The 10 Best Study Timers in 2026, Ranked
Ten study timers and trackers ranked for 2026, with Group Study Timer at #1 and honest notes on the apps that beat it at blocking your phone or logging work hours.
A study timer has one job: getting you to sit down and keeping you there long enough for the work to count. Some apps do it by locking your phone, some by putting your friends on a leaderboard, and some by simply opening in a second. The right one depends on what usually pulls you away.
We make Group Study Timer, a free online study timer, and we've ranked it #1 overall because it combines Pomodoro and custom timers with subject tracking, streaks, syllabus trackers and live study rooms in any browser. Still, we've judged it by the same standards as everything else and said plainly where other apps do a better job.
How we ranked them: we checked every app's official site and app store listing in September 2026 and looked at four things. Does it record real study time rather than just count down? Does it show you something useful afterwards, such as hours by subject or a streak? Does it help with whatever usually breaks your focus, whether that's your phone, studying alone or not knowing where to start? And how much do you get before you pay?
#1 Group Study Timer is our top pick overall — best for tracking subjects and studying with friends in any browser. For study groups on your phone, pick #2 YPT. For keeping your phone out of the way, #3 Forest, or #4 Flora if you want a free app to use with friends. For a plain Pomodoro timer, #5 Pomofocus, or #6 Focus To-Do with tasks. For work hours as well as study, #7 Clockify or #8 Toggl. For cute rewards, #9 Study Bunny. If you need a real person expecting you, #10 Focusmate.
| Rank & App | Platforms | Price model | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 Group Study Timer | Any browser | Free, optional Premium | Best overall: tracking & studying with friends |
| #2 YPT (Yeolpumta) | Android, iPhone, iPad | Free with ads, optional subscriptions | Study groups on your phone |
| #3 Forest | iPhone, iPad, Android, Chrome and Firefox extensions | Free with ads, optional Forest Plus subscription | Keeping your phone out of the way |
| #4 Flora | iPhone, Android | Free, optional in-app purchases | Phone-free sessions with friends |
| #5 Pomofocus | Browser, Mac, Windows, Linux | Free, optional Premium subscription | A simple Pomodoro timer |
| #6 Focus To-Do | Android, iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, watches, Chrome extension | Free, optional Premium | Pomodoro plus a to-do list |
| #7 Clockify | Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, browser extensions | Free for up to 5 users, paid plans per seat | Detailed time logs |
| #8 Toggl Track (now Toggl) | Web, Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, browser extensions | Free plan, paid plans per user | Polished tracking for work and study |
| #9 Study Bunny | iPhone, Android | Free with ads, in-app purchases | Cute motivation |
| #10 Focusmate | Browser on any device | Free for 3 sessions a week, Plus subscription | One-on-one accountability |
#1 Group Study Timer — Best overall study timer & tracker
Our own study timer takes the #1 spot, and it runs in any browser. You pick a subject, start a timer, and it logs the time, building a streak, a heatmap and daily and weekly charts. Timer options include Pomodoro at 25/5 or 50/10, 1-hour and 2-hour blocks and custom lengths, with a to-do list alongside.
What it does well is studying with other people without anyone installing anything. You can open a private room for your friends or join a public group for your exam, chat in the breaks and watch a live leaderboard. Idle detection stops the clock when someone walks away, so rankings stay fair. There are also syllabus trackers for exams such as JEE, NEET, SAT and IELTS, and it works the same on a Windows laptop, a Chromebook or a phone's browser.
Where it falls short: it lives in a browser tab, so it can't block other apps, and there's no App Store or Google Play app. If your phone is the main problem, Forest or YPT will do more for you.
Try the #1 pick free
Open a private room, share the code, and see each other's hours on a live leaderboard. Nothing to install.
Start a Study Room Free →#2 YPT (Yeolpumta) — Best for study groups on your phone
A study stopwatch from Pallo, a company in Seoul, built around the same idea as ours: you study harder when you can see other people studying. Its store listings say about 5 million people use it.
What it does well: you time each subject, create or join study groups to see what friends are doing, and see your rank among people in the same study category. A 10-minute planner lays out your day, and the stats calendar gets darker the more you study. On Android it can block other apps during a focus session, and Galaxy Watch owners can track time on Wear OS as a paid extra.
Where it falls short: it's a phone app first. There's no Windows version, so on a PC you'd need an Android emulator, although Macs with Apple silicon can run the iPhone version. The free version shows ads.
Price and platforms: Android, iPhone and iPad. Free with ads and in-app purchases, with subscriptions from $2.99 a month on the US App Store. Our YPT alternative for PC page compares the two feature by feature.
#3 Forest — Best for keeping your phone out of the way
The best-known focus app. You plant a virtual tree when you start a session, and it withers if you leave to use a distracting app. Forest says more than 60 million people have used it since 2014.
What it does well is making your phone less tempting. Deep Focus mode blocks distracting apps, Time Guard blocks them on a schedule, and Plant Together lets friends grow one tree as a group, so one person's scrolling spoils it for everyone. You can tag sessions by subject, review weekly, monthly and yearly stats, and the core timer works offline.
Where it falls short: it's built to keep you off your phone rather than to analyse your studying, so there's no syllabus tracking or group chat room. The free version shows occasional ads, though Forest says never during an active session.
Price and platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android, and extensions for Chrome and Firefox. It's free to download, with an optional Forest Plus subscription for extras such as custom allow lists, advanced stats and no ads. The old one-off Pro purchase is no longer sold. We compare it with our timer in Forest vs Group Study Timer.
#4 Flora — Best for phone-free sessions with friends
A tree-growing focus app from AppFinca, similar in spirit to Forest. Start a session and a seed grows; leave the app for social media or games and the tree dies.
What it does well is studying with friends. You can challenge friends to plant together, and if everyone stays off their phones, each of you wins an extra tree. There's chat, weekly and monthly focus competitions, a to-do list and habit stats, plus an opt-in paid option to plant real trees with partner charities. Its Google Play listing says the app has no ads.
Where it falls short: like Forest, it's about staying off your phone, not about tracking study time by subject or planning a syllabus. It's phone-only, and on Apple devices it's made for iPhone rather than iPad.
Price and platforms: iPhone and Android. Free, with optional in-app purchases such as themed plant tours.
#5 Pomofocus — Best simple Pomodoro timer
A clean Pomodoro timer that opens in a browser tab.
What it does well is getting out of the way. You can start without an account, add tasks with an estimated number of pomodoros, and it shows roughly when you'll finish. Settings cover focus and break lengths, auto-starting breaks, alarm and background sounds, colour themes and a dark mode while the timer runs. The free version includes daily, weekly and monthly reports and a few task templates.
Where it falls short: it's deliberately simple. There are no study groups or leaderboards, and extras such as projects, yearly reports, CSV downloads, Todoist integration and an ad-free screen need Premium.
Price and platforms: free in any browser, with an optional Premium subscription, monthly or yearly. If you'd like Pomodoro blocks that also log time by subject, try our free Pomodoro timer.
#6 Focus To-Do — Best Pomodoro + task manager combo
A Pomodoro timer and a task manager in one app.
What it does well is tying time to tasks. You create tasks and projects with priorities, subtasks and reminders, estimate how many pomodoros each will take, then run the timer against them. Reports show focus time by project, completed tasks and trends, and your lists sync between phone and computer. The Android app adds an app whitelist to cut distractions.
Where it falls short: it's a general productivity app, built for getting through a task list rather than for studying alongside other people.
Price and platforms: Android, iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Apple Watch, Wear OS and a Chrome extension. Free to use, with a Premium upgrade; the US App Store lists short subscriptions and a lifetime option.
#7 Clockify — Best for detailed time logs
A time tracker made for teams and freelancers that plenty of students use as a study log.
What it does well is detailed records. Make each subject a project, add tags, and start and stop a timer or fill in a weekly timesheet. The desktop apps and Chrome extension include a Pomodoro timer and idle detection. If you also work part-time or freelance, the paid plans add billable rates, invoicing and team tools.
Where it falls short: it's built for work. There are no streaks, no study community and nothing that pulls you back tomorrow, and on the free plan each report covers up to a month.
Price and platforms: web, Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and Chrome, Firefox and Edge extensions. Free for up to 5 users with unlimited tracking; paid plans start at $3.99 per seat a month, billed annually.
#8 Toggl Track (now Toggl) — Best polished tracker for work and study
One of the most polished time trackers around. In 2026 it became Toggl, a new version that adds task planning to the tracker. Toggl Track itself stays available for existing users, with no end date announced.
What it does well: one-click timers, a clear calendar view and tidy reports. The browser extension and the desktop and mobile apps include a 25-minute Pomodoro timer with adjustable break reminders, and there's a focus mode.
Where it falls short: the same as Clockify. It's designed for teams and client work, so there are no streaks, groups or leaderboards for students, and most new features are about capacity planning and profitability.
Price and platforms: web, Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, and Chrome and Firefox extensions. The free plan covers solo use and very small teams, and paid plans are priced per user.
#9 Study Bunny — Best for cute motivation
A study timer with a virtual bunny you look after using coins earned by studying.
What it does well is making study time feel rewarding, especially for younger students. You time a session (pause it and you get a motivational message), earn coins, and spend them on items and music in the shop. A to-do list, flashcards and a customisable study tracker are built in.
Where it falls short: the stats are basic and the free version shows ads. On iPhone, the purchases that remove ads come bundled with coin packs, and updates have slowed: the iPhone app was last updated in December 2024 and the Android app in December 2025.
Price and platforms: iPhone and Android. Free with ads and in-app purchases.
#10 Focusmate — Best for one-on-one accountability
Virtual coworking rather than a timer app. You book a 25, 50 or 75-minute video session, get paired with another member, say what you'll work on, then both work with cameras on.
What it does well is accountability. A real person expecting you is hard to skip, and many members use it for body doubling, including plenty of people with ADHD. Sessions run around the clock.
Where it falls short: it doesn't break your time down by subject, you need a camera, and the free plan stops at three sessions a week.
Price and platforms: works in the browser on a computer, phone or tablet; there's no separate app. Free for three sessions a week, or Focusmate Plus for unlimited sessions at $8 a month billed yearly or $12 month to month.
How to choose
- You want subject tracking, streaks and study rooms in any browser: #1 Group Study Timer.
- You pick up your phone every few minutes: Forest (#3), Flora (#4) or YPT (#2).
- You just want a simple clock: Pomofocus (#5), or Focus To-Do (#6) if you want a task list with it.
- You track hours for work as well: Clockify (#7) or Toggl (#8).
- You need someone to show up for: Focusmate (#10).
Whichever you pick, time only the minutes you're actually working and stop the clock when you drift. Our guide to tracking study hours accurately explains why. If looks matter to you, see our rankings of the best aesthetic Pomodoro timers and the best aesthetic study timers by vibe.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best study timer app in 2026?
Group Study Timer is our #1 pick for 2026 — it tracks your hours by subject, builds streaks and heatmaps, and lets you study with friends on a live leaderboard in any browser, all free. YPT (#2) and Forest (#3) are strongest if your phone is the main distraction, Pomofocus (#5) is the simplest Pomodoro timer, and Clockify (#7) or Toggl (#8) are better if you also track work hours.
Is Forest free now?
Yes. Forest is free to download on iPhone, iPad and Android, with occasional ads outside focus sessions. An optional Forest Plus subscription adds extras such as custom allow lists, advanced statistics and no ads. The old one-time Pro purchase is no longer sold.
Which study timer apps can block other apps?
Forest can block distracting apps with its Deep Focus mode, YPT can block other apps on Android, and Focus To-Do has an app whitelist on Android. Flora kills your tree if you leave the app. Browser-based timers such as Group Study Timer and Pomofocus can't block apps, so keep your phone in another room.
What is the best study timer for a PC or laptop?
A browser-based timer is easiest because there's nothing to install. Group Study Timer (#1), Pomofocus and Focusmate all run in the browser, and Clockify, Toggl and Focus To-Do have Windows and Mac apps. YPT has no Windows app, so it needs an Android emulator on a Windows PC.
Is Toggl Track still available?
Yes, for existing users. In 2026 Toggl launched a new version called Toggl that adds planning to time tracking. Toggl says Toggl Track remains supported and has not announced an end date.
Start with our #1 pick, Group Study Timer, if you want to track hours by subject and study with friends in your browser. If your phone is what usually stops you, try YPT (#2), Forest (#3) or Flora (#4). If you just want a simple clock, pick Pomofocus (#5). Then time only real work, and check your week against your plan.
Sources we checked in September 2026: Forest's official site and FAQ, Forest on the App Store, YPT on Google Play, YPT on the App Store, Flora's official site, Flora on Google Play, Pomofocus, Focus To-Do on the App Store, Focus To-Do on Google Play, Clockify pricing, Toggl pricing, Toggl's FAQ for Toggl Track users, Study Bunny on the App Store, Study Bunny on Google Play, and Focusmate pricing. App details and prices change and vary by country, so check each app before you pay for it.