Comparison

Pond vs TimeBuddy

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

Head to head
About

Pond

This app helps you regain control of your screen time and digital wellbeing. It offers mindful app blocking, tracks your digital balance, and provides a visual representation of your focused time. It's designed to foster healthier phone habits without guilt or gamification.

Highlights
  • Mindful app blocking
  • Screen time tracking
  • Daily balance score
  • Scheduled focus sessions
  • Lotus garden visualizer
  • Breathing prompts
Features
Read full description

Pond - Your Digital Sanctuary A mindful app blocker for screen time balance and digital wellbeing You already know the feeling. Another evening lost to scrolling. Reaching for your phone during dinner. The exhaustion of being always on. Your phone promised connection. Instead, it scattered your attention into a thousand pieces. Pond is different. A gentle app blocker and screen time tracker that helps you reclaim your time. Not through guilt or gamification, but through quiet intention and mindful awareness. Three Things That Matter: Daily Balance Score One number that shows the quality of your digital day. Are you creating or consuming? Connecting or scrolling? Resting or stimulating? Not to judge—to help you notice. Track your digital wellbeing and build healthier phone habits. Mindful Blocking Set focus sessions for work, meditation, meals, or sleep. Block distracting apps and social media automatically. Your scattered attention becomes whole again. Just you and what you chose to do. Your Lotus Garden Each moment of presence blooms a lotus in your pond. Not points or streaks—just quiet beauty that grows with your practice. A visual reminder of time well spent and focus reclaimed. What You Can Do: • Block distracting apps during focus time • Set daily limits on social media and screen time • Schedule recurring sessions (work, sleep, meals, study) • Track your balance and phone usage without judgment • Take mindful breaks with breathing prompts • See weekly patterns in your digital life This Isn't Another Productivity App Pond won't buzz you to work harder. Won't shame you for a bad day. Won't turn presence into competition. Just a quiet space. A gentle reminder. A place to return to stillness. Perfect for those seeking digital detox, building healthier phone habits, improving focus, or simply using their phone more intentionally. Pond — a calmer way to use your phone. Your Privacy Matters Everything stays on your device. No tracking. No social comparison. No data collection. Terms & Conditions https://go.pixo.co/pond-terms

About

TimeBuddy

This app helps you focus on tasks with a customizable multi-step timer. Break down goals into mini-goals and receive spoken alerts and reminders across devices. Track progress and share achievements with shareable graphics.

Highlights
  • Reusable multi-step timer sessions
  • Simultaneous session support
  • Cross-device reminders
  • Spoken timer alerts
  • Home screen widgets
  • Focus session history
  • Customizable graphic templates
Features
Read full description

TimeBuddy is a simple, multi-step productivity timer that helps you focus on your daily tasks. You can create a session for tasks like cooking, working out, or studying. Then break up your goal into steps or mini-goals. Here is an example of a quick 10-minute workout session: · Bodyweight Squats for 2 minutes · Rest for 30 seconds · Push-Ups for 2 minutes · Rest for 30 seconds · Plank with T-Rotation for 2 minutes · Rest for 30 seconds · Alternating Standing Oblique Crunches for 2 minutes · Finish with a Rest for 30 second ——— Features ——— - Stay focused by running reusable multi-step timer sessions to achieve your goal. = Multiple sessions can run simultaneously. - Receive reminders across devices while progressing and finishing sessions. - Spoken alerts will talk you through your timers so you can stay focused. - Access sessions on the home screen with widgets. - Keep track of your progress with the focus session history. - Share your progress with our gorgeous customizable graphic templates. - Access sessions securely on all of your devices using iCloud. - Customize the appearance of the app with alternate theme colors and app icons. - Enjoy focusing in the dark with our gorgeous dark mode. ——— TimeBuddy Plus ——— TimeBuddy is made by me, Matt, a solo developer! I believe that TimeBuddy’s core features should be free for everyone to use, but if you want to support and help me work on the app full time, you can subscribe to TimeBuddy Plus to unlock all features. ——— Subscriptions ——— If you purchase a TimeBuddy Plus subscription, payment will be charged to your iTunes account. Your account will automatically be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period unless you disable auto-renew. You can turn off auto-renewal at any time by going to your Account Settings on the App Store after purchase. Privacy Policy: https://mdssoftware.co/privacypolicy Terms of Use: https://mdssoftware.co/termsofuse

Screenshots

Pond4 screens
TimeBuddy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pond at 71% against TimeBuddy's 0%. Pond also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (848 vs 5). TimeBuddy's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Pond sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and TimeBuddy sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pond holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pond has 848 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Pond's written reviews are positive against 0% of TimeBuddy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pond ships an update every 3 weeks, TimeBuddy every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Pond versus TimeBuddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPondTimeBuddy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (848 ratings) — better4.0 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews71.1% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings848 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size350 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPIXO IncorporationMasterMind Software LLC

Customer experience

Pond

All ratings844 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral3.1%
Negative6.9%
Written reviews450 reviews
Positive71.1%
Neutral8.4%
Negative20.4%

TimeBuddy

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Pond

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Timer inaccuracies
  • Interface issues on Mac
  • Inability to share audio with other apps
  • Unreliable auto-reset functionality
  • Subscription issues

Requested features

7 requests
  • Auto-reset option
  • Ability to assign tasks to Pomodoros
  • Project/focus area tracking
  • Cross-device sync
  • Apple Watch support
Show 2 more
  • Ability to skip long breaks
  • Playlist support for sounds

TimeBuddy

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Pond

Subscriptions2
  • Pond Plus 1 Month$7.991 Month
  • Pond Plus 1 Year7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pond Plus Lifetime$99.99
4 purchases

TimeBuddy

Subscriptions3
  • TimeBuddy Plus$4.991 Month
  • TimeBuddy Plus3 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • TimeBuddy Plus3 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • TimeBuddy Plus$49.99

Questions

Is Pond free?
Pond is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is TimeBuddy free?
TimeBuddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pond or TimeBuddy?
Pond is rated higher. Pond averages 4.6 out of 5 from 848 ratings, while TimeBuddy averages 4.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Pond or TimeBuddy have ads?
Neither Pond nor TimeBuddy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pond or TimeBuddy?
Pond ships an update every 3 weeks, and TimeBuddy every 6 weeks. Most recently, Pond was updated on November 6, 2026 and TimeBuddy on November 3, 2026.

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