays awake, so the timer keeps running. EARN PAWS Finish a session and collect your paws. Stop early and you go home empty-handed, so stick with it. GROW YOUR ZOO Start with Panda, then unlock Bunny, Frog, Tiger and Whale. Each new friend takes a little more focus to earn. HATS AND CROWNS Every animal remembers the time you spend together. Focus for 1 hour with an animal to earn its propeller hat. Reach 10 hours and it wears a crown. Swap hats or take them off anytime in the store. SEE YOUR PROGRESS The Stats screen shows your focus time week by week and month by month, so you can see your habit grow. WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT โ€ข Simple: one slider, one button โ€ข Rewarding: cute animals and hats to earn โ€ข Honest: no ads, no in-app purchases, no accounts โ€ข Good for studying, work, reading, writing or any task that needs your full attention Put the phone down. Your zoo is waiting.

About

Sparkstep

Features
Read full description

Sparkstep is a focus timer and routine planner designed for ADHD brains - low clutter, dopamine-aware, and calm by design. No account, no cloud, fully offline. WHY FOCUSFLOW - Built for ADHD: visual time, one task at a time, instant rewards. - Low stimulation: generous whitespace and gentle motion so you can think. - Private and offline: everything stays on your device. VISUAL FOCUS TIMER - A shrinking disc shows your time at a glance - easier than reading digits. - Adjustable focus and break lengths, Pomodoro-style rounds. - "One task right now" field keeps you anchored. - Park-a-thought button: capture a distraction, let it go, come back. - Optional ambient sound (white noise, brown noise, rain) and a celebration when you finish. ROUTINES, ONE STEP AT A TIME - Build morning, work-start and wind-down routines as ordered steps. - Run mode shows ONLY the current step, so the rest never overwhelms you. - Per-step timers, big check-off, progress bar, and ready-made templates. TODAY: NOW / NEXT / LATER - Three simple buckets instead of an endless backlog. - Quick capture, "eat the frog" highlight, estimated vs actual time. - Unfinished tasks roll over to today automatically. INSIGHTS & ACHIEVEMENTS - Focus minutes, sessions, routine streaks and your best focus time of day. - A GitHub-style consistency heatmap and weekly comparison. - Dozens of achievements to keep momentum going. MADE YOUR WAY - English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese. - Reduce-motion and low-stimulation options. - Export and import your data anytime. Sparkstep is a productivity and focus aid, not a medical or clinical tool. Download Sparkstep and make focus feel doable.

Screenshots

Focus Zoo4 screens
Sparkstep4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Focus Zoo at none against Sparkstep's shown. Sparkstep's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.4). On price and in-app purchases 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.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Focus Zoo versus Sparkstep: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFocus ZooSparkstep
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsโ€”
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS16.413.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size42 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperIvo Van BremptFerran Espuna

In-app purchases

None

Focus Zoo

No in-app purchases

None

Sparkstep

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Focus Zoo free?
Focus Zoo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sparkstep free?
Sparkstep is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Focus Zoo or Sparkstep have ads?
Sparkstep shows ads; Focus Zoo does not.

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