Comparison

TheBrain vs Chill Out Time

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

Head to head
About

TheBrain

This app helps you capture, connect, and visualize all your ideas, notes, and files across devices. It acts as a digital memory, showing related items and allowing for dynamic mind mapping and powerful search to help you recall information instantly.

Highlights
  • Award-winning visualization
  • Networked notes with backlinks
  • Dynamic mind mapping
  • Easy idea capture
  • Cross-device sync
  • Powerful search
  • Visual file management
Features
Read full description

YOUR DIGITAL MEMORY. VISUALIZED. TheBrain is the unique knowledge app that helps you capture everything — ideas, notes, web pages, files, photos — and connect it all the way you naturally think. Stop hunting through folders, tabs, and search bars. Start seeing your knowledge as a living network you can navigate with a tap. Described by the Wall Street Journal as "Software that thinks like you do" and MacLife as "the most compelling mind mapping adaptation we've encountered." Winner of KMWorld's Trendsetting Products award. WHY THEBRAIN? Traditional notes apps trap your ideas in folders, tags, or endless lists. TheBrain lets every piece of information connect to anything else — so the right idea finds you the moment you need it. It's note-taking, mind mapping, file management, and AI rolled into one beautiful experience that works the same on every device. KEY FEATURES CEREBRO — TALK TO YOUR BRAIN WITH AI Our built-in agentic AI assistant. Ask Cerebro anything — and let it create new thoughts and notes, surface exactly what you need, summarize long documents, suggest meaningful links, or just have a conversation about what you know. It can do anything you can do — only faster. DYNAMIC THOUGHT NETWORK Move beyond conventional mind maps and folders. TheBrain's animated visualization shows your ideas, their context, and the relationships between them — at any scale. Tap a thought, and the entire network reorganizes around it. NETWORKED NOTES Rich notes shown in context with automatic backlinks and concept discovery. Hybrid WYSIWYG + Markdown writing, powerful tables, resizable images, math, and folding — all the modern editor essentials. EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE Attach web pages, PDFs, photos, and documents to any thought. Link people, projects, files, and ideas in a single living workspace. POWERFUL SEARCH Find any note, file, web page, or idea in seconds. Every match appears in the context of your thought network, so you instantly see how it relates to everything else you know. SEAMLESS SYNC ACROSS DEVICES Your brain is always with you. Mobile, Mac, Windows, Linux, and web stay in sync — even with large brains. Smart Sync downloads attachments on demand, keeping your brain fast and lightweight on every device. INFINITE SCALE Effortlessly handles hundreds of thousands of items and many gigabytes of data — without slowing down. COLLABORATE AND SHARE Publish your brain online for the world, or sync thoughts privately with your team. Great for shared knowledge bases, project planning, and team research. ==================================== WAYS TO USE THEBRAIN • Build your second brain — a living reflection of how you think, ready when you need it. • Manage everything in your life: projects, people, goals, files, and ideas in one place. • Capture interesting articles, videos, and references so they're activated when you need them. • Organize trips, travel, and major life events with all the right context at hand. • Power your research — go deeper on any concept and see how it connects to everything else. • Turn goals into action by linking them with the resources needed to achieve them. • Build a knowledge base that sparks new ideas and breakthroughs. • Link people, projects, and information for a smarter view of your business. • Create topic brains around your passions, hobbies, and special interests. • Plan personal projects like home renovations, weddings, or major purchases. GET STARTED IN MINUTES Start with a single thought — your name, a project, an idea you want to explore. Add a few connections. Within minutes you'll understand why people have trusted TheBrain for over two decades. For the best experience, install TheBrain on your phone, tablet, and computer. Our iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, and other mobile clients all sync seamlessly — your best thinking is always with you.

About

Chill Out Time

This app helps children and adults learn to calm down and manage their time with a visual timer and a focus-enhancing game. It's designed by a special education teacher to assist those with ADHD, Autism, and Aspergers, offering a gentle way to practice timeouts or time specific activities.

Highlights
  • Visual hourglass timer
  • Calming music
  • Focus game with Moodzie
  • Leaderboards for game
  • Customizable time limits
  • Tips for calming
Features
Read full description

Everybody needs to learn how to chill out and especially children with ADHD, Autism and Aspergers! How about some chill out time with Moodzie, a cute little creature that is sensitive to the World? Perfect for children when they need a timeout to calm themselves or when a special activity needs to be timed in and out of the classroom! Great for children at heart to also use to monitor their own time out or important activities. Using this app is easy. Simply choose your activity to chill out with and allocate the time. Simply tap to start the timer and watch the sand drop gently through the hourglass while listening to beautiful calming music. The game included helps to focus attention away from negative feelings. Find the cute, happy Moodzie in the hourglass. How many times can you find him in the allocated time limit? It is a great game to help children focus and be calm. In addition, they can share their results on a leaderboard for positive reinforcement. Chill out time is an essential app to have in your collection and it will allow children and the child within to learn valuable skills in calming. Experience its transformative powers for yourself! Download the app today! App features: *Created by a Special Education teacher (over 25 years experience) and parent of a child with ASD. *Visit the free book and posters from our website to learn more about Moodzie. *Choose the time limit and activity you would like to do while chilling out. *Unlock a game to play while chilling out with one simple, affordable in-app purchase. You get to try it three times for free. *Leaderboards for the game are included to share with friends while in time out. *Improve your life and learn how to be calm and chill out with additional tips. *Twitter and Facebook integration for sharing this with friends and family. *Relax and listen to the healing music or watch the sand dropping through the hourglass. *Music from Mark Watson (Angel Earth Music), a friend of Doreen Virtue.

Screenshots

TheBrain4 screens
Chill Out Time4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: TheBrain at 44% against Chill Out Time's 0%. TheBrain also leads on rating (4.8 vs 2.0) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 16 months). Chill Out Time's advantage is iOS requirement (7.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. TheBrain sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month and Chill Out Time sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

TheBrain holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TheBrain has 168 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 44% of TheBrain's written reviews are positive against 0% of Chill Out Time's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TheBrain ships an update every 3 weeks, Chill Out Time every 16 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
TheBrain versus Chill Out Time: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTheBrainChill Out Time
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (168 ratings) — better2.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews44.3% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings168 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 16 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.07.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size252 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTheBrain Technologies LPNatalie Clarke

Customer experience

TheBrain

All ratings167 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral0.6%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews176 reviews
Positive44.3%
Neutral13.6%
Negative42.0%

Chill Out Time

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

TheBrain

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes on iOS 9
  • Inability to open brains
  • Freezing after each action
  • Login and account issues
  • Sync problems

Requested features

7 requests
  • Offline mode
  • Improved mobile UI and UX
  • Better integration with other apps
  • More affordable pricing options
  • Enhanced search and filtering
Show 2 more
  • Split-screen support on iPad
  • Handwriting and stylus support

Chill Out Time

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

TheBrain

Subscriptions2
  • TheBrain Pro Monthly$17.991 Month
  • TheBrain Pro Annual$189.991 Year
1 purchases

Chill Out Time

One-time1
  • Unnlock Chillout Time Game$0.99

Questions

Is TheBrain free?
TheBrain is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chill Out Time free?
Chill Out Time is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, TheBrain or Chill Out Time?
TheBrain is rated higher. TheBrain averages 4.8 out of 5 from 168 ratings, while Chill Out Time averages 2.0 from 1 ratings.
Do TheBrain or Chill Out Time have ads?
Neither TheBrain nor Chill Out Time shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TheBrain or Chill Out Time?
TheBrain ships an update every 3 weeks, and Chill Out Time every 16 months. Most recently, TheBrain was updated on October 26, 2026 and Chill Out Time on October 10, 2026.

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