Compare focus apps
Quiet Orbit next to Forest, Opal, Flora, Focus Friend and FocusFlight
Five popular focus apps for iPhone, side by side with Quiet Orbit: what each costs, how each blocks apps, and what happens when you stop a session early.
Every app, side by side
| Quiet Orbit | Forest | Opal | Flora | Focus Friend | FocusFlight | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price to start | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| What paying costs (US) | $3.99 a month, $19.99 a year, or $39.99 once | Forest Plus, listed at $5.99 a month or $32.49 to $35.99 a year, plus coin packs | Plans listed from $4.99 a week to $99.99 a year; $49.99 a year on its student page | Optional real-tree pledges and small tour purchases | Pro at $3.99 a month, $19.99 a year or $39.99 once, plus bean packs | $3.99 a month, $18.99 a year, lifetime listed from $18.99 to $33.99 |
| Blocks apps | Yes, free, through Apple's Screen Time | Yes, with an Allow List (iOS 16 or later) | Yes, on a schedule, with app limits and a mode you can't cancel | Its listing says it blocks distracting apps | Yes, in Deep Focus Mode | Yes, in its Airplane Mode |
| If you stop early | You keep every minute you focused | Your tree withers | Depends on the difficulty you set | Your tree is killed | Your bean is really sad | Not described in its listing |
| With friends | Up to four phones start together, free | Plant trees together with friends and family | Leaderboards against other members | Plant together; you see who killed a tree | Not listed | Not listed |
| Runs on | iPhone | iPhone and iPad | iPhone and iPad | iPhone and iPad | iPhone and iPad | iPhone and iPad |
Which one fits
- You want to start and finish a session, and stopping early shouldn't hurt: Quiet Orbit.
- You want apps blocked on a schedule all day: Opal, or Forest's Time Guard.
- You want a to-do list with your timer: Flora.
- You want a character to decorate a room for: Focus Friend.
- You want to fly between real cities: FocusFlight.
One by one
- Forest alternative: Quiet Orbit is a free focus timer for iPhone that closes the apps you pick. Nothing withers when you stop early, and you can pay once instead of subscribing.
- Opal alternative: Quiet Orbit blocks the apps you pick while a focus session runs, for free, and turns every minute into a journey through the solar system. Premium is $19.99 a year or $39.99 once.
- Flora alternative: Quiet Orbit is a focus timer and app blocker for iPhone. Study with up to three friends at the same second, and nobody's session dies because someone checked their phone.
- Focus Friend alternative: Quiet Orbit is a calm focus timer for iPhone that closes the apps you pick. Your focus flies a ship across the solar system, and stopping early never makes anything sad.
- FocusFlight alternative: Like FocusFlight, Quiet Orbit turns focus into a journey, with app blocking built in. Here it runs from Earth out to Pluto, you paint your own ship, and friends can fly with you.
What Quiet Orbit does
- Focus sessions from 15 to 90 minutes, with breaks if you want them.
- The apps you pick stay closed until the session ends, breaks included. Everything else stays open.
- Every minute you focus flies your ship closer to the next world, Earth out to Pluto. Each session you finish turns up a finding from the place you reached.
- Stop early and you keep every minute. Nothing dies, withers or resets.
- Up to four friends can start the same session at the same second, with a link. Hosting and joining are free.
- A weekly log, a live timer on the Lock Screen, widgets, reminders, and a streak with a rest day built in.
- No account. Which apps you block never leaves your iPhone.
Switching takes a minute
- Install Quiet Orbit from the App Store. It's free, for iPhone on iOS 18 or later.
- Allow Screen Time access when it asks, and pick the apps that stay closed.
- Choose a length, press and hold to start, and put the phone down.
Your history in the other app stays there; Quiet Orbit starts you in Earth orbit. More on how the block works and the study timer, or see every app side by side.
Prices and features of other apps are from their US App Store listings, checked on 16 October 2026, and can change; Forest's pricing history is from Wikipedia. Prices differ by country. Every app named here is a trademark of its owner; Quiet Orbit isn't affiliated with any of them.