FocusTasks vs Focus Hour
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
FocusTasks
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FocusTasks combines a Pomodoro timer and a task manager into one app for building a daily focus habit. No account required. Works fully offline, with no ads and no tracking. Start a session in one tap from the home screen widget or your Apple Watch, and watch your streak grow. โ Main Features โข Pomodoro timer: work and break sessions switch automatically โ durations are fully customizable โข Task management: organize your day with "Today's Focus" and a backlog โข Stats & streaks: daily, weekly and monthly focus time with a streak counter โข Share your wins: post "6 pomodoros done today!" in one tap โข Home screen widget: your next task and a start button, right on the home screen โข Apple Watch: start, pause and complete tasks from your wrist โข Notifications: get notified when a session ends, even in the background โข Dark mode / available in 9 languages โ Privacy First โข No account. All data stays on your device โข No ads, no analytics, nothing leaves your phone โ Why "End by Time"? In FocusTasks, sessions always end when the timer runs out โ even if the task isn't finished. This design uses the Zeigarnik effect: a psychological finding that people remember unfinished tasks better and are more motivated to resume them. By stopping mid-task when the timer ends, your work naturally stays "in progress", making it easier to pick up again later. It lowers the mental barrier to restarting and helps you build a sustainable study and work habit. โ Great For โข Building a study habit for school, exams or certifications โข Staying on track while working from home โข Anyone who never sticks with task management apps โข People looking for a simple, privacy-friendly focus timer โ Terms of Use https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Focus Hour
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Focus Hour is a task manager, a day planner and a focus timer in one app. No account. No sign-up. No email. No ads. Open it, plan tomorrow, and start. PLAN THE DAY, THEN DO IT Lists, folders and headings for structure. Tags, saved filters and search for everything else. Subtasks, checklists, markdown notes and photo attachments on any task. Due dates, defer dates, durations, recurrence, and reminders with buttons you can act on straight from the notification. TYPE IT, DON'T TAP IT Quick add reads what you write. "Draft the report friday 2pm #work !2" lands dated, tagged and flagged without touching a single picker. A PLANNER THAT KNOWS YOUR CALENDAR Your tasks and your existing calendar events on one timeline, so the plan reflects the time you actually have. Auto-plan drops the backlog into the gaps. Calendar events are read-only and never leave your device. FOCUS, PROPERLY A real Pomodoro cycle โ focus, a short break, and a longer reset after a few rounds โ with every duration configurable. Or a plain stopwatch. Synthesised ambient beds to work under: rain, waves, fire, and three kinds of noise. Start a session on a task and the time is logged against it. BUILD THE HABITS Daily, weekday or times-per-week habits, with count goals, streaks and notes. SEE IT WITHOUT OPENING THE APP Home Screen widgets for today's list โ with checkboxes that work right there โ and for the running timer. Lock Screen widgets for what's next and how long is left. An Apple Watch app to tick things off, log habits and run a focus session from your wrist. And a share sheet that sends a link, a screenshot or selected text from any app straight to your Inbox. MADE TO LOOK LIKE SOMETHING Three skins โ Ink, Carbon and Terminal โ with hard rules, a grotesk display face and monospaced figures. Not another rounded grey list. ALSO IN THE BOX An Eisenhower matrix, a weekly review, project templates, XP levels and badges, and focus statistics by day, list, task and hour. BUILT BY ONE PERSON I built Focus Hour for myself, in a year when AI finally made something like this achievable alone โ then kept building whatever people asked for. No team, no investors, and no roadmap written by anyone but the people using it. And no subscription: your own to-do list shouldn't be rented back to you month after month. Your tasks, notes and photos stay on your iPhone, and your calendar is read-only and never leaves the device. No tracking of you across other companies' apps or websites, and nothing shared with data brokers. TELL ME WHAT TO BUILD See something in another to-do app that you wish this one had? Email mark@vibecode.review. I read every message and I build what people actually ask for โ that is how most of this app got here. Install it and plan tomorrow tonight.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Focus Hour at 15.1 against FocusTasks's 17.0. On price, update cadence, ads 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
Both are free to download. FocusTasks sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Focus Hour sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FocusTasks | Focus Hour |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days | Every 2 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Roku, K.K. | Meng-Yi Hsu |
In-app purchases
FocusTasks
- Support$1.991 Month
- Small Support$0.99
- Medium Support$3.99
- Large Support$69.99
Focus Hour
- Unlock All Apps I Built$5.99
- Unlock Focus Hour$9.99
- Unlock Focus Hour$12.99









