NEN vs GladeFocus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NEN
This app offers a calm Pomodoro-style timer designed for deep work and study sessions. It guides users through focus periods and breaks with a simple, distraction-resistant interface. Track progress, categorize work, and utilize Apple Watch controls for enhanced productivity.
- Focus, short break, and long break sessions
- Clear timer progress and round tracking
- Focus categories for different work types
- Apple Watch controls
- Live Activities and widgets
- Session history and progress insights
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NEN is a calm Pomodoro-style focus timer for iPhone and Apple Watch, built for deep work, study sessions, real breaks, and distraction-resistant routines. Start a focus session, move through short and long breaks, and keep your attention on the work in front of you. NEN is built around a simple Pomodoro-style timer flow with a quiet visual style, clear session progress, and useful controls when you need them. Use NEN for deep work, study blocks, writing sessions, coding, reading, or any routine where you want a focused rhythm without extra noise. Features: - Focus, short break, and long break sessions - Clear timer progress and round tracking - Focus categories for different kinds of work - Block selected apps during focus with NEN Pro - Apple Watch controls - Live Activities and widgets - Session history and progress insights - Optional NEN Pro lifetime unlock for deeper focus tools NEN is made for people who want a focused timer that feels calm, native, and easy to return to every day.
GladeFocus
This app helps you stay focused by blocking distracting apps and websites. Earn virtual currency by completing focus sessions to grow a personalized digital garden and compete on a global leaderboard. Achieve milestones and unlock special trees to enhance your virtual landscape.
- Fully locked app and website blocking
- Gamified focus sessions with Acorn rewards
- Grow and customize a digital garden
- Global and friend leaderboards
- Scheduled, recurring, and Pomodoro sessions
- Cross-device synchronization
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GladeFocus turns "I'll stop scrolling in a minute" into focus you can actually see grow. Start a session, and GladeFocus blocks your distracting apps and websites until your time is up. Every minute you stay focused earns Acorns and grows a garden that's entirely your own. Finish sessions, plant seeds, watch your trees mature, and climb the monthly leaderboard. Your focus is the only thing that grows it. FULLY LOCKED BLOCKING - Blocks distracting apps with no easy way to bypass - Blocks distracting websites in every browser, not just one - Blocking holds even if you try to wriggle out mid-session - Build blocklists once and reuse them for any session GROW YOUR GLADE - Every focused minute earns Acorns - Spend Acorns in the Seed Shop and plant your garden - Trees grow as you keep focusing, then harvest for more Acorns - Hit focus milestones to earn golden keepsake trees CLIMB THE LEADERBOARD - See how your focused time stacks up against the community - Monthly rankings that reset so there's always a fresh start - Compete with friends globally for rewards BUILT FOR REAL FOCUS - Schedule future sessions, recurring sessions, and pomodoro sessions - A session history so you can see your streaks and your slips - Your Glade: watch your focused time add up over the days - Clean, distraction-free design that gets out of your way SYNCS EVERYWHERE GladeFocus shares one account across iPhone, Mac, and Chrome. Your blocklists, sessions, garden, and history follow you across every device. GLADE PRO Upgrade to Glade Pro for unlimited blocklists and advanced session types (scheduled, recurring, and pomodoro). Pro is an auto-renewable subscription billed through your Apple ID. Everything else in the app, including all blocking and free session types, works without Pro. Sign in with Apple. No ads, no third-party tracking. Ready to actually get the thing done? Plant your focus. Start a session. Terms of Service: https://gladefocus.com/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: NEN at every 5 days against GladeFocus's every 3 weeks. NEN also leads on ratings volume (3 vs 1). GladeFocus's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.5). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. NEN sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and GladeFocus sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $10.00 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for NEN against 5.0 for GladeFocus. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.
NEN ships an update every 5 days, GladeFocus every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NEN | GladeFocus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nijanthan Vijayakumar | WILLIAM LIU |
Customer experience
NEN
GladeFocus
In-app purchases
NEN
- NEN Lifetime Unlock$6.99
GladeFocus
- Pro Monthly7 Days trial$10.001 Month
- Pro Yearly7 Days trial$60.001 Year









