SmarterToDo vs Cold Focus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
SmarterToDo
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SmarterToDo helps you turn thoughts, plans, and everyday obligations into a clear task list. Capture tasks quickly, organize them with categories and priorities, and stay on track with due dates, reminders, and repeating schedules. For bigger or messier plans, the Smart Assistant can help turn natural language into organized tasks you can review and apply. Whether youβre planning errands, managing work follow-ups, tracking personal projects, or breaking down a goal, SmarterToDo keeps your list focused and practical. Features include: Fast task capture Smart Assistant for turning goals into tasks Voice input for natural task entry Categories and nested organization Priorities, due dates, and reminders Repeating tasks for routines Links, photos, and videos attached to tasks Filtering and saved views Completed task history SmarterToDo is built for people who want a task app that stays simple when the list is small, but powerful enough when life gets more complicated.
Cold Focus
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Your phone was designed by teams of engineers to hold your attention. One app standing against that has to be serious. Cold Focus is a calm, disciplined focus timer for students and anyone doing deep work. Start a session and the distractions get locked away. Not hidden behind your willpower. Actually blocked. No cheating your way out. Cold Focus is a subscription app. There is no limited free version: you get everything from day one. WHY COLD FOCUS IS DIFFERENT Most timers trust you to behave. This one doesn't have to. When you start a session, Cold Focus locks the apps that pull you away and watches for the little escapes: picking up your phone, bailing early. It keeps you honest, so the time you set aside actually becomes focused time. FOCUS SESSIONS - Set a session, put the phone down, go deep. - Distracting apps stay locked until you're done. - Optional penalties raise the stakes when you break focus, as gentle or as strict as you want. FOCUS SOUNDS - A calm ambient sound plays while your session runs, and keeps playing with the screen off or when you leave the app. - Rain, wind, a river, forest, brown and pink noise, or quiet music. Let them flow one after another, or pick one and stay there. - Mute it any time from the session screen. It mixes with your own music, so it never interrupts what you are already listening to. MEET STEVE Steve is your focus companion. Calm when you're locked in, honest with you when you drift. A little character, a lot of accountability. Focus doesn't have to feel cold and clinical. BUILD A DISCIPLINED IDENTITY - Keep streaks and climb through focus levels. - You're not just logging hours. You're becoming the kind of person who finishes what they start. SEE YOUR FOCUS CLEARLY - Clean weekly, monthly and yearly stats. - An AI focus coach reads your patterns and tells you, in plain language, where your attention is leaking and how to fix it. YOU'RE NOT ALONE See how many people are in a focus session right now, around the world. Quiet company for deep work. BUILT FOR THE ENEMY OF FOCUS Endless feeds, notifications, the reflex to check your phone every few seconds. Cold Focus is built to break that loop, for exams, deadlines, reading, or any work that deserves your full attention. YOUR SUBSCRIPTION Everything above is included. No locked corners, no ads, no upsells inside the app. Subscribe monthly or yearly. It's never too late to take your attention back. Your focus data stays yours. We only sync what you allow. Cold Focus is an auto-renewing subscription (monthly or annual). Payment is charged to your Apple ID at purchase. It renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms: https://coldfocusapp.github.io/coldfocus/terms-of-service.en.html Privacy: https://coldfocusapp.github.io/coldfocus/privacy-policy.en.html
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Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SmarterToDo at none against Cold Focus's 3. SmarterToDo also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks). Cold Focus's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Cold Focus sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. SmarterToDo asks for nothing beyond the download.
SmarterToDo ships an update every 3 days, Cold Focus every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SmarterToDo | Cold Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days β better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No β better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod β better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 241 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Remy Cilia | HASAN BURAK ERDIN |
In-app purchases
SmarterToDo
No in-app purchases
Cold Focus
- Cold Focus Premium (Monthly)$7.991 Month
- Cold Focus Premium (Yearly)$49.991 Year
- Cold Focus Premium (Yearly)$59.991 Year
Questions
Is SmarterToDo free?
Is Cold Focus free?
Do SmarterToDo or Cold Focus have ads?
Which is updated more often, SmarterToDo or Cold Focus?
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