If you are searching "Forest vs Flora," you have probably noticed that they look like the same app. Both grow a tree while you stay off your phone, both kill it if you leave early, and both are free to start. They are also two of the most-rated focus apps on the US App Store: Forest has about 49,000 ratings, and Flora has about 83,000.
The difference is who each one expects you to be focusing with. This is an honest comparison of the two, followed by a third option: Focus Train, the focus timer we make, which removes the dying tree altogether.
The core difference: Forest is solo, Flora is social
The mechanic is identical. What each company has built around it is not.
- Forest (Seekrtech, since 2014) has grown into a full phone-habits app. Around the tree it now has Allow Lists that block everything except the apps you choose during a session (iOS 16 and up), Time Guard for scheduled phone-free windows, Mindful Space with breathing exercises and soundscapes between sessions, detailed statistics and Apple Health sync. Its own tagline sums it up: stay off your phone and a tree grows, leave early and it withers.
- Flora (AppFinca, since 2017) calls itself "the original app for multi-user tree planting," and that is its centre. You plant with friends, everyone sees who killed the tree, and if the whole group succeeds each person wins an extra tree from a random friend. There is chat for keeping each other on track. Around that it has a to-do list with reminders and a widget, and a habit tracker that turns regular sessions into a garden with daily, weekly and monthly stats.
So the question is not which tree is nicer. It is whether your focus problem is your phone, which is Forest's territory, or your follow-through, which Flora tries to fix by making other people part of the session.
Forest vs Flora vs Focus Train at a glance
| Forest | Flora | Focus Train | |
|---|---|---|---|
| If you leave early | The tree withers | The tree is killed, and in a group everyone sees who did it | The train waits at the platform; nothing is lost |
| App blocking | Allow Lists (iOS 16+) and scheduled Time Guard windows | Blocks distracting apps during a session | Baggage: Screen Time shields chosen apps for the ride |
| Social | Co-planting with friends, global leaderboards | Group planting, chat, bonus trees when the group succeeds | None |
| Beyond the timer | Mindful Space, statistics, Apple Health sync | To-do list with reminders, habit garden with stats | Real rail map, 20 cabin soundscapes, tickets and stamps |
| Real trees | Community planting through Trees for the Future | Opt-in paid planting with Trees.org and Eden Reforestation Projects | None |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Android, browser extensions | iPhone, iPad, Android, Chrome extension | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, plus a free web timer |
| US App Store rating | 4.8 from about 49,000 ratings | 4.8 from about 83,000 ratings | 5.0 from 4 ratings, too few to mean much yet |
| Price | Free; optional Forest Plus subscription | Free; optional paid tree planting | Free for 3 rides a week; Premium removes the limit |
Ratings, descriptions and platforms checked on the US App Store and each developer's own site in September 2026.
Where Forest wins
If what you need is control over your own phone, Forest is the stronger app. Its Allow Lists let you choose what survives a session instead of accepting one blanket lock, and Time Guard blocks apps on a schedule, so it works even on the days you forget to start a timer. For most people that is the part that actually changes habits.
It is also the more polished and more widely recommended of the two. Seekrtech quotes a New York Times recommendation and 60 million users. The statistics are deeper, sessions sync to Apple Health, and Forest Plus (3x coins, exclusive species, a free trial and cancel-anytime terms) is a subscription you can skip completely. If you mostly focus alone and a withering tree genuinely keeps you in your seat, get Forest.
Where Flora wins
Flora wins when the missing ingredient is other people. Planting as a group changes the psychology: you are not just losing your own tree, you are the name everyone sees next to a dead one. For study groups, roommates and remote coworkers who already message each other, that turns a solo timer into a shared commitment. Forest has co-planting too, but in Flora it is the whole point of the app.
Flora also does more jobs outside the timer. The to-do list lets you tag a tree with the task it was for, so your garden shows what you actually worked on and not just minutes, and the habit tracker gives you daily, weekly and monthly views. And if the real-world impact matters to you, Flora's opt-in Price and Care services attach a real, paid tree planting to your sessions, through partners including Trees.org and Eden Reforestation Projects.
Flora has more US ratings than Forest, about 83,000 to 49,000. It is not the underdog people often assume it is.
If you want apps like Flora
Some people searching this comparison are really asking for a third app, usually because the social pressure was too much or friends stopped planting. The closest like-for-like options are Forest itself, Focus Friend (a knitting Bean instead of a tree), and Focus Plant (a collection loop). We compare seven of them, with prices and Android availability, in 7 Best Forest App Alternatives. If you are choosing between Forest and Focus Friend specifically, see Forest vs Focus Friend.
Where a smaller timer wins: when the dead tree is the problem
Forest and Flora share one design choice: the moment you fail, something dies. For many people that is exactly what works. For others, especially people with ADHD, a job that interrupts them, or small children, an interrupted session is just a normal Tuesday, and an app that punishes every interruption turns into one more thing to feel bad about. Usually they end up deleting it.
Focus Train is built for that group. Each session is a train journey along a real rail line toward a real city. The longer you stay focused, the farther the train goes. If you look away, it waits at the platform, and when you come back it keeps going. Every arrival prints a ticket and adds a station stamp, so over time you build up a railway, not a streak you are afraid to break. If you want blocking, Baggage shields your chosen apps through Screen Time for the length of the ride. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch with no account.
What it will not give you: no group planting, no leaderboards and no real trees. The free tier is 3 rides a week, refilled weekly, and Premium removes the limit. That is a real limit, and we would rather you hear it from us than find it after installing. If friends watching is what keeps you focused, Flora is the better app.
The bottom line
Choose Forest if you mostly focus alone and want the best app-blocking and scheduling tools of any tree timer. Choose Flora if you study or work alongside friends and a shared garden will keep all of you honest, or if you want your focus timer, to-do list and habit tracker in one app. If you have already deleted one of them because the dead tree made you feel worse instead of more focused, don't try another tree app. Try a timer where stopping early costs you nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Is Flora the same as Forest?
No. They share the same core idea, a tree that grows while you stay off your phone and dies if you leave early, but they are made by different companies. Forest is by Seekrtech and has been on the App Store since 2014. Flora is by AppFinca and launched in 2017. Forest leans into solo focus with scheduled app blocking and a Forest Plus subscription; Flora leans into planting with friends and adds a to-do list and habit tracker.
Is Flora free?
Yes. Flora is free to download and the focus timer, app blocking, group planting, to-do list and habit garden all work without paying. The paid part is optional: Flora's Price and Care services let you attach a real, paid tree planting to your sessions. Forest is also free to download, with an optional Forest Plus subscription that triples coin rewards and unlocks exclusive tree species.
Which is better for studying with friends, Forest or Flora?
Flora. Group planting is its founding feature: everyone plants together, everyone sees who killed the tree, and if the whole group stays off their phones each person wins an extra tree from a random friend. There is chat inside the app too. Forest has co-planting and leaderboards, but its strongest features, Allow Lists and Time Guard, are about controlling your own phone rather than studying alongside other people.
Do Forest and Flora work on Android?
Yes, both are on Google Play as well as the App Store, and both have browser extensions: Forest publishes extensions for desktop browsers and Flora has a Chrome extension. Forest syncs through a Forest account across platforms. Focus Train, the third option in this comparison, is Apple-only (iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch) with a free web timer for everything else.
Nothing dies when you look away
A focus timer where an interrupted session waits at the platform instead of costing you a tree. 3 free rides every week, no account.
Download Focus Train on the App Store →Related: 7 Best Forest App Alternatives and Why Guilt-Based Focus Apps Backfire. Official sites: Forest and Flora. Questions? Email us.