Comparison

BrainRest vs WorkNotes

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

Head to head
About

BrainRest

Features
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The brain you end the day with is not the one you woke up with. BrainRest turns your screen time into something you can actually feel. Your Brain Level climbs from 1 to 10 as the hours pile up — Fresh, Chill, Meh, Tired, Struggling, Fading, Cooked, Fried, Melting, Dead — and a Brain Buddy sits on your home screen looking exactly as cooked as you do. Then it helps you bring the number back down. BrainRest requires a subscription or a one-time Lifetime purchase. There is no free tier and no free version — every feature described below, including app blocking, Focus Mode and the Bedtime Schedule, needs a paid plan. The annual plan starts with a 7-day free trial. SEE WHERE THE HOURS GO • Daily and weekly screen time, broken down app by app • Tap any app for its own hourly chart and week-over-week trend • A calendar of every tracked day, so streaks and slides are obvious • Your Brain Level, recalculated as you use your phone BLOCK WHAT KEEPS PULLING YOU BACK • App limits — set a daily cap and get shielded when you hit it • Focus Mode — one tap, distractions locked, with an auto turn-off time • Bedtime Schedule — your phone goes quiet at night and wakes when you do • Shields you can't swipe past by accident WIDGETS THAT NAG, GENTLY Seven home-screen widgets: Brain Buddy, the Daily Goal ring, Top Apps, and Pulse in single, stacked and wide layouts. The number you're avoiding, right where you keep looking. YOUR USAGE STAYS ON YOUR PHONE Screen time and per-app usage are read from your device and never leave it. There is no cloud copy of your usage and nothing about your habits is sold. Your account exists to keep your settings and goals, nothing more. WHY IT WORKS Most screen time apps show you a chart and hope you feel bad. BrainRest gives the number a face and a consequence, then puts the block one tap away — at the exact moment you would have opened the app anyway. The average person spends over four hours a day on their phone. That is roughly sixty days a year. BrainRest is the plan to take some of it back. PRICING A paid plan is required to use BrainRest. Nothing is sold separately and no feature costs extra — every plan includes everything described above. • Monthly — $9.00 per month • Annual — $69.00 per year, starting with a 7-day free trial • Lifetime — $199.00, a one-time purchase that never renews Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the period. Manage your plan or turn off auto-renew in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when a subscription is purchased. —— Terms of Use: https://brainrest.pro/terms Privacy Policy: https://brainrest.pro/privacy

About

WorkNotes

Features
Read full description

WorkNotes is a quiet daily notebook for focused work. Start with one clear page for today. Swipe through workdays, capture decisions and next steps, and format the essentials without a maze of tools. Your notes stay available offline and can sync privately through iCloud with WorkNotes Pro. • One focused note for each workday • Swipe between days and carry yesterday forward • Rich text basics: bold, italic, bullets, and checkmarks • Templates for plans, updates, meetings, and brainstorming • Search finished notes and recover previous versions • Export a polished note as text, Markdown, or PDF with Pro • Pin the visible note to a Live Activity • Protect content with Face ID and hide text on the Lock Screen • No ads or tracking, and no WorkNotes account WorkNotes Pro adds iCloud sync, complete history, templates, previous versions, extended export, and multiple notes per day. Choose monthly, yearly, or lifetime access. Purchases can be restored anytime. Your work deserves a page you can return to. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

BrainRest4 screens
WorkNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: BrainRest at none against WorkNotes's 3. BrainRest also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. WorkNotes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. BrainRest asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BrainRest ships an update every 10 days, WorkNotes weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 4 level
BrainRest versus WorkNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainRestWorkNotes
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size79 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNguyen Thanh ThienMarios Pentelas

In-app purchases

None

BrainRest

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

WorkNotes

Subscriptions2
  • WorkNotes Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • WorkNotes Pro Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • WorkNotes Pro Lifetime$24.99

Questions

Is BrainRest free?
BrainRest is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is WorkNotes free?
WorkNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do BrainRest or WorkNotes have ads?
Neither BrainRest nor WorkNotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BrainRest or WorkNotes?
BrainRest ships an update every 10 days, and WorkNotes weekly. Most recently, BrainRest was updated on September 25, 2026 and WorkNotes on October 11, 2026.

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