DeskTabby vs Nela
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DeskTabby
This app uses a charming virtual cat to help you stay focused using the Pomodoro technique. It offers a gentle, non-judgmental approach to productivity, rewarding your progress with in-game growth and customization options. Enjoy offline functionality and privacy-focused features.
- Pomodoro focus sessions
- Live Activity on Dynamic Island and Lock Screen
- Cat growth and customization
- Offline functionality
- Daily goals and streaks
- Optional cosmetic in-app purchases
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Make a little time for one thing, with a cat beside you. DeskTabby keeps you company while you read, study, write, or work on something of your own. · Meet your cat: Bring it home, then start when ready. You can also choose a one-minute trial. Naming your cat and choosing a personality can wait. · One thing at a time: Choose a task or start a simple focus session. Pause and return when you need to. · Pick up again: Leave a short progress note or a next step, then find it when you come back. · A shared history: Look back on focused time, completed sessions, and the things you did together. Your cat grows with your focus. · A look of your own: Choose coat colors, patterns, and eyes. Try hats, glasses, scarves, little companions, and desk or sleep scenes together. · Optional gift packs: Some cosmetic choices are available as in-app purchases. They do not buy focus time or growth. · Private by default: No DeskTabby account, ads, analytics, or tracking. Task names and notes are stored locally and excluded from the optional iCloud progress backup. Local file backup and optional private iCloud progress backup are separate choices. Bring one thing. Leave a line. Come back whenever you are ready.
Nela
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Study with a little friend who grows with every session. Nela is a focus timer with a study pet. Start a session, put your phone down, and your little red panda sits down to study with you. When the timer ends, you earn coins, your bond grows, and sometimes your pet finds something in the world you explore together. HOW IT WORKS • Start focus in one tap: Pomodoro, a timer or a stopwatch, with pause. • Pick a subject and, if you like, a task from your to-do list. • Put your phone down. The timer keeps running on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, even when you leave the app. • When it ends, your pet asks whether you finished your task, and you collect your rewards. BLOCK DISTRACTING APPS, IF YOU WANT Turn on Block distracting apps for a session and Nela uses Apple's Screen Time to keep the apps you choose away until it ends. It's a switch, never a requirement. SEE YOUR PROGRESS • A daily goal, with today's focus time on Home and in a widget. • Your days in a row, with a flame. Missing a day never takes away anything you've earned. • Stats by day, week and subject, with your best day. • Study quests with coins to claim: finish 3 sessions today, focus 2 hours this week, study 7 days in a row. • Routines with gentle reminders for the study days you plan. A PET AND A WORLD THAT GROW • Every session, your pet studies somewhere in its world, and each subject sends it to a different kind of place. • Collect postcards and discoveries, and open new parts of the map. • Spend coins in the shop on furniture, room styles and outfits, including a study corner. • Ambient sounds for your sessions: rain for everyone, and campfire, breeze, night and lo-fi with Nela Plus. KIND BY DESIGN Your pet never gets sick or runs away. Ending a session early is allowed, and the time you focused still counts. No ads. NELA PLUS, IF YOU WANT MORE The timer, your pet, the shop, study quests and app blocking are free. Nela Plus adds: • All 5 ambient sounds • All 12 study routines, up to 3 at a time • Double coins from every session • Your full stats history • Plus items and a daily deal in the shop Nela Plus is $3.99 a month, or $19.99 a year with a 7-day free trial. Prices may differ by country. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings. PRIVATE • No account needed to start. Your sessions and progress stay on your iPhone, with an optional backup when you sign in. • You choose which apps to block. Nela never sees which ones they are, and doesn't read anything inside your apps. Nela is a study tool, not a medical or mental-health treatment. Available in English, Japanese, French, German, Korean, Portuguese and Hebrew. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://getnela.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
DeskTabby and Nela are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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. DeskTabby sells 9 one-off in-app purchases and Nela sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | DeskTabby | Nela |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 130 MB | 97 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | 军 郭 | Kovacs Software Solutions |
In-app purchases
DeskTabby
- Eyewear Pack$3.99
- Headwear Pack$3.99
- Patterns Pack$3.99
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- Neckwear Pack$3.99
- Sleep Scene Pack$3.99
- Desk Scene Pack$3.99
- Pastel Coat Pack$5.99
- Sidekicks Pack$5.99
- Everything, Forever$24.99
Nela
- Plus Monthly$3.991 Month
- Plus Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year









