A Forest app alternative that grows something you keep
By the edgi team
The best Forest alternative is edgi, a free iPhone app where what grows is a Map of everything you've learned instead of a tree. Forest rewards you for leaving your phone alone during a focus session. edgi locks TikTok, Instagram or any app you pick, opens it after a 60-second Lesson, and turns every Lesson into a card that lights up on your Map. You keep the focus and come away knowing something.
We make edgi, and we love Forest's idea that focus should grow into something you can see.
A 60-second Lesson 
The card you keep 
Your Map of ideas
What Forest does
Forest is a focus timer with a picture attached. You start a session and plant a seed; it grows into a tree while you stay off your phone. Over time you build a forest of focused hours, and its listing says users have planted more than 1.5 million real trees through the app. On iPhone it's $3.99, a one-time purchase, with optional in-app purchases (Forest's App Store listing and Toolradar, October 2026).
It works. A visible picture of your effort beats a number in Screen Time.
What edgi grows instead
edgi keeps the picture and changes what it's made of. Forest's trees stand for time you didn't use your phone. edgi's cards stand for ideas you learned, and they connect: each one lights up on your Map next to the ideas it relates to, so a month of edgi draws a map of what you know.
And edgi doesn't need you to start a session. Each app gets a rule you set once:
I'll open TikTok no more than 3 times a day, for 5 min each time.
You choose 1 to 30 opens, 1 to 60 minutes and the days. Reach for TikTok and the screen says "One lesson opens TikTok for 5 minutes." The Lesson is one idea in a minute: you guess, tap and test your way through it, then answer a question. Finish it and the card is yours, and TikTok opens for exactly the minutes you chose. Tightening is instant; loosening waits for midnight.
| edgi | Forest | |
|---|---|---|
| What you grow | A Map of cards, one per idea you learned | A forest of trees, one per focus session |
| How it works | Rules per app, all day, every day you choose | A timer you start for each session |
| What stands at the door | A 60-second Lesson | The timer |
| What changes as you go | Cards turn foil, then gold, as you come back to an idea | New tree species to unlock with coins you earn |
| Price | Free | $3.99 on iPhone, with in-app purchases |
Forest details from its App Store listing, Toolradar and the University of Kent's software guide, October 2026.
Small wins that add up
Forest and edgi agree on the most useful idea in self-improvement: make the wins small enough to happen every day.
60-second Lesson
Self-efficacy
Your belief that you can do one specific thing grows most from doing it, in steps small enough to win.
A tree per session is a small win. So is a card. A Lesson takes 60 seconds, so you can win several times before lunch. A daily Lesson keeps your streak, and it's printed on the block screen whenever you reach for a locked app. Sets of six to nine cards give you a finish line, like a grove you complete.
Getting started
- In edgi, open Settings, then Focus.
- Pick apps with the iPhone's Screen Time picker (edgi never sees your choices).
- Set each intention and choose whether a Lesson opens it once a day or every open.
The first Lesson might be on why chili heat sets off your heat alarm, or how your phone fixes its own cheap clock using satellites. Either way, it's card one.
More free options: the best free app blocker for iPhone. For using it while studying, see how to block apps while studying.
FAQ
What is a good alternative to the Forest app? edgi. It's free on iPhone, locks the apps you pick behind a 60-second Lesson, and grows a Map of cards from what you learn instead of a forest of trees.
Is Forest free? On iPhone, Forest is $3.99, a one-time purchase with optional in-app purchases, as of October 2026. edgi's Focus lock is free.
Is there an app like Forest that blocks apps? Yes. edgi blocks the apps you pick on iPhone, sets their opens and minutes per day, and opens them after a Lesson.
Is edgi free? Yes. edgi is free on iPhone, Focus included.
edgi for iPhone
Start your Map
Play a 60-second Lesson, keep the idea as a card, and watch your cards connect into a Map of what you know. Free on iPhone.