Comparison

Focus To vs Start

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

Head to head
About

Focus To

This app combines a Pomodoro timer with task management to boost productivity. Organize tasks, set reminders, and track your focused work sessions with detailed reports. Syncs across all your devices for seamless management.

Highlights
  • Pomodoro timer with customizable lengths
  • Task and project organization
  • Recurring tasks and reminders
  • Detailed time tracking reports
  • Cross-platform synchronization
  • White noise for focus
Features
Read full description

Focus To-Do combines Pomodoro Timer with Task Management, it is a science-based app that will motivate you to stay focused and get things done. It brings Pomodoro Technique and To Do List into one place, you can capture and organize tasks into your todo lists, start focus timer and focus on work & study, set reminders for important tasks and errands, check the time spent at work. It's the ultimate app for managing Tasks, Reminders, Lists, Calendar events, Grocery lists, checklist, helping you focus on work & study and tracking your working hours. Focus To-Do syncs between your phone and computer, so you can access your lists from anywhere. How it works: 1. Pick a task you need to accomplish. 2. Set a timer for 25 minutes, keep focused and start working. 3. When the pomodoro timer rings, take a 5 minute break. Key Features: - Pomodoro Timer:Stay focused and get more things done. Pause and resume Pomodoro Customizable pomodoro/breaks lengths Notification before the end of a Pomodoro Support for short and long breaks Skip a break after the end of a Pomodoro Continuous Mode - Tasks Management: Task Organizer, Schedule Planner, Reminder, Habit Tracker, Time Tracker Tasks and projects: Organise your day with Focus To-Do and complete your to do, study, work, homework or housework you need to get done. Recurring tasks: Build lasting habits with powerful recurring due dates like "Every Monday". Reminders: Setting a Reminder ensures you never forget important things ever again, you can set up recurring due dates to remind you each and every time. Sub-tasks: Break down your task into smaller, actionable items or add a checklist . Task Priority: Highlight your day’s most important To-Do with color-coded priority levels. Estimated Pomodoro Number: Estimate the workload or set a goal. Note: Record more detailed about the task. - Report: Detailed statistics of your time distribution, tasks completed. Support the calculation of the total time of Focus Time. Gantt Chart of the Focus Time. Statistics on completed To Do. Statistics on time distribution of project. Trend chart of the completed To Do and the focus time. - All-Platform synchronization: View and manage your goals wherever you are for better goal achieving. Support seamless synchronization within iPhone、Mac、iPad、Apple Watch and other major platforms. - Various Reminding: Focus Timer finished alarm, vibration reminding. Various white noise to help you focus on work & study. - Daily/Weekly/Monthly Report View all of your tracked time in a calendar view. - Support prevention of screen lock: Check the pomodoro time left by keeping the screen on. Contact Us: support@focustodo.net, reply within 24 hours. Website: http://www.focustodo.cn Pomodoro ™ and Pomodoro Technique ® are registered trademarks of Francesco Cirillo. This app is not affiliated with Francesco Cirillo. Users have been focused on our app for 200 million hours, join us and we help you to be focused and increase your productivity, reduce procrastination and anxiety.

About

Start

Easily track elapsed and remaining time for daily tasks. Register time entries with start and end reservations, receive notifications, and categorize activities. Visualize ongoing tracks and search past records to improve life quality.

Highlights
  • Time tracking registration
  • Ongoing track visualization
  • End reservation and push notifications
  • Category classification
  • Search past records
Features
Read full description

Have you ever thought, "How much time has passed?" in your daily life? 'Start-End' is an app developed to provide a little help in such questions. When time tracking is needed, you can easily register and visualize elapsed time and remaining time with just a few settings. Through repeated records, pattern recognition is possible, contributing to improving the quality of life. [ Key Features ] 1. Time Tracking Registration - Easily register with just a few settings such as name (required), start and end reservation time, and notification preference. 2. Ongoing List - Easily visualize all ongoing tracks in a list format. 3. End Reservation & Push Notifications - Specify the end reservation time to check the remaining time and receive notifications at the end time. 4. Category Classification - Provides 10 categories for easy classification according to your preferences. (Name changes can be made through settings) 5. Search - Provides a search function to easily find past records. [ App Permissions ] * Required Permissions - None * Optional Permissions - App Tracking: User data is used for providing personalized advertisements. - Notifications (Push): Receive notifications when registered items end. [ Contact/Feedback ] * Email Inquiry: lawtinapps@gmail.com [ License ] * Image : https://lawtinapps.blogspot.com/2024/01/start-end-image-license.html

Screenshots

Focus To4 screens
Start4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Start at none against Focus To's 3. Focus To's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (15K vs 1). On price, rating 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Focus To sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Start asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Start holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Focus To has 15K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 80% of Focus To's written reviews are positive against 67% of Start's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Focus To ships an update every 5 weeks, Start every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Focus To versus Start: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFocus ToStart
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (15K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings15K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size100 MB35 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShenzhen Tomato Software Technology Co., Ltd.BeomSeok Chae

Customer experience

Focus To

All ratings14,611 ratings
Positive96.1%
Neutral2.1%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews1,793 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral8.1%
Negative11.9%

Start

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Focus To

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Pomodoro timer not working correctly
  • Data/progress resets randomly
  • Syncing issues between devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Calendar integration
  • Ability to pause/resume Pomodoro sessions
  • More customization options
  • Improved Apple Watch app functionality

Start

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Focus To

One-time3
  • Focus To-Do Premium$1.99
  • 3 Months$3.99
  • Lifetime$11.99
None

Start

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Focus To free?
Focus To is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Start free?
Start is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Focus To or Start?
Start is rated higher. Focus To averages 4.8 out of 5 from 15K ratings, while Start averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Focus To or Start have ads?
Start shows ads; Focus To does not.
Which is updated more often, Focus To or Start?
Focus To ships an update every 5 weeks, and Start every 6 months. Most recently, Focus To was updated on November 2, 2026 and Start on October 24, 2026.

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