Focushours vs Forest
Forest helps you stay off your phone by growing a virtual tree while you focus. Focushours helps you plan and track focus hours by the week. They solve different problems, and here is an honest look at both, including where Forest is the better pick.
Pick Forest if
- Your phone is your biggest distraction. Forest is built to keep you off it, and its Deep Focus mode blocks other apps during a session.
- Rewards keep you going, and watching a forest grow motivates you.
- You want to focus together with friends: Plant Together puts a group on one shared tree.
- You like that your focus can help plant real trees, which Forest offers on its paid Plus plan.
Pick Focushours if
- You plan by the week: set weekly hour targets per category, so one bad day does not sink the week.
- You want your long-term history free and without an account: week, month and year views plus a yearly heatmap.
- You want days off that do not break your streak.
- You want it free, with no paid tier and no ads, on any device with a browser.
- You want to download your data any time, no account needed.
- You study in Norwegian. Neither Forest's App Store listing nor its Chrome Web Store listing names Norwegian.
Side by side
| Focushours | Forest | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Web app on any device, installable | iPhone, iPad and Android apps, plus a Chrome or Firefox extension |
| Price | Free, no paid tier | Free to start, with an optional Plus subscription |
| Account | Not needed, optional for sync | Sign in to sync your data across devices and for Plus |
| Ads | None | On the free tier, never during a session; Plus is ad-free |
| Core idea | Weekly hour targets per category | A virtual tree that grows while you focus |
| Blocks distractions | No | Yes, Deep Focus blocks other apps during a session; a custom allowlist is on Plus |
| Timer | Countdown and count-up | Countdown and stopwatch |
| History | Week, month, year and a yearly heatmap, free | Day, week, month and year; Focus Analytics on Plus |
| Group focus | No | Yes, Plant Together rooms, free |
| Real trees | No | Yes, with earned coins on Plus, up to five per account |
| Languages | English, Norwegian, Arabic | English, Arabic and others on iOS; English and Chinese in the Chrome extension |
Questions
Is Focushours a Forest alternative?
Yes, if you want to track your focus hours by the week and do not need app blocking. If your phone is your biggest distraction, Forest is built for exactly that.
Does Focushours block my phone or apps?
No. Focushours tracks your focus hours. It does not block apps or websites.
Is Focushours free?
Yes. There is no paid tier, no trial and no locked features.
Can I use both?
Yes. Some people use Forest to stay off their phone and Focushours to see how their weekly hours add up.
Try Focushours, no account needed
Forest details checked on 20 October 2026 at forestapp.cc and on the Forest listings in the App Store, Google Play and the Chrome Web Store. Forest is a trademark of its owner. Focushours is not affiliated with Forest.