Apps Like Forest: 6 Focus Apps, Free, Android and PC Options

Forest has one of the best ideas in the App Store. You start a session and a tree grows. Leave the app to check your phone and the tree withers. Finished sessions add up to a forest, unlock new trees and sounds, and can even plant real ones through Trees for the Future. It has a 4.8 rating from almost 50,000 US ratings and says 60 million people have used it.

So why look for something else? Some people want it free and don’t know that it now is. Some want to focus with friends, or want a cute character instead of a tree. Some need it on a computer. And some find that a forest of virtual trees stops being enough after a few weeks.

Here are six apps, picked by what you want from Forest. One of them is ours, Habit Rewards; we’ve tried to describe the others fairly.

If you want…	Try
The same tree idea, free, with friends	Flora
A cute companion instead of a tree	Focus Friend
Plants to collect, plus your Apple Health focus minutes	Focus Plant
A simple study timer that grows a garden	Plantie
A focus timer on your computer too	Focus To-Do
Rewards you can use in real life	Habit Rewards

First: is Forest free now?

Yes. Forest used to cost money on the iPhone, which is why so many people search for a free Forest. Today it’s a free download on iPhone and Android. Its own FAQ says the free version covers focus sessions, app blocking (Deep Focus during a session and Time Guard on a schedule) and focusing with friends. The old one-time Pro upgrade is gone. Forest Plus is a subscription for extra trees, full soundscapes, analytics and custom allow lists: $5.99 a month or $32.49–$35.99 a year in the US App Store (early-bird prices, checked October 26, 2026). There are also coin and crystal packs.

If Forest still isn’t quite right, read on.

1. Flora: the free one, with friends

Flora works like Forest. You plant a seed, it grows while you stay off your phone, and it dies if you give in. Flora blocks distracting apps while a tree grows. Its twist is friends: you can plant together, and if anyone leaves early, everyone sees whose tree died. It also has a to-do list with reminders, and you can tag each tree with a to-do to see where your time went.

It’s free on iPhone and Android, with a 4.8 rating from about 83,000 US ratings. The only in-app purchases in the US App Store are optional “tours” from $0.99 to $1.99.

Good for: study groups and friends who keep each other honest, and anyone who wants Forest’s idea at no cost.

Less good if: you study alone and don’t need the social part.

2. Focus Friend: a companion instead of a tree

Focus Friend, by Hank Green, swaps the tree for a little Bean. Start the timer and the Bean keeps you company; finish the session and it gives you prizes to decorate its room. Stop early and the Bean is really sad. There’s a Deep Focus Mode that locks distracting apps, break timers for the Pomodoro method, and a Live Activity that shows the timer on your lock screen.

It came out in 2025, is free on iPhone and Android, and has a 4.8 rating from about 9,400 US ratings. Pro costs $3.99 a month, $19.99 a year or $39.99 once (US App Store, October 26, 2026).

Good for: people who want to look after something while they focus.

Less good if: you want detailed focus statistics.

3. Focus Plant: plants to collect

In Focus Plant, focus time turns into raindrops, and raindrops grow plants that you collect to bring barren worlds back to life. It has hundreds of plants, focus records, and gamified tasks and rewards. Its store page says it can read mindfulness minutes from other apps through Apple Health, Forest among them, so time you focus elsewhere can still count.

It’s free on the iPhone, with a 4.7 rating from about 5,500 US ratings. Its SuperPass subscription is $4.99 a month.

Good for: collectors who want more to unlock than Forest offers.

Less good if: you’d rather keep it simple.

4. Plantie: a simple study timer

Plantie is the closest to Forest’s original idea. Set a timer from 10 to 180 minutes, plant a seed, and stay in the app while it grows; leave and it withers. Finished sessions earn coins that unlock more than 15 plants, and a focus mode blocks distracting apps while you study. Statistics show your daily, weekly and monthly study time.

It’s free on the iPhone, with a 4.7 rating from about 1,900 US ratings, and in-app purchases from $1.99 to $4.99.

Good for: students who want a plain study timer that still feels like a game.

Less good if: you want to focus with friends.

5. Focus To-Do: Forest for your computer

If you searched for Forest on PC, this is the one to know. Forest’s own desktop option is a Chrome and Firefox extension that brings the timer and Deep Focus to your browser. Focus To-Do is a full Pomodoro timer and to-do list with apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android and Apple Watch, plus a Chrome extension, and it syncs between your phone and computer. There’s no tree, but there are task lists, recurring tasks, reminders and reports of where your time went.

It’s free on iPhone and Android, with a 4.8 rating from about 14,700 US ratings. Premium is $1.99 or $3.99 for three months, or $11.99 once in the US App Store.

Good for: people who do their focused work at a desk.

Less good if: the growing tree is the part you love.

6. Habit Rewards: rewards you choose

This one’s ours. Forest pays you in trees; Habit Rewards pays you in coins for your own store. You write a list of rewards, like a bubble tea, a new game, an episode of your show or a Saturday off, and give each one a coin price. You add “Study” or “Deep work” as a daily habit, with a goal such as 50 minutes a day, and it pays coins by how hard it is (1, 4, 8 or 16). One-off work like “finish the chemistry problem set” goes in as a task and pays coins once. When your balance covers a reward, you claim it.

If you need a day off, a Skip costs 10 coins and keeps your streak alive. It’s on iPhone and Android, free for three habits, with a Pro subscription for more.

Good for: people who already treat themselves and want the treat to be earned. Our guide to rewarding yourself for studying shows the system on paper first.

Less good if: you want a timer or app blocking. Habit Rewards has neither. Plenty of people grow the tree in Forest or Flora and then check the habit off in Habit Rewards.

A list of rewards with coin prices in Habit Rewards

How to pick

Think about what Forest was doing for you. If it was keeping your phone out of your hand, Forest is free now, and Flora does the same with friends. If you wanted something to care for, try Focus Friend. If you wanted more to collect, Focus Plant. If you work at a computer, Focus To-Do. And if the trees stopped mattering because they don’t buy anything, give your focus a price: that’s what Habit Rewards is for. A focus timer and a habit tracker work fine side by side.

Liked the cozy-app side of Forest? See apps like Focus Friend, apps like Study Bunny and apps like Finch. Fighting the phone itself? See apps like Opal or try our earn your screen time chart. The whole field, grouped by what motivates you: the best habit tracker apps.

FAQ

Is the Forest app free? Yes. Forest is free to download on iPhone and Android, and its free version includes focus sessions, app blocking and focusing with friends. Forest Plus is an optional subscription ($5.99 a month or $32.49–$35.99 a year in the US App Store, checked October 26, 2026). The one-time Pro upgrade is no longer sold.

What is a free app like Forest? Flora is the closest: it grows trees while you stay off your phone, blocks distracting apps and lets you plant with friends, and its only purchases are optional tours. Plantie and Focus Plant are also free to download, with optional purchases.

Is there a Forest app for Android? Yes, Forest is on Google Play. Flora, Focus Friend, Focus To-Do and Habit Rewards are on Android too.

Is there an app like Forest for PC? Forest itself offers a Chrome and Firefox extension with the timer and Deep Focus. For a full desktop app, Focus To-Do has Windows and Mac versions that sync with your phone.

Which Forest alternative lets me spend coins on real rewards? Habit Rewards: a focus or study habit pays coins each time you check it off, and you spend them on rewards you set yourself, like an evening off or a new book. More apps that work this way: apps that reward you for completing habits.

Habit Rewards is free on iPhone and Android. In Chinese: 专注森林免费吗？ · 專注森林免費嗎？ Forest is made by SEEKRTECH; we’re not affiliated with it or with the other apps mentioned.

✅ Try Habit Rewards: the habit tracker that pays you

Every habit pays coins by how hard it is (1, 4, 8 or 16). Write your own reward list, put a coin price on each treat, and claim it once you've earned it.