A Pomofocus alternative with ambient sound

Pomofocus is one of the most popular Pomodoro timers on the web, and it earns it: it is free, quick to start, and does the 25/5 cycle well. It also has a task list with estimated pomodoros and a simple report. If you are reading this, you probably like the timer and want something it does not focus on, most often sound to work to, or a block longer than a Pomodoro without fiddling with the settings.

What Pomofocus is good at

Its strength is planning. You list today's tasks, estimate how many pomodoros each needs, and work through them. You can change the focus and break lengths in the settings. A paid tier adds projects, yearly reports, CSV export and a Todoist integration. If your day is a to-do list, that is a good fit.

Where Kiri is different

Kiri is built around one block and one sound. Write the task, pick a length, press Space. Every common length has its own page with the break already set, from a 10-minute timer to a 90-minute deep work block and 2 hours, plus 52/17. The countdown is in the tab title, a chime marks the end, and the next block waits for you to start it.

The sound is the other half. Rain, brown noise and alpha binaural beats are free. The full version adds pink and white noise, forest, café, fireplace, sea, wind and waterfall, the nature and café sounds built from long real field recordings that do not loop, for €39 once, no subscription. Kiri runs only on a laptop or desktop, so the phone can stay out of the room.

When Pomofocus is the better tool

• You plan your day in pomodoros. Kiri logs each session with its task, but it has no task list or estimates.
• You want it free with everything included. Pomofocus's core is free. Kiri's free tier has the timer, rain, brown noise and alpha beats; the rest is a one-time payment.
• You work in silence. If you do not want sound, Kiri's main extra does nothing for you.

Use both, if you like

Plenty of people plan in one tool and work in another. Keep your list in Pomofocus and run the block above with rain or brown noise, or try a different length. If 25 minutes never seems right, read how to find your own block length.