Comparison

Easel vs Hearth Island

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

Head to head
About

Easel

Features
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Easel turns focus into something you look forward to. Choose how long you want to concentrate. As your timer runs, a genuine masterpiece slowly emerges from the fog, painted from the center outward. When you finish, the painting is fully revealed and yours to keep in your personal gallery. No feeds. No noise. Just you, your work, and a quiet moment with a great painting. WHY EASEL A calmer way to focus. The reward is not a buzzing notification. It is a beautiful work of art, appearing only if you see your session through. Real masterpieces. Every painting is a genuine public domain work from the great museums, by artists like Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Turner, and Vermeer. Single sessions or full Pomodoro cycles. Focus once, or run classic Pomodoro blocks with breaks and earn a painting for each one. Your personal gallery. Every completed session adds its painting to a collection that grows with your focus. Focus with intention. Choose a collection to focus with, from serene landscapes to old master portraits. Quiet company. Optional ambient piano, drawn from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, plays gently while you work. Beautiful on every device. Widgets bring a painting of the day to your home and lock screen. Easel is free, made by one person, with a small tip jar for anyone who wants to support it. No subscriptions, no ads, no pressure. Focus. Reveal. Keep.

About

Hearth Island

Features
Read full description

Start a focus session. When you finish, a tiny 3D island grows - and it keeps living while you're away. FOCUS. EARN. GROW A LIVING WORLD. Hearth Island turns the minutes you focus into something you can see. Set a timer, put the phone down, and do your work. Every focused minute earns one Spark. Spend them to plant trees, build cottages, adopt a companion, and raise whole new islands out of the sea. Nothing here is bought with money. Sparks are earned only by focusing - that is the whole point. A WORLD THAT LIVES ON ITS OWN - Real day and night, drifting clouds, and rain that ripples the sea - Four seasons that follow your real calendar - spring blossom, summer fireflies, autumn leaves that fall and gather, winter snow on every roof - Mochi, a companion who wanders the island, plays with a yarn ball, and naps in a little bed - Plants that grow a stage with every session you complete THE FOCUS THAT EARNS IT - Simple sessions - pick a length, start, and focus - Leave the app mid-session and it gently pauses instead of punishing you; a screen wake-lock keeps the phone awake while you work - Optional Focus Shield quiets notifications for the length of a session - Early ends still bank the minutes you focused - you are never punished for stopping GROW THE ISLAND - Plant flowers, bushes, pines, oaks and maples - Build cottages, cabins, a greenhouse, a lighthouse and a dock - Raise new land - Sunny Meadow, Quiet Cove, North Ridge - from open sea - The flagship moment: build the Bridge and a brand-new isle rises, "New area discovered!", with more ground to make your own FREE, AND ACTUALLY GENEROUS The whole loop - focus, earn, plant, build, grow - is free. You can fill a whole island without paying a cent. HEARTH PREMIUM Premium opens the full catalog - palms, campfires, wishing wells, cabins, greenhouses, lighthouses, companion pieces, and new islands as they arrive. Premium items still cost the Sparks you earn by focusing; money only opens the catalog, it never buys progress. $4.99/month, $29.99/year with a 7-day free trial, or $59.99 once for lifetime. Everything lives on your device. No account, no sign-up, and your island is never uploaded anywhere. Requires iOS 15 or later; the living 3D world needs a device with WebGL2 (iPhone 8 and later). ---------- Hearth Premium is available as a monthly ($4.99) or yearly ($29.99, with a 7-day free trial) auto-renewable subscription, or a one-time Lifetime purchase ($59.99). Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://starnova-io.github.io/hearth-island/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://starnova-io.github.io/hearth-island/privacy.html

Screenshots

Easel4 screens
Hearth Island4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Easel at none against Hearth Island's shown. Hearth Island's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Easel sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Hearth Island sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Easel versus Hearth Island: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEaselHearth Island
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyโ€”Every 11 days
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS17.015.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size74 MB20 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperAdam MarkockiNhan Vo

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Easel

One-time3
  • Buy me a coffee$2.99
  • Nice Coffee$4.99
  • Coffee Pot$9.99
3 purchases

Hearth Island

Subscriptions2
  • Hearth Premium Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Hearth Premium Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Hearth Premium Lifetime$59.99

Questions

Is Easel free?
Easel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hearth Island free?
Hearth Island is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Easel or Hearth Island have ads?
Hearth Island shows ads; Easel does not.

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