Eleven Pomodoro timers, rated by what they are bad at

We make one of these. It is number eleven, it is not the best one for everybody, and its section says who should use something else instead.

One thing worth knowing before the list: the real differences here are not about timing. Every one of them can count down from 25. They differ on what they do with your attention, your data and your money.

1. Pomofocus: the default, and usually the right answer

The most-used browser Pomodoro timer, and the one most people mean when they search for “pomodoro timer”. It runs in a tab and does the job in about four seconds.

• Platform: browser.

• Free tier: finish-time estimates, up to three templates, daily, weekly and monthly visual reports, custom durations and sounds.

• Premium adds: project tracking, yearly reports, CSV export, unlimited templates, Todoist and webhook integrations, and ad removal.

• Price: Pomofocus does not publish one. Its legal page says sale prices are listed on each product page, its homepage lists premium features without a figure, and the pricing directories that index it report no plans at all. We are not going to invent a number. You will see it at checkout.

• Bad at: telling you what it costs. Also, it is a timer and nothing else, which is either the point or the problem.

If you are here because Pomofocus is nearly right but not quite, we wrote a longer comparison of Pomofocus and PomoFit that goes feature by feature.

2. Flocus: the aesthetic one, and it is honest about being that

A focus dashboard rather than a bare timer. Themes, ambient sounds, curated playlists, a clean wallpaper-and-clock look that a large audience wants very badly.

• Platform: browser.

• Free: $0 forever, no card. Focus timer, up to three tasks at a time, one day of focus stats, limited themes and sounds, no ads.

• Plus: $5 a month billed annually, or $9 a month billed monthly. Full task suite, daily, weekly and monthly stats, all themes and soundscapes, cross-device sync, and playlists from Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube or SoundCloud.

• Lifetime: $99 one-time, reduced from $149, with the offer advertised as ending 31 August 2026.

• Bad at: being quiet. If you want one number on screen, this is more product than you asked for.

3. Forest: the one that punishes you, at scale

You plant a virtual tree at the start of a session and it dies if you leave the app. Sixty million people have found this more motivating than a bell, which is a real fact about human beings.

• Platform: iOS, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, Vision, Android, and browser, with cross-platform sync.

• Price: free to start, with in-app purchases. Forest’s own site says “Plus pricing varies by region and platform”. The US App Store listing on the day we checked showed a monthly early-bird subscription at $5.99 and annual early-bird options at $35.99 and $32.49, plus consumable purchases from $0.99 to $21.99.

• Bad at: being neutral. The design is a guilt mechanism, and if you respond to a dying tree with resentment rather than focus, this is the worst app here for you.

4. Session: the one for people who want the numbers

A Mac and iOS focus timer built around analytics, blocking and automation. If you want to know where your attention actually went last month, this is the serious answer.

• Platform: Mac and iOS.

• Free: $0 a month, unlimited sessions and rest, analytics for the past two days, calendar events.

• Pro: $4.99 a month, or $39.99 a year, which the site presents as $3.33 a month. Adds custom durations, full session logs, website and app blocking, Slack muting, device sync, calendar integration, keyboard shortcuts, automation and cloud backup. There is a 30% student discount for one year.

• Bad at: existing on Windows, Android or Linux. It does not.

5. Focus To-Do: the cheapest way to own a timer outright

Pomodoro plus task management in one app, and the pricing is the standout. The App Store subtitle is “Pomodoro timer for work&study”.

• Platform: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision, iPod touch.

• Price: free with in-app purchases. The US listing showed Premium at $1.99, a three-month option at $3.99, and Lifetime at $11.99.

• Bad at: restraint. It is a task manager wearing a timer, so if you have one already you now have two.

A lifetime unlock at twelve dollars is hard to argue with. If you want a timer with a task list and nothing recurring, buy this.

6. Marinara Timer: the no-account minimum

A free browser timer with three modes: a standard Pomodoro at 25 on, 5 off, and 15 after four cycles; a custom timer; and a plain kitchen timer. Built by working creatives who found the strict version too rigid.

• Platform: browser.

• Price: free.

• Bad at: everything except telling the time. No stats, no sync, no tasks, no account.

That is not a criticism. If you want a timer for one afternoon and resent being asked to sign up for anything, this is the right choice.

7. Toggl Track: only if you already bill hours

Time-tracking software with a Pomodoro timer built into its desktop app and browser extension. Nobody should choose it as a Pomodoro app. Plenty of people should use the feature, because they are already in it every day.

• Platform: web, desktop, mobile, browser extension.

• Free: $0, free forever, for a limited number of users. Time tracking across web, desktop and mobile, integrations with 100-plus tools, productivity reports.

• Paid: Starter at $9 per licence per month, Premium at $14 per licence per month on the first annual year, renewing at $18. Enterprise is custom.

• Bad at: focus. It answers “what did I bill”, not “am I concentrating”.

8. BreakFit: the closest thing to what we built, on iOS

An iOS Pomodoro timer with workouts in the breaks. Its description opens with “The pomodoro timer that moves you”, and its subtitle is “Focus Timer, Tasks & Workouts”. This is our nearest competitor and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

• Platform: iPhone, iPad, Mac with Apple silicon, Vision, iPod touch.

• Price: free with in-app purchases: Pro weekly $1.99, monthly $2.99, yearly $23.99, lifetime $44.99.

• Bad at: being anywhere other than the Apple ecosystem.

At $2.99 a month it undercuts us, and at $44.99 it offers something we do not: a one-time price. If you want workouts in an Apple-native app and never want a subscription, BreakFit is the honest recommendation.

9. Movemoro: free, no account, exercise in the breaks

A free browser Pomodoro timer where you complete a quick exercise to unlock your break. Its title tag is “Free Pomodoro Timer with Exercise Breaks”, the keyword we compete for, so treat this entry with suspicion and check it yourself.

• Platform: browser.

• Price: free, no sign-up.

• Features: difficulty settings from easy to hard, and filters to exclude floor exercises or anything needing equipment.

• Bad at: anything after the session ends. No accounts, no tracking, no history, no plans.

If you want what we do and want it for nothing, try this. It is a good free toy and it will not remember you tomorrow.

10. Wakeout: the movement leader with no timer in it

The category leader for movement breaks, with a large exercise library, Apple Health and Watch integration, and a free Chrome extension whose website blocker unlocks only after you have moved.

• Platform: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, plus the Chrome extension.

• Price: $4.99 a week, $12.99 a month, or $69.99 a year, which the site presents as $5.83 a month. New subscribers get a seven-day free trial.

• Bad at: focus. There is no Pomodoro timer here, and Wakeout’s own pricing page does not mention one, because that is not what it is for.

If movement is the whole problem and focus is fine, Wakeout has the deepest exercise library on this page. It is also the most expensive, and Apple-only.

11. PomoFit: ours, and who should not use it

A browser Pomodoro timer that puts one short guided bodyweight exercise into every break. Squats and push-ups rather than neck rolls, deliberately: across 27 randomised trials of desk-worker neck and shoulder pain, strengthening worked and stretching was no better than doing nothing.

• Platform: browser, on any device.

• Free: the timer, custom intervals and the guided exercise breaks, with no account, no email and no card. Nothing expires.

• Pro: $4.99 a month. Personalised schedules, custom exercises, ambient audio, detailed stats and leaderboards.

• Bad at: several things, listed below without softening.

Do not use PomoFit if:

• You want Apple Watch and Shortcuts support today. Session and BreakFit are better answers.

• You want deep session analytics. Session’s logs and blocking are more serious than our stats.

• You want task management. We do not have it. Focus To-Do does, for $11.99 forever.

• You want to pay once. We are a subscription. BreakFit and Focus To-Do both sell lifetime unlocks.

• The exercise sounds like one more thing to fail at. You can skip every break, but if you will resent being asked, use Pomofocus or Marinara and be happier.

What we will not claim. Our breaks do not make you focus better. Three separate studies of movement breaks measured cognition and found no benefit, and a 2024 review of 113 studies put the effect of acute exercise on cognition at g=0.13 with strong signs of publication bias. What movement reliably does is raise energy and mood, at d=0.47 across 158 studies, lasting at least thirty minutes. Breaks restore energy and do not cost you output. That is weaker than what most of this category advertises, and it is the true version.

Try the timer. If it is not for you, one of the ten above is, and we would rather you used a timer that fits than none at all.

How to choose in thirty seconds

1. A timer and nothing else. Marinara Timer, or Pomofocus.

2. It has to look beautiful. Flocus.

3. You need shame to work. Forest.

4. You want the data. Session.

5. Pay once, never again. Focus To-Do at $11.99.

6. You already track billable time. Toggl Track, the feature is there.

7. Movement, inside Apple’s world. BreakFit, or Wakeout if you skip the timer.

8. Movement in the browser, free. Movemoro, or PomoFit if you want it to remember you.

If you want the reasoning rather than the shortlist, why the Pomodoro technique stops working explains the failure modes most of these apps are quietly designed around, and what to do during a Pomodoro break covers the five minutes none of them tell you how to spend. Our ready-made plans sequence the movement side, usually starting with Weekly Desk Warrior or Back Pain Desk Relief.