Forest vs Focus timer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Forest
This app helps you stay focused by growing a virtual forest while you avoid your phone. Earn rewards, unlock new trees, and even plant real trees on Earth through a partnership. It offers tools to block distractions and track your progress.
- Gamified focus timer
- Virtual forest growth
- App blocking with Allow Lists
- Real tree planting partnership
- Detailed statistics and insights
- Co-planting with friends
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**Stay off your phone and a tree grows. Leave early and it withers. That's Forest, the focus timer used by 60 million people worldwide.** Top productivity app in 136 countries. Recommended by The New York Times and Business Insider. "Forest works well, and if your goal is to be more in the moment, ignore your phone and actually talk to your friends when you are with them, this is the app for you." — The New York Times Together, our community has planted over 2 million real trees on Earth through our partnership with Trees for the Future. --- STAY FOCUSED Forest helps you overcome phone addiction, reduce distractions, and build deep work habits. Whether you are studying for exams, working from home, or simply trying to be more present, Forest gives you a reason to stay on task. - A gamified focus timer that turns screen-free time into a growing virtual forest - Create personalized Allow Lists to block distracting apps during focus sessions (iOS 16 or above) - Track your daily phone usage and screen time GET MOTIVATED - Unlock tree species and soundscapes as you reach focus milestones - Co-plant trees with friends and family during shared focus sessions - Compete with users around the world and share your forest - Unlock achievements and earn extra rewards - Plant real trees on Earth through our partnership with Trees for the Future TIME GUARD: BLOCK DISTRACTIONS ON SCHEDULE Time Guard helps you set phone-free windows throughout your day. Block distracting apps on a schedule, limit when you can access them, and track how much time you spend on your phone. MINDFUL SPACE: RESET YOUR MIND Mindful Space combines calming soundscapes, breathing exercises, and gentle animations to help you decompress between focus sessions. STATISTICS & INSIGHTS - Create custom tags and view detailed statistics of how you spend your focused time - Review your weekly, monthly, and yearly focus history as a visual forest - Revisit your focus journey with Forest Timeline - Sync your focused time with Apple Health It is never too late to build better habits. --- FOREST PLUS Love Forest? Try Forest Plus. - 3x coin rewards and unlock new trees faster - Exclusive Plus-only tree species and early access to seasonal new trees - Turn your focus into a real tree on Earth Start your free trial today, cancel anytime. --- NOTICE Forest is available on iPhone and iPad. Sign in with the same account to sync your data and access Forest Plus across all platforms. The Allow List feature requires iOS/iPadOS 16 or above. Forest is the original app. Similar apps on the App Store are not developed by the Forest team. --- Follow us on Instagram or visit forestapp.cc to learn more. Browser extensions also available. --- Privacy Policy: https://www.forestapp.cc/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://forest-subscription.seekrtech.com/terms/
Focus timer
Enhance concentration with a Pomodoro-style timer. Choose from various ambient sounds to create a focused work or study environment. Customize focus and break durations, and receive end-of-timer reminders with a selection of sounds.
- Pomodoro timer with customizable intervals
- Ambient soundscapes for focus
- Customizable focus and break times
- End-of-timer reminders with sound options
- Minimalist interface with flip animation
- Background running support
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Focus timer is a tomato timer based app that helps you concentrate on your work and study. When you want to start concentrating on, you can choose an environment, accompanied by beaches, trains, rainy days, bonfire, country cricket sounds, and you will be comfortable concentrating on. Features: - Tomato timer, break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. - Support custom time, easy to set the focus time, rest time. - Set the reminder after the end of the timer, a variety of sounds to choose from. - Minimal interface design, timer display clear with flip animation - Supports background running
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Forest at none against Focus timer's shown. Forest also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks) and ratings volume (50K vs 1.9K). Focus timer's advantage is review sentiment (77% vs 65%) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Forest sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Focus timer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Forest holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Forest has 50K ratings behind it against 1.9K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 65% of Forest's written reviews are positive against 77% of Focus timer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Forest ships an update weekly, Focus timer every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on November 11, 2026.
| Parameter | Forest | Focus timer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (50K ratings) — better | 4.6 (1.9K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 65.3% of reviews | 76.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 50K — better | 1.9K |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 840 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SEEKRTECH CO., LTD. | 书敏 贾 |
Customer experience
Forest
Focus timer
User reviews
Forest
From 50K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💪 Helps with focus and productivity
- 🌳 Motivating to grow a virtual forest
- 📊 Useful data and statistics
- 🌱 Ability to plant real trees
- 🎨 Cute and visually appealing design
Room to improve
- 🔒 Restrictive app locking can be frustrating
- 💰 Expensive to unlock new trees and features
- 🐛 Bugs and glitches reported
- 🕰️ Lack of pause/resume functionality
Focus timer
From 1.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Simple and functional
- 👍 Minimalistic and aesthetic design
- 🚀 Helps with focus and concentration
- 👍 Useful for studying and work
- 👍 Customizable timer settings
Room to improve
- 🐛 Timer inaccuracies
- 🔊 Loud alarm/notification sound
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 💰 Limited features in free version
- 🔇 No option to disable background sounds
Bugs and requests
Forest
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashing and freezing issues
- Syncing and data loss problems
- Inconsistent behavior when switching apps
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to pause/resume timers
- More customization options for the forest
- Integration with other productivity apps
- Easier way to earn coins for new trees
Focus timer
Reported bugs
2 issues- Timer stops when device is locked or app is minimized
- Inconsistent timer behavior when switching between apps
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to set custom alarm/notification sounds
- Option to disable background sounds
- Automatic start/stop of focus and break timers
- Customizable timer duration
- Dark mode or theme options
In-app purchases
Forest
- Monthly (Early Bird)7 Days trial$5.991 Month
- Monthly (Early Bird)$5.991 Month
- Annual (Early Bird)7 Days trial$35.991 Year
- Shovelful of Crystal2 variants$0.99
- Bottle of Sunshine Elixir$0.99
- Box of Sunshine Elixir$1.99
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- Small pot of Crystal$4.99
- Large bag of Crystal$10.99
- Cartful of Crystal$21.99
Focus timer
- Professional Version$2.99
Questions
Is Forest free?
Is Focus timer free?
Which has better reviews, Forest or Focus timer?
Do Forest or Focus timer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Forest or Focus timer?
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