People search for apps like Forest for one of a few reasons: the dying-tree mechanic stresses them out, they want real app blocking instead of an honour-system timer, they want something that doesn't cost anything, or they just want a calmer timer without the gamification. Below are seven Forest app alternatives — including Focus Train, the Pomodoro timer we make — with an honest note on who each one is for. Every app here is on the US App Store and free to download.
First, credit where it's due. Forest is the category's benchmark for a reason: 4.8 stars from more than 49,000 US ratings, a genuinely charming idea, and a partnership that has planted millions of real trees. If the tree mechanic works on you, stay. This page is for the people it doesn't work on.
1. Focus Train — the timer that never kills your progress
Focus Train takes Forest's gamification and flips the incentive. Each session is a train journey: you board, you focus, and the longer you stay on track the farther your train travels. Look away and the train doesn't die — it waits at the platform. You keep the distance you already covered.
That one design choice changes how an interrupted session feels. In Forest, a broken session is a dead tree and a small hit of shame. In Focus Train, it's a stop on the way. Finished sessions print a boarding pass and stamp your book, so your history reads as a map of places your concentration has taken you rather than a bar chart of compliance. You get a live ticket on the Lock Screen, a one-tap widget, and 25 / 50 minute or custom session lengths. Free to download.
It runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac, and there is a free web version that works in any browser if you would rather not install anything — or if you are on Android, where the native app is still being built.
Best for: people who like the gamified idea but bounce off punishment mechanics. More on why that matters: why guilt-based focus apps backfire.
2. Flora — the social version of Forest
Flora is the closest like-for-like swap: plant a seed, stay off your phone, watch it grow, and it dies if you leave. What Flora adds is group sessions — you plant with friends, and everyone sees who killed the tree. It also blocks distracting apps during a session and can plant real trees. With 82,000+ US ratings at 4.8 stars, it's no small player.
Best for: people who want Forest's mechanic plus accountability from friends or a study group.
3. Focus Friend — the one your feed is full of
Focus Friend, by Hank Green, is the app most people mean now when they ask for something like Forest. Instead of a tree you get a Bean who knits while you focus, and finished sessions pay out prizes you spend decorating its room — hundreds of decorations, plus Bean skins ranging from Edamame to a Hank Bean. It shipped a Live Activity, break timers built on the Pomodoro method, and a Deep Focus Mode that locks distracting apps during a session, which is genuinely more than Forest does natively. 4.7 stars from around 4,200 US ratings and climbing fast.
Be clear-eyed about the mechanic, though: it is still loss aversion, just softer. The App Store description opens with the line that if you interrupt your Bean, "they'll be really really sad." If a dying tree got to you, a disappointed Bean may too.
Best for: students and anyone who wants Forest's charm with a collection loop and real app locking, and who finds mild guilt motivating rather than paralysing.
4. Focus Plant — gamified collecting, with a blocker
Focus Plant turns focus time into raindrops you spend growing and unlocking plants, with hundreds to collect. It's built explicitly as an app blocker for phone addiction and leans harder on the collection loop than Forest does.
Best for: people motivated by unlocking and collecting things, who want the reward loop to keep pulling them back.
5. one sec — friction instead of a timer
one sec isn't a focus timer at all, and that's the point. It delays access to distracting apps — you have to sit through a short pause before Instagram opens — which breaks the reflex rather than asking you to resist it. Its developer cites research collaborations, including with the Max Planck Institute, reporting large drops in app usage.
Best for: people whose problem isn't sitting down to work, it's picking up the phone 80 times a day. Pairs well with a timer rather than replacing one.
6. Opal — serious blocking and screen time control
Opal is the heavyweight of the group: app and website blocking, scheduled focus sessions, app limits, detailed screen time data, and social features like leaderboards. 85,000+ US ratings. It's less a game than a system, and its deeper features sit behind a subscription.
Best for: people who want enforcement and analytics, not a metaphor. We compared it head-on in Focus Train vs Opal.
7. Screen Time + the built-in timer — the free option
Don't skip the obvious one. iOS Screen Time gives you app limits and Downtime for free, and the Clock app gives you a countdown. No gamification, no subscription, nothing to unlock. The honest catch is that there's no motivation layer at all — which is exactly why the apps above exist.
Best for: people who are self-directed and just want a boundary, not a coach.
How the apps like Forest compare
| App | Core mechanic | Best when your problem is… | Platforms | US rating | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focus Train | Journey — progress is kept, never lost | Guilt makes you quit | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac + any browser | New | Free + optional upgrade |
| Forest | Grow a tree, it dies if you leave | Loss aversion motivates you | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Android | 4.8 (49,000) | Free + IAP |
| Flora | Same, plus group sessions | You need friends watching | iPhone, Android | 4.8 (82,000) | Free + IAP |
| Focus Friend | A Bean knits; you decorate its room | You want charm plus app locking | iPhone, iPad, Android | 4.7 (4,200) | Free + IAP |
| Focus Plant | Collect plants with raindrops | Unlocking things keeps you hooked | iPhone, iPad, Android | 4.7 (5,400) | Free + IAP |
| one sec | Delay before a distracting app opens | Reflexive phone picking-up | iPhone, iPad, Android | 4.8 (23,000) | Free + IAP |
| Opal | Blocking, limits, screen time data | You want enforcement | iPhone, Android | 4.7 (86,000) | Free + subscription |
Ratings and prices checked on the US App Store; Android availability checked on Google Play. Both re-verified September 2026.
Not sure which row is you? Our free focus app finder asks four questions about how focus actually fails for you — drifting, reaching for the phone, or quitting after one broken session — and names one of the seven above. No sign-up, nothing leaves your browser.
"I killed one tree, felt genuinely bad, and never opened the app again. That's the opposite of what a focus app should do to you."
Free apps like Forest: what "free" actually gets you
Every app on this page — Forest included — is free to download from the US App Store. That is not the same as free to use, and the gap is where most people get caught. Three different models are hiding behind the same "Get" button:
- Free with optional cosmetics or extras. Focus Train, Flora, Focus Plant and Focus Friend all work as timers without paying. Purchases buy skins, decorations, plant species and similar — nothing that gates the actual focus session.
- Free with a paywalled tier. one sec is free for its core delay screen; deeper customisation and unlimited apps sit behind an upgrade. Opal is the strictest here — its serious blocking, schedules and analytics are subscription-only, so treat it as a paid app you can trial.
- Actually, permanently free. iOS Screen Time and the Clock app. No account, no upgrade, no cosmetics. You give up every motivation mechanic in exchange.
If your search was literally "a free app like Forest," the honest shortlist is Focus Train, Flora or Focus Friend — all three are usable indefinitely without paying, and the only thing you miss is decoration. Skip Opal unless you're willing to subscribe.
Apps like Forest on Android
This is the most common follow-up question we get on this page, so here is the straight answer: every other app on this list is on Android. Forest, Flora, Focus Friend, Focus Plant, one sec and Opal all have Google Play listings — we checked each one rather than assuming, because plenty of "best apps like Forest" lists quietly include iPhone-only apps without saying so.
So if you are on Android and want the closest thing to Forest, the honest ranking is short:
- Forest itself is on Android, and it is the same app. If you came here because you assumed it was not, you can stop reading and go get it.
- Flora is the pick if the group-session part is what appealed to you — planting alongside friends is its whole reason to exist.
- Focus Friend is the pick if you want the gentler failure state; the Bean gets sad rather than dying.
- one sec and Opal are the picks if your actual problem is reflexively opening apps rather than needing a timer at all.
Where we stand: Focus Train is Apple-only today — iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac — so there is no native Android app to recommend to you, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What does work on Android right now is our free web timer: open it in Chrome on your phone, pick a length, and the journey runs in the browser tab. It is the same train-journey mechanic, with no install and no account. The extras that make the phone app worth having — Live Activities, widgets, streaks, the postcard atlas — are the parts that need a native app, and those are what the Android version is being built for.
Apps like Forest you can use without installing anything
A slice of people reading this cannot install an app at all — a locked-down work laptop, a school Chromebook, a shared desktop, or simply not wanting another icon for something they will try for one afternoon. Most roundups ignore this group entirely. Two options here serve it, and they are not the same thing.
Forest has a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox. Per Forest's own site, it works alongside the mobile app and its job in the browser is blocking distracting sites. It is still something you install into the browser, and it is designed as a companion to the phone app rather than a standalone product.
Focus Train's web timer is a web page. There is nothing to install — not an app, not an extension. You open elevenapril.com/pomodoro, pick 25, 45, 60 or 90 minutes, press start, and the train crosses a live map while you work. No sign-up, no account, and it runs anywhere a browser does: Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, Android, a locked-down machine where extensions are blocked by IT.
The trade is honest. A web page cannot send you a notification when the session ends if the tab is buried, cannot show a Live Activity on your Lock Screen, and cannot keep a streak across devices. If you want those, you want a native app — and that is exactly the split between the two. Use the browser version to find out whether the mechanic works on you, which costs nothing, and install something only once you know it does.
Is Forest a Pomodoro timer?
Sort of, and this trips people up when they search for a "Forest Pomodoro app." Forest is a focus timer: you set a duration, you stay off your phone, a tree grows. Classic Pomodoro is a specific structure — 25 minutes of work, a 5-minute break, a longer break after four rounds — and Forest doesn't run that cycle for you. You can set a 25-minute Forest session, but you have to remember the breaks yourself.
If you want the structure enforced rather than improvised, use a timer that ships with the cycle built in. Focus Train runs 25 and 50-minute sessions with custom lengths and a Lock Screen ticket, and Focus Friend has explicit break timers built on the Pomodoro method. If you'd rather try the technique before installing anything, we run a free Pomodoro timer in the browser — no download, no account.
The bottom line
If the dying tree motivates you, Forest is still the best in its class and you should keep it. If you want the same charm with more decoration and real app locking, Focus Friend is the obvious swap. If your phone is the problem, add one sec or Opal — those are blockers, not timers, and they solve a different failure. But if you've noticed that a broken session makes you avoid the app entirely, switch the incentive rather than trying harder: pick a timer where an interruption costs you nothing you'd already earned. A sad Bean is a gentler version of the same trap.
If that is three verdicts too many, the focus app finder turns this page into four questions and one answer.
Frequently asked questions
What apps are similar to Forest?
The closest apps like Forest are Flora, which plants a seed that dies if you leave and adds group sessions, and Focus Friend, which gives you a knitting Bean instead of a tree. Focus Plant swaps the single tree for a collection loop. If you want the gamified idea without the punishment, Focus Train turns a session into a train journey that pauses instead of dying. one sec and Opal are not timers at all — they block or delay distracting apps, which solves a different problem.
Are there free apps like Forest?
All seven apps on this list are free to download from the US App Store, including Forest itself. The difference is what happens after that: Focus Train, Flora, Focus Plant, Focus Friend and one sec are free to use with optional in-app purchases, while Opal puts its stronger blocking and analytics behind a subscription. Apple's built-in Screen Time and Clock timer are the only options with nothing to buy at all.
How is Focus Friend different from Forest?
Focus Friend, by Hank Green, replaces Forest's tree with a Bean that knits while you focus and earns you decorations for its room. The punishment is softer — the App Store description says the Bean will be really really sad if you stop the timer early, rather than a tree dying — and it adds a Deep Focus Mode that locks distracting apps, which Forest does not do natively. It holds 4.7 stars from about 4,200 US ratings against Forest's 4.8 from 49,000.
Is there a Forest alternative that does not kill your tree?
Yes. Focus Train uses the opposite mechanic: your focus session is a train journey, and if you look away the train simply waits at the platform instead of dying. You keep the distance you already travelled, so an interrupted session is still progress rather than a loss. That suits people who bounce off guilt-based focus apps.
What is the best Forest alternative for phone addiction?
If your real problem is reflexively opening apps rather than sitting down to work, a friction or blocking tool beats a timer. one sec adds a deliberate pause before a distracting app opens, and Opal blocks apps and sites during focus sessions. Use one of those alongside a focus timer rather than instead of it.
Are there apps like Forest for Android?
Yes — in fact every alternative on this list except ours is on Android. Forest itself is on Google Play, along with Flora, Focus Friend, Focus Plant, one sec and Opal, all verified rather than assumed. Focus Train is Apple-only today (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac), so on Android the closest thing we offer is our free web timer, which runs in a mobile browser with no install and no account. A native Android app is in progress and there is a waiting list on this page.
Is there an app like Forest that works in a browser?
Two, and they work differently. Forest publishes a Chrome and Firefox extension that blocks distracting sites alongside its mobile app, so it is still something you install into the browser. Focus Train's web timer is just a web page at elevenapril.com/pomodoro — pick 25, 45, 60 or 90 minutes and the journey runs in the tab, with nothing to install and no sign-up. That makes it the option that works on a locked-down work laptop, a school Chromebook or an Android phone. The trade is that a web page cannot show Lock Screen activities or keep streaks across devices.
Nothing dies when you look away.
Focus Train turns every session into a train journey — the farther you focus, the farther you go. Look away and the train just waits.
Download Focus Train on the App Store →Related: Focus Train vs Forest and What Is the Pomodoro Technique?. Questions? Email us.