Looking for a Forest Alternative?
Forest is a beloved Pomodoro app that gamifies focus by growing virtual trees — and plants real ones with the proceeds. Start Page HQ is the new-tab dashboard that puts a Pomodoro timer on every browser tab, alongside tasks, habits, and 63+ more widgets.
What People Love About Forest
Before we get into where Start Page HQ goes further, credit where it's due.
- A genuinely original gamification angle — trees grow while you focus and die if you leave, which works on the brain in a way pure timers don't.
- A real-world impact angle: Forest partners with Trees for the Future and has helped plant over 100,000 actual trees.
- Native iOS and Android apps that make Forest the strongest mobile-first focus tool in this category.
- Chrome and Firefox extensions for blocking distracting sites during focus sessions.
- A loyal community that values the calm aesthetic and the real-tree mission.
Where Start Page HQ Goes Further
Specific differences, not vague claims.
Pomodoro on the Browser, Not Just the Phone
Forest is at its best on a phone — that's where the gamification of leaving the app stings. Start Page HQ runs the timer on every new tab in your browser, where most knowledge work actually happens.
63+ Widgets in One Plan
Forest is a focus timer. Start Page HQ ships the Pomodoro Timer plus Tasks, Todo, Habit Tracker, Notes, Calendar, RSS, weather, AI tools, and dev utilities — everything you need next to your focus session.
Multi-Page Dashboards by Context
Build a Focus page with Pomodoro Timer + Todo + Habit Tracker + a calming background. Build a Reading page with Feed + Hacker News for breaks. Switch between contexts in one click.
No Phone Required to Start a Session
Forest depends on you not touching your phone. Start Page HQ runs in the browser, so you can stay heads-down on your laptop without the social-pressure mechanic — useful when the work itself requires the phone for 2FA or messages.
Browser Extensions on Every Browser
Forest has Chrome and Firefox extensions for site blocking. Start Page HQ ships native extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, plus a hosted web app at startpagehq.com.
One Lifetime Price, Everything Included
Forest is a one-time purchase on iOS plus a separate Pro upgrade on Android. Start Page HQ starts on a free plan, and one paid step covers everything: $3.99/month, $25/year, or $49 lifetime, all 63+ widgets, sync, and AI credits included.
Side-by-Side Comparison
An honest line-by-line look at how the two stack up.
| Feature | Forest | Start Page HQ |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid mobile app + Android Pro | Free plan; $3.99/mo, $25/yr, $49 LTD |
| Free tier | Android free with ads | 1 page, 8 widgets |
| Widget / tool count | 1 (focus timer + site blocker) | 63+ |
| Lives on every new tab | No | Yes |
| Chrome | Site-blocker extension | Yes |
| Firefox | Site-blocker extension | Yes |
| Safari | No | Yes |
| Edge | No | Yes |
| Hosted web app | No | Yes |
| iOS / Android apps | Yes | Web app (PWA) |
| Native desktop apps | No | No |
| Pomodoro / focus timer | Yes | Yes |
| Customizable work / break durations | Yes | Yes |
| Site blocking during focus | Yes | No |
| Tree-growing gamification | Yes | No |
| Real-world tree planting | Yes | No |
| Tasks / todo widget | No | Yes |
| Habit tracker | No | Yes |
| Notes / quick capture | No | Yes |
| RSS / news / podcasts | No | Yes |
| AI tools (image gen, translation, summary) | No | Yes |
| Lifetime plan | iOS one-time only | $49 one-time |
Widgets That Replace Forest
Drop these onto your dashboard and you've covered Forest's core features — plus a lot more.
Pomodoro Timer
A customizable focus timer for work sessions and breaks — the closest browser equivalent to a Forest session, on every new tab.
Todo
A simple checklist widget for the day's priorities, sitting right next to the timer so you know what to focus on.
Habit Tracker
Track daily focus sessions and other habits to build the long-term consistency Forest streaks reward.
Tasks
A Kanban board for breaking bigger projects into focus-session-sized chunks.
Frequently Asked Questions
For the core focus-timer workflow — work intervals, customizable durations, sound cues, session history — yes. For the tree-growing gamification and real-world tree planting, no. If those are core to why you love Forest, keep using Forest on your phone and use Start Page HQ on the browser for everything else.
Yes — there is a free plan, no credit card needed. It gives you 1 page with up to 8 widgets, 55 of the 63 widget types including the Pomodoro Timer, Todo, and Habit Tracker, cross-device sync, every browser extension, and 50 one-time AI credits. Extra pages, uploads, and the 8 premium widgets — the Tasks kanban board among them — need a paid plan: $3.99/month, $25/year, or $49 one-time. The demo at startpagehq.com/demo still needs no signup and unlocks every widget.
Forest is a paid app on iOS (one-time) and free with Pro upgrade on Android (subscription or in-app purchases for tree species and rewards). Start Page HQ has a free plan, and paid access is $3.99/month, $25/year, or $49 lifetime — one price, no per-platform purchases, no in-app upgrades.
Yes. Start Page HQ ships native extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, plus a hosted web app at startpagehq.com. Forest's site blocking is Chrome and Firefox only — Start Page HQ's Pomodoro lives in the new tab on every browser.
No, Start Page HQ does not include site blocking. If site blocking is core to your workflow, that's still a Forest strength. Many users pair the two: Forest's blocker on the phone, Start Page HQ's Pomodoro on the browser.
Yes, and sync is included on every plan, the free one too. Sign in once and your Pomodoro stats, tasks, habits, and the rest of your dashboard sync across every browser and device automatically.
Ready to Try Start Page HQ?
Start free — 1 page, 8 widgets, sync across devices, no credit card. Or open the live demo first, no signup needed.