Comparison

Control Dopamine vs Focus Monke

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

Head to head
About

Control Dopamine

This app helps you build healthier screen time habits by gamifying your digital life. Earn credits through real-world activities to unlock distracting apps, with a virtual mascot to visualize your progress.

Highlights
  • Smart App Blocking
  • Brain Credits System
  • Yelo Mascot for Motivation
  • 28-Day Focus Reset Challenge
  • Streak Tracking
  • Weekly Progress Reports
Read full description

Stop doomscrolling. Start living. Control Dopamine helps you build healthier screen-time habits by turning screen time into something you earn — not something that controls you. Your phone wasn't designed to let you go. Every notification, every infinite scroll, every autoplay video is designed to keep you hooked. Control Dopamine fights back with habit-building gamification that makes healthy routines more rewarding than mindless scrolling. HOW IT WORKS Block the apps stealing your time — Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, X (Twitter), Facebook, and more. Then earn "brain credits" by doing activities that actually make you feel good: • Meditation & mindfulness sessions • Reading real books • Exercise & walking • Journaling & reflection • Time in nature Spend your earned credits to temporarily unlock blocked apps. You stay in control — your brain gets the break it needs. MEET YELO — YOUR BRAIN MASCOT Yelo is your cute companion that reflects your progress and momentum in real time. The more healthy habits you build, the happier and more energized Yelo becomes. Skip your habits and watch Yelo struggle. It's the visual motivation you didn't know you needed. 28-DAY FOCUS RESET CHALLENGE Take the 28-day challenge to build lasting focus habits: • Daily streaks that keep you accountable • Weekly progress reports — see your screen time drop • Milestone rewards for consistency • Before vs. after comparison charts FEATURES • Smart App Blocking — block distracting apps • Brain Credits System — earn credits through healthy activities • Yelo Mascot — watch your progress visualized • 28-Day Challenges — structured programs for lasting change • Streak Tracking — build momentum with daily streaks • Weekly Reports — compare your screen time week over week • Activity Timer — time meditation, reading, exercise and more THE APPROACH Control Dopamine draws on behavioral psychology principles — variable reward schedules, commitment devices, and habit stacking — to help you reduce aimless scrolling and build healthier screen-time patterns. SIMPLE PRICING Choose a monthly or annual subscription. A 3-day free trial is available only with the standard annual plan for eligible subscribers. Your local price and renewal terms are shown before purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled in your App Store subscription settings. PRIVACY FIRST Your data stays on your device. We don't sell your information, track your browsing, or share data with advertisers. Your journey to digital wellness is private. Less scrolling. More controlling. Start your plan today and take back your focus. Terms of Use: https://controldopamine.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://controldopamine.com/privacy

About

Focus Monke

This app uses a gamified approach to the Pomodoro technique, turning focus sessions into underwater dives. Earn rewards and build a vibrant reef by staying focused, with distracting apps automatically blocked. It's designed for those who struggle with distractions and need gentle encouragement.

Highlights
  • Gamified Pomodoro timer
  • App blocking via Screen Time
  • Reef building and fish collection
  • Reward system with bananas and bonuses
  • Streak tracking without guilt
  • Customizable app blocking
Features
Read full description

Your focus grows a tiny ocean. Focus Monke is a pomodoro timer with a heart. Every focus session is a dive: press start and Monke, a little guy in a big brass diving suit, takes his submarine down. He stays down as long as you stay focused. Surface at the end, and the reef you're building is a little more alive than you left it. HOW A DIVE WORKS - Pick your time, press START. That's the whole job. A classic 25-minute pomodoro, a two-hour deep session, whatever the day needs. - Your distracting apps go quiet. Focus Monke uses Apple's Screen Time to block apps for exactly as long as you're diving. When you surface, they come back. No willpower required. - Finish the dive and the good part happens: bananas, a spin of the bonus wheel, and sometimes a brand-new fish. BUILT FOR DISTRACTED BRAINS If your brain treats "just five minutes of scrolling" as a legally binding contract, welcome aboard. Focus Monke was made for the easily distracted, ADHD very much included. Short sessions still count. Rewards land every single time, not someday. No shame, no productivity sermons. Just a monke who believes in you. YOUR REEF Every fish in your aquarium was earned by focusing. Commons, rares, a few legends from the deep. Each one is hand-drawn and swims around your reef like it has somewhere to be. Feed them bananas. Name your tank. Take a selfie with Monke. It's your ocean, and you made it out of homework. DIVE TOGETHER Focus is easier when someone else is also focusing. Join a session and your monke takes a seat in the sunken ship alongside up to nine other divers, timers running, everyone quietly at work. Dive in at 2am and there's still a crew to sit with. Nobody can message you. Nobody can distract you. Just the quiet, specific comfort of a room where everyone is doing the thing they came to do. Leave whenever you like. The ship keeps sailing. DRESS UP YOUR MONKE Tap Monke and the dressing room opens. Hats, hair, glasses, beards, earrings, costumes, backgrounds, and diving gear that gets stranger the deeper you go. Every item is bought with bananas, and bananas come from focusing. There is nothing to buy with real money in there, ever. Your look follows you into the submarine, onto your stats, and into the ship next to everyone else's. STREAKS WITHOUT GUILT Show up and your streak grows, with milestones actually worth reaching. Miss a day and nobody yells at you. The reef is the reason to come back, not a red badge. CERTIFIED DIVER Focus Monke is free to use. Going Certified supports one small developer and one small monke, and unlocks: - 3x bananas and bigger bonuses after every dive - Choose exactly which apps get blocked, or let a dive block them all - The gold diving suit (Monke looks fantastic in it) - Special items in the shop And thanks to Certified Divers, there are no ads. For anyone. Ever. Certified Diver is available as an auto-renewing subscription (monthly or yearly) or a one-time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions are charged to your Apple Account and renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions. GOOD QUESTIONS - Does it work offline? Yes, everything except group sessions. Airplane mode is honestly great for focusing. - Do I need an account? No. Open the app, start a dive. - Where does my data go? App blocking runs entirely on your device through Apple's own Screen Time. We never see what you do on your phone, and nothing is sold to anyone. Group sessions share just what the crew can see: your diver name, your flag, your monke's look. THE SMALL PRINT, WARMLY Hand-drawn art. One developer. One monke doing his best. If Focus Monke helps, tell a friend. The reef grows one dive at a time, and so does this little app. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://focusmonke.com/privacy.html

Screenshots

Control Dopamine4 screens
Focus Monke4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Focus Monke at 100% against Control Dopamine's 0%. Focus Monke also leads on monetization model (freemium vs subscription) and ratings volume (15 vs 1). Control Dopamine's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Control Dopamine sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days and Focus Monke sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Control Dopamine holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Focus Monke has 15 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 0% of Control Dopamine's written reviews are positive against 100% of Focus Monke's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Control Dopamine ships an update every 3 days, Focus Monke weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Control Dopamine versus Focus Monke: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterControl DopamineFocus Monke
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.5 (15 ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings115 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFreemium — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size85 MB298 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGH SERVICOS DIGITAIS LTDABen Haun

Customer experience

Control Dopamine

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Focus Monke

All ratings15 ratings
Positive86.7%
Neutral13.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Control Dopamine

Subscriptions4
  • ControlDopamine Pro Weekly$6.997 Days
  • ControlDopamine Pro Monthly$14.991 Month
  • Annual Welcome Offer$14.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • ControlDopamine Pro Yearly3 Days trial$49.991 Year
4 purchases

Focus Monke

Subscriptions3
  • Certified Diver Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Certified Diver Annual7 Days trial$17.991 Year
  • Certified Diver Annual1 Year trial$17.991 Year
One-time1
  • Certified Diver Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is Control Dopamine free?
Control Dopamine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Focus Monke free?
Focus Monke is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Control Dopamine or Focus Monke?
Control Dopamine is rated higher. Control Dopamine averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Focus Monke averages 4.5 from 15 ratings.
Do Control Dopamine or Focus Monke have ads?
Neither Control Dopamine nor Focus Monke shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Control Dopamine or Focus Monke?
Control Dopamine ships an update every 3 days, and Focus Monke weekly. Most recently, Control Dopamine was updated on October 3, 2026 and Focus Monke on October 15, 2026.

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