Comparison

Forest vs Buzzkill

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Gamified focus timer
  • Virtual forest growth
  • App blocking with Allow Lists
  • Real tree planting partnership
  • Detailed statistics and insights
  • Co-planting with friends
Features
Read full description

**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/

About

Buzzkill

This app helps you break free from excessive app usage by sending custom, frequent notifications. Set limits and control the urgency of alerts to manage your screen time effectively and privately.

Highlights
  • Customizable notification frequency per app
  • Adjustable notification tone (friendly to angry)
  • Gradually increasing urgency of alerts
  • Daily buzz-free time settings
  • Daily usage limits with advance notifications
  • Privacy-focused with on-device data storage
Features
Read full description

Buzzkill helps you break out of doomscrolling by sending frequent notifications when you spend too much time in selected apps. Choose which apps you want to monitor and set a custom buzz frequency per app, so notifications match your habits instead of fighting them. Choose your preferred language and the tone you like. You can go from sweet and friendly all the way up to full-on ANGRY CAPSLOCKS when you really want a strong notification. As your usage goes up, notifications gradually become more urgent instead of repeating the same message over and over. Buzzkill uses a large set of around 3,000 notifications in English, Dutch, German and French. Other languages are supported as well, but currently use smaller message sets. You can set a daily buzz-free time so notifications only start after you have used that amount of time. You can also add a daily limit that is easy to change, with optional notifications sent in advance so you can slow down before you reach your cap. Buzzkill keeps your data on your device. Usage history is automatically deleted after seven days. Nothing is sent to a server, and no long-term profiles are built from your behaviour. It’s a privacy-first way to reduce your screen time without blocking your apps, and it’s not another data-hungry tracker.

Screenshots

Forest4 screens
Buzzkill4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Forest at 4.8 against Buzzkill's 3.7. Forest also leads on ratings volume (50K vs 3) and chart position (#206 vs unranked). Buzzkill's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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. Forest sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Buzzkill asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Forest holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Forest has 50K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of Forest's written reviews are positive against 50% of Buzzkill's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Forest versus Buzzkill: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterForestBuzzkill
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (50K ratings) — better3.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews57.5% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings50K — better3
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
Best chart rank#206 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size840 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSEEKRTECH CO., LTD.Jens Somers

Customer experience

Forest

All ratings49,580 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral1.4%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews2,351 reviews
Positive57.5%
Neutral7.2%
Negative35.3%

Buzzkill

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

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

Buzzkill

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Forest

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly (Early Bird)7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Monthly (Early Bird)$5.991 Month
  • Annual (Early Bird)7 Days trial$35.991 Year
One-time6
  • Shovelful of Crystal2 variants$0.99
  • Bottle of Sunshine Elixir$0.99
  • Box of Sunshine Elixir$1.99
Show 3 more
  • Small pot of Crystal$4.99
  • Large bag of Crystal$10.99
  • Cartful of Crystal$21.99
None

Buzzkill

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Forest free?
Forest is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Buzzkill free?
Buzzkill is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Forest or Buzzkill?
Forest is rated higher. Forest averages 4.8 out of 5 from 50K ratings, while Buzzkill averages 3.7 from 3 ratings.
Do Forest or Buzzkill have ads?
Neither Forest nor Buzzkill shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Forest or Buzzkill?
Forest ships an update weekly, and Buzzkill weekly. Most recently, Forest was updated on November 5, 2026 and Buzzkill on November 5, 2026.

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