Forest has been the default focus app on phones for over a decade. You plant a tree, it grows while you leave your phone alone, and it dies if you open Instagram. Simple, cute, and effective for a lot of people.
This page is published by Kaizen, which makes a Pomodoro timer with Focus Rooms, so our app is in the list. Prices and features below were checked on each company's site or app store listing on September 2, 2026, and each entry says where Forest is still the better pick.
What Forest does well
- It actually blocks apps. Deep Focus mode kills the tree if you leave, and the paid tier adds custom allowlists and multi-app Time Guard. Nothing else on this page enforces anything on your phone.
- Loss aversion works. Watching a tree die is a surprisingly strong nudge, and twelve years of iteration have tuned it.
- Real trees. Forest says it has planted over 2.1 million real trees through Trees for the Future. That is its own figure, but the program is real.
- Plant Together. Friends grow one tree in a shared session, and if one person quits, everyone's tree dies. It is the closest Forest gets to company.
- Scale. Forest reports more than 60 million downloads and a 4.8 rating on the App Store.
Why people go looking for something else
- No desktop app. Forest runs on iOS and Android, with Chrome and Firefox extensions for browser blocking. There is no Windows or Mac app, so a work day at a laptop mostly happens outside it.
- Ads on the free tier. Since Forest moved to a free-with-subscription model in late 2025, the free version shows occasional ads outside of focus sessions. The old one-time purchase is gone for new users.
- No tasks, no habits. Forest tracks focus time with tags. It does not track what you were working on, and it has no habit tracker.
- Blocking is not presence. A dying tree is a stick. Some people want a room full of other people working, which is a different motivator entirely.
- It is still a subscription. Forest Plus is $5.99 a month, with annual plans at $32.49 and $35.99 in the US App Store listing, all labeled early-bird prices.
Quick comparison
Scroll sideways to see the whole table.
| Tool | What it is | Blocks apps | Other people | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | Tree timer: leave and it dies | Yes | Friends, via Plant Together | Yes, with ads | Plus from $5.99/mo |
| Kaizen (ours) | Pomodoro timer with camera-free rooms, tasks, and habits | No | Rooms of 2 to 50, public or private | Yes, no ads | €3.99/mo or €39.99/yr |
| Pomofocus | Browser timer with a task list | No | No | Yes, with ads | Price shown in-app |
| Flocus | Aesthetic browser dashboard | No | No | Yes | $9/mo, $5/mo yearly, $99 lifetime |
| LifeAt | Animated workspace with timer, tasks, notes | No | Synced coworking on Pro, undocumented | Yes | $12/mo, $8/mo yearly |
| StudyStream | Live video study rooms | No | Hundreds, in video rooms | Yes, limits unpublished | Premium about $7/mo |
| Focusmate | Booked 1:1 video sessions | No | One matched stranger | 3 sessions a week | $8/mo yearly, $12/mo monthly |
Currencies are the ones each company publishes. Platforms, tasks, and habits for each tool are in the sections below.
Start with what you want instead of a tree
"I want other people." Kaizen for camera-free rooms of 2 to 50, drop in any time; the body doubling guide explains why that works. StudyStream if you want hundreds of people in a video room. Focusmate if you want one stranger and a booked slot. The Focusmate alternatives page compares those three properly.
"I want a timer on my computer." Kaizen runs on Windows and in any browser with the same account as your phone. Pomofocus has downloads for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Flocus and LifeAt live in a browser tab.
"I want to see where my time went." Kaizen logs minutes against the task you pinned and fills focus-time habits automatically. Pomofocus estimates how many Pomodoros a task will take and reports on it.
"I want the pretty part." Flocus and LifeAt are built around scenes and themes. Kaizen has a growing catalog of still and animated timer backgrounds and focus music, with every still background free.
"I just need a timer, right now, in a tab." Pomofocus. No account needed to start, no install, nothing to configure.
"I need something to physically stop me opening apps." Stay with Forest. None of the alternatives above block anything, and Forest is honest about being the stick.
The alternatives in detail
Kaizen
Ours. A Pomodoro timer with four presets (Classic 25/5, Quick 15/3, Extended 50/10, Long Focus 90/15) and custom sessions from 5 to 180 minutes. What Forest does not have: Focus Rooms, where you run your timer next to other people and see who is focusing, on a break, or away, with no camera and no mic. Joining rooms is free with no session limit. Tasks track their own time when you pin one, habits fill from focus minutes, and stats show streaks and focus by tag.
Free covers the full timer, every still background, 7 tasks, 5 habits, 30 days of stats, and joining any room, with no ads. Premium is €3.99 a month or €39.99 a year with a 14-day trial, and adds unlimited tasks and habits, creating rooms, the full music library, and all-time stats. iOS, Android, web, and Windows.
Where Forest wins: blocking. Kaizen will notice if you leave a room, but it will not stop you opening another app. If you need enforcement, Forest is the tool.
Pomofocus
Pomofocus is a free browser Pomodoro timer with a task list, per-task Pomodoro estimates, and daily, weekly, and monthly reports. There are downloadable builds for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Premium adds projects, yearly reports, exports, a Todoist integration, and removes the ads, though Pomofocus does not publish the price outside the app.
Where it wins: zero friction. It loads in a second and needs no account to start. Where it loses: no official phone app, ads on the free tier, no social features, no habits, and the interface is a timer and a list.
Flocus
Flocus is an aesthetic browser dashboard: timer, to-dos, stats, ambient sounds, and a big library of themes including custom and YouTube video backgrounds. Free gets you the timer, three tasks, one day of stats, and a few themes. Flocus Plus is $9 a month, $5 a month billed yearly, or a $99 lifetime deal that Flocus says ends September 30, 2026.
Where it wins: looks, and music-service integrations on Plus. Where it loses: browser only, no mobile app, no social features.
LifeAt
LifeAt is an immersive workspace: an animated scene with a timer, tasks, notes, a calendar, and music. There is a free tier and a Pro plan at $12 a month or $8 a month billed yearly (an early-bird rate), plus Mac and Windows desktop apps. LifeAt lists synced coworking as a Pro feature but does not document how it works.
Where it wins: the scene library, and the desktop apps. Where it loses: no mobile app, and the social feature is Pro-only and undocumented.
StudyStream
If what you want from Forest's Plant Together is other people, StudyStream is the far end of that spectrum: live video rooms with hundreds of students in them, 24/7, on web, iOS, and Android, with timers, tasks, and streaks built in. Free tier with unpublished limits; Premium around $7 a month in the US App Store.
Where it wins: presence at scale. Where it loses: it is video, and there is no app blocking.
Focusmate
Focusmate is booked 25, 50, or 75-minute video sessions with a matched stranger. Three free sessions a week, then $8 a month billed annually or $12 monthly. Browser only.
Where it wins: the strongest commitment device on this list, an appointment with a person who can see you. Where it loses: the camera is mandatory, and there is no app. The Focusmate alternatives page has the full comparison.
When to stay with Forest
If the tree is what stops you picking up your phone, do not replace it. Forest's blocking is real, the free tier now covers the core loop, and Plant Together handles friend groups. Run Forest for the phone and one of the tools above for the desk, if the desk is where the work happens.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to Forest?
Kaizen's free plan has the full Pomodoro timer, Focus Rooms to join, and no ads. Pomofocus is free in the browser. Forest itself is free with ads since late 2025.
Is there a Forest app for Windows or Mac?
No. Forest has browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox but no desktop app. Kaizen has a Windows app and runs in any browser. LifeAt has Mac and Windows apps. Pomofocus offers desktop downloads.
Which Forest alternative has a social feature?
Kaizen's Focus Rooms, camera-free, for 2 to 50 people. StudyStream and Focusmate if you want video.
Do any of these plant real trees?
Only Forest. If that matters to you, it is a reason to stay.
Sources
Checked on September 2, 2026 at forestapp.cc (opens in a new tab), Forest's App Store listing (opens in a new tab), pomofocus.io (opens in a new tab), flocus.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), lifeat.io/pricing (opens in a new tab), StudyStream's App Store listing (opens in a new tab), focusmate.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), and my-kaizen.com/pricing.