Comparison · checked August 2026

Focusmate vs Stoiq

Focusmate is not really a competitor to a focus app — it is a competitor to being alone. It pairs you with an actual human being for a scheduled session, and no software on this list can match that. What it cannot do is be there at 4:07 on a Tuesday when you did not book anything.

See the table Which one should you pick?

Written by Stoiq. Every fact about Focusmate below was read off their own site in August 2026 and is linked at the bottom of this page.

What Focusmate is

The fair description.

Focusmate pairs you live with another member for a scheduled working session. You each say what you are going to do, you work with the other person present, and at the end you say how it went. It runs in a browser, and the accountability is not a mechanic — it is a person.

For a lot of people, particularly people for whom software-based accountability has never once worked, this is the thing that finally does. That is not a small claim and we are not going to hedge it.

Side by side

The whole difference, in six rows.

Focusmate compared with Stoiq, checked August 2026
What	Focusmate	Stoiq
How it works	You book a session and get paired live with another member. You each state what you are working on, then work while the other person is there.	Say what you're working on and pick a length. A small companion sits in the corner of your Mac while the block runs. Drift to a distracting site and he checks in first — one tap takes you back to the sentence you left. Keep going and the page goes behind him until the block ends.
Where it runs	It runs in a browser, on desktop or mobile. Their pricing page lists no native Mac, Windows, iOS or Android app.	macOS 14 or later, a Chrome companion, and iPhone. There is no Windows build and no Android build.
What it costs	A free plan with “3 sessions per week”. Plus is “$8/mo. billed annually” or “$12/mo. billed monthly”. A Business plan is priced on request.	$79 once, and that is the end of it. There is a $7.99 a month plan if you would rather rent it. 30-day refund, no questions.
When you slip	Nothing is taken from you — but a person is sitting there, and they can see that you are not working. That is the entire mechanism, and it is a strong one.	Nothing dies. There is no streak to break, no score to keep and no chart of your worst week. Everything you have grown stays grown, and coming back after four days away costs you nothing at all.
Who's with you	An actual human being. This is the one product on this page that beats us on presence, and it is not close.	A character with eyes, actually present while you work. He notices, he asks before he blocks, and he says nothing at all while you're on track.
Rent or own	Subscription.	One payment. Nothing renews, nothing lapses, and there is nothing to cancel.

Focusmate is a trademark of its owner and we have no affiliation with them. Their column describes their product in our words; where a number appears in it, the page it came from is linked below.

Which one

Sometimes the answer is theirs.

You are shopping, not being sold to. Here is the honest split, and the left-hand card is not a courtesy — if one of those lines is you, buy Focusmate and get on with your afternoon.

Choose Focusmate if

Focusmate is your answer

Accountability only works on you when it is a real person. If that is true of you, it is the most important sentence on this page.
You will actually book the session. That is the hard part, and if you will do it, this works.
Three sessions a week is enough, in which case it costs you nothing at all.
You are on Windows, Linux or Android — it runs in a browser, so the platform question does not arise.
You want the social side of a shared desk without an office attached to it.

Choose Stoiq if

Stoiq is your answer

You cannot schedule a stranger for 4:07 on a Tuesday, and that is exactly when the drift starts.
You want something running quietly all day rather than a booking in a calendar.
You do not want to be on camera, or to talk to anybody, in order to get an afternoon back.
You want the distraction actually stopped, not only witnessed. Focusmate does not block anything.
You would rather pay once than hold a subscription for something you use in bursts.

The difference underneath

Everything else stands in your way.

Every tool in this category works by standing between you and the thing you were about to do. It blocks the site, it charges you a breath, it locks the machine, or it kills something you grew. All of that works, and some of it works very well.

Stoiq is the one with somebody in it. A small companion sits in the corner of your Mac while the block runs, notices when the scroll starts, and asks first — because sometimes the tab is the work. Nothing you have grown ever dies, there is no streak to break and no score to keep, and coming back after four days away costs you nothing at all.

That is not a feature list. It is the reason people still have it installed in week three.

Join

Own it once. Nothing renews.

$79, once — you’re in as a Day One. The Mac app, the browser companion, iPhone, and every character we ever make. Nothing lapses and there is nothing to cancel.

The longer case for Stoiq

$79once · no subscription

Stoiq for Mac, yours for good.

The small print

Where these facts came from.

Snapshot checked August 2026. Every claim about Focusmate on this page was read from the pages listed below on that date. Prices and platforms change, and theirs may have changed since. If you find something here that is out of date or unfair, write to hello@stoiq.ai and we will fix it — that goes for Focusmate too.

Prices are shown as their own site shows them, in the currency it shows them in, and several of these companies price differently by region. Check the number on their page before you buy anything.

Focusmate — pricing — https://www.focusmate.com/pricing
Focusmate — home — https://focusmate.com

We are not affiliated with Focusmate and this page is not endorsed by them. Their name is used here to identify their product, which is the only reason it appears.

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