📅 the calendar
One square per day, darker when you worked more: the gaps in your studying jump out. Tap a day to see its sessions. And 5 days in a row earn you a grace day, which protects your streak if you forget.
comparison · facts checked on 26 October 2026
A Forest alternative
Forest grows a virtual tree as long as you stay off your phone. Studva takes another route: your work time becomes a session your friends can see, like Strava for sport. Here is what sets them apart, row by row.
At a glance ⚖️
both apps, row by row
| Feature | Studva | Forest |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no subscription | Free, with in-app purchases and a Forest Plus subscription (free trial): three times the coins and exclusive trees |
| Ads | None | “Contains ads” on its Google Play listing |
| Idea | A timer: your session goes to your friends' feed, with a photo at the start and at the end | A virtual tree grows during the session, and withers if you leave too early |
| With others | “🟢 Right now”, a friends league from Monday to Sunday, clubs with challenges and chat | Plant Together: if anyone touches their phone, the whole team's tree withers |
| App blocking | On iPhone, with Screen Time; on Android, app blocking comes with the next version, and until then Reinforced Focus turns on Do Not Disturb | Allow list of apps on iPhone (iOS 16 or later) and on Android, plus Time Guard for phone-free periods |
| Breaks | From 5 minutes to 1 hour, they resume on their own; scheduled Pomodoro, 52/17 or 90/20 breaks | Timed focus sessions |
| Stats | Time per subject and per place, activity calendar, CSV export | Custom tags, history by week, month and year, sync with Apple Health |
| Rewards | 1 minute = 1 XP, to spend in the shop of timers and backgrounds | Coins to unlock over a hundred tree species, and real trees planted with Trees for the Future |
| Where to work | Map of over 500,000 libraries, universities and schools, each with its own ranking | No such feature on its listings |
Two approaches 🔍
each with its strengths
What Forest does well
- Real trees planted with the charity Trees for the Future: over 2 million according to its listing.
- The withering tree: a simple, effective idea to put the phone down.
- Planting together, as a team, during the same session.
- App blocking, already available on Android.
What Studva does differently
- Your sessions show up in your friends' feed, with the start and end photo: they send you a Focus 🎯 or a comment.
- The friends league resets every Monday, and a club brings your class together around challenges.
- A countdown for each exam, and a weekly hours goal.
- A map to find where to work.
- Free, with no subscription and no ads.
Your progress at a glance 📈
what Studva tracks for you, with nothing to write down
🏔️ the milestones curve
Your total work time since day one, milestone after milestone: 1 h, 10 h, 100 h… The app projects the date of the next one at your recent pace, “What if…” shows what 15 more minutes a day would change, and “You last month” compares with your curve from a month ago.
📊 your stats
Your time per subject and per place, over 7 days, 8 weeks, the month or the year, with your average per day or per week. You can export everything to CSV.
🎯 the Focus badge
🎯 Focus intact+10% XP😬 2 distractions
While the timer runs, leaving the app counts as a distraction; locking the screen doesn't. Zero distractions: your session earns the Focus badge and 10% more XP. On iPhone, you can block the apps of your choice during the session.
Which one to pick? 🤔
it depends on what keeps you going
Pick Forest if…
…your main problem is putting your phone down, alone or in a small group, and the idea of growing a forest motivates you.
Pick Studva if…
…you work better when your friends see you work, you want to study with your class, track your time per subject and aim for an exam date.
Your questions ❓
the short answers
Is Studva a free alternative to Forest?
Yes. Studva is free, with no subscription and no ads. Forest is free to download, with in-app purchases and a Forest Plus subscription, according to its App Store and Google Play listings on 26 October 2026.
Does Studva block apps like Forest?
On iPhone, yes: you pick the apps to block during the session with Apple's Screen Time, and Studva never sees which ones. On Android, app blocking comes with the next version of Studva; until then, Reinforced Focus turns on Do Not Disturb during the session, and every time you leave the app counts as a distraction.
Does Studva plant real trees?
Not for now. Studva is still young, and when it takes up a cause, it will think of students first, to help them. Today, Studva rewards your time in another way: 1 minute of work earns 1 XP to spend in the shop, and your friends see your sessions. If planting real trees matters to you, that is a real strength of Forest.
Sources
facts checked on 26 October 2026
Official listings and pages checked on 26 October 2026; prices are those shown in the United States and may change. Forest, YPT and Focusmate are trademarks of their respective owners; Studva is not affiliated with any of these apps.
The other comparisons
Studva next to well-known apps
Start your first session.
Studva is free, with no subscription and no ads, on the App Store and Google Play.
On a computer? Open studva.app/dl on your phone.