Anchorly vs Focus Monke
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Anchorly
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Feel stuck? Can’t start a task? Meet Anchorly - your gentle focus companion that helps you actually begin and finish tasks. No pressure. No guilt. Just a simple way to get things done. Why Anchorly works: Most productivity apps are overwhelming. Anchorly is different. It helps you: - start tasks without overthinking - stay focused with a simple timer - build momentum step by step - feel good about small wins And yes - you're not alone. Your cute penguin companion keeps you going. What you can do: - Start a focus session in seconds - Use a simple, distraction-free timer - Track your active task - Stay engaged with visual progress Designed for real life (and ADHD-friendly) Anchorly is perfect if you: - struggle with procrastination - get distracted easily - feel overwhelmed by big tasks - need a gentle push to start Built to feel calm, not stressful No complex systems. No pressure to be perfect. Just open the app… and begin. Start small. Stay consistent. Download Anchorly and take the first step.
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Anchorly at none against Focus Monke's 4. Anchorly also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 8 days). Focus Monke's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. Focus Monke sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Anchorly asks for nothing beyond the download.
Anchorly ships an update daily, Focus Monke every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Anchorly | Focus Monke |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.6 (16 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 16 — better |
| Update frequency | Daily — better | Every 8 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 300 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Diana Brik | Ben Haun |
In-app purchases
Anchorly
No in-app purchases
Focus Monke
- Certified Diver Monthly$6.991 Month
- Certified Diver Annual$9.991 Year
- Certified Diver Annual$14.991 Year
- Certified Diver Lifetime$29.99









