Forest keeps you off your phone. Immersed counts the hours you learn on it.
Forest is a focus timer that grows a virtual tree while you stay away from distracting apps, and it is one of the best-loved study apps there is. Forest counts focused minutes, but minutes are one-dimensional: an hour of background audio and an hour of focused listening are not the same hour, so Immersed records each session as one of nine activities. Immersed is a language immersion tracker and planner. It turns immersion into something you can see, plan and keep: a free plan built from your answers, a daily timeline for the shows, podcasts and books you learn from, and reports of your hours.
Free. About two minutes. No account, no card.
The short version
Checked October 24, 2026.
Something out of date? Tell me.
If your language study is mostly desk work (a textbook, a grammar workbook, writing practice, a long Anki session) and your problem is picking up your phone every five minutes, Forest is excellent, and its core timer is free.
If your learning happens through the phone (a podcast on the commute, a YouTube channel in your language, a show at night), a timer that blocks your phone works against you. Immersed plans those hours, plays them inside the session, and counts them.
01The problem each one solves
Forest fights the phone. For immersion, the phone is often the point.
Forest works by making distraction cost something. Start a session, a tree starts growing, and if you leave to scroll, the tree dies. Deep Focus blocks other apps and sends you back to Forest, and you cannot turn it off mid-session without giving up the tree. For studying, that is a clever and effective trick.
Immersion is different. Much of it happens on the very device Forest is guarding: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Netflix. On the free plan Deep Focus blocks every other app. Forest Plus lets you build an allow list, so you can keep a podcast app open, but then Forest is counting focus time, not knowing what you listened to or how much you understood.
02Before you start
A timer needs a task. Immersed gives you the task.
Forest assumes you know what you will do for the next 25 minutes. Most immersion learners know they should listen more, but not to what, for how long, or where it fits in the day.
Immersed starts with a free blueprint, about two minutes of questions about your time, goals, level and what you already watch. It returns milestones for your first months, a daily protocol, the Hidden Immersion Time in your day (the commute, the dishes, the gym, where passive listening fits), and a library of things to watch, listen to and read in your language. No account needed, just a name and email.
03While you immerse
The phone becomes the session, not the enemy.
In Immersed you press play and pick one of nine activities: Active Listening, Passive Listening, Active Subtitles, Reading, Study, SRS, Speaking, Writing or Shadowing. Paste a YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts link and it plays inside the session, so the content and the timer are in one place. The play button can default to Passive Listening for the commute.
Discover is an endless feed of creators and videos in your language, filtered by topic. Scrolling it counts as immersion and is logged. It is the opposite of Forest's idea, on purpose: if you are going to scroll, scroll in the language.
- Rate how much you understood after each session, and add notes
- Forgot to press play? Log the session afterward
- Plan sessions into the free gaps of your day on the timeline, with reminders
- In the Android app (in testing for Google Play), Spotify and podcasts keep playing with the screen off, and a goal alarm offers +15 min or Stop
- On a computer, Immersed for Chrome starts a session from the YouTube page in one click and keeps the timer with you across tabs
04Looking back
A forest of trees, or a record of hours by activity.
Forest's history is a forest: every session is a tree, and you can review your weeks, months and years as a growing picture. Plus adds focus analytics with total hours, streaks and patterns by tag. It is motivating, and it measures focused time.
Immersed's Growth page stacks your hours by the nine activities, so you see how much was active listening, how much passive, how much reading or speaking. A comprehension line shows whether you understand more, and the shows and channels you spent the most hours with are linked from the report. That mix is what explains progress, which a total of focused minutes can't. Export a PDF, Excel or CSV, or share a report link.
Forest grows trees. Immersed has Aim, its mascot, who earns outfits from your hours and habits: Hour Marks at 1, 5 and 10 hours, a ladder up to 1,200 hours in a language, outfits for streaks and for dawn or night sessions. Badges on your Profile level up from grey to gold, and with Pro a monthly Sprint gives you a Mission and Daily Quests, with a medallion and that month's Aim for finishing. No outfit is sold; every one is earned by immersing.
Side by side · checked October 24, 2026
Immersed and Forest, feature by feature.
What it is for
Blocks distracting apps
Immersed · No
Forest · Yes, Deep Focus and Time Guard
A plan for your language and your day
Immersed · Free blueprint and daily timeline
Forest · No
What to watch, listen to and read
Immersed · Immersion Library, Toolkit and Discover
Forest · No
Immersion milestones for your first months
Immersed · Yes, on the free blueprint
Forest · No
During a session
Timer
Immersed · Session timer per immersion activity
Forest · Focus timer that grows a tree
Use podcast or video apps during it
Immersed · Plays YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts inside
Forest · Only with a Plus allow list
A feed in your target language
Immersed · Discover, counted as immersion
Forest · No
Comprehension rating
Immersed · Per session, charted over time
Forest · No
Ambient sounds
Immersed · No
Forest · Yes, soundscapes in Mindful Space
Focus with friends
Immersed · No; there is a Discord
Forest · Plant Together
Reports
History
Immersed · Week, month, year, all time
Forest · Weekly, monthly and yearly forest
Time by activity
Immersed · Stacked by the nine activities, top shows linked
Forest · By tag; custom tags on Plus
Streaks
Immersed · Consistency grid with streaks; a Streak badge that levels up
Forest · Yes, in Plus analytics
Rewards
Immersed · Outfits for Aim earned by immersing, badges, Sprint medallions (Pro)
Forest · Trees and tree species; coins; real trees with Plus
Apps and price
Platforms
Immersed · Web app on phone and computer; Immersed for Chrome (unlisted); Android app in testing
Forest · iPhone, iPad, Android, Chrome and Firefox extensions
Free plan
Immersed · Blueprint, games with leaderboards, Discord, sample app
Forest · Timer, Deep Focus, Time Guard, basic stats, with ads
Paid plan
Immersed · $60 a year or $9.99 a month
Forest · Forest Plus, from $5.99 a month in the US App Store
Credit where it's due
Both are good. At different things.
What Forest does well
- A simple, clever idea that works: a tree you do not want to kill
- Deep Focus actually blocks apps, and Time Guard can block them on a schedule
- A free core app, on iPhone, iPad and Android, plus Chrome and Firefox extensions
- Plant Together, so a study group can focus at the same time
- Real trees planted with Trees for the Future, which many users love
- Loved by students: 4.8 stars from about 50,000 ratings on the US App Store and over 10 million downloads on Google Play
What Immersed does that Forest doesn't
- Treats your phone as an immersion tool: podcasts, YouTube and a feed in your language
- Plays YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts inside the session that times them
- Shows what your hours were made of: time by each of the nine activities, a comprehension line, your top shows and channels linked
- Rewards you only earn by immersing: outfits for Aim, badges that level up, monthly Sprints with medallions
- Plans your day around your language, starting with a free blueprint
- Exports your hours as PDF, Excel or CSV, and shares report links
Pick Forest if
- Your problem is reaching for your phone while you study
- Your language work is mostly a textbook, a workbook, writing or flashcards at a desk
- You like a visual, game-like reward for focused time
- You study with friends and want to focus together
Pick Immersed if
- Most of your learning is listening and watching on your phone
- You want a plan for what to listen to and when
- You want hours by activity and comprehension, not focus minutes
- You would rather scroll in your language than block scrolling entirely
Use both, or move over
Forest for the desk, Immersed for the rest
They fit together well. Use Forest for a grammar block or a writing session where the phone is a distraction. Use Immersed for the podcast on the commute, the episode at night and the scroll in Discover. Log the Forest session in Immersed as Study or Writing afterward, so your reports hold the whole day.
Immersed has no app blocker, and it doesn't read your viewing history or what you do on your phone. You press play (one click on YouTube with Immersed for Chrome) or log a session; the Discover scroll and the free listening games log themselves. If blocking is what you need, keep Forest.
Pricing · checked October 24, 2026
What each one costs.
Immersed
- Free: the blueprint for one language (with the Toolkit, Library picks and the Fluency Checklist's Foundations), the listening games in 12 languages with their leaderboards, Aim Runner, the Discord and the sample app. A free account also gets the Fitting Room's day-one outfits, Hour Marks and badges from game time.
- Immersed Pro: $60 a year (starts with a free week, about $5 a month) or $9.99 a month. Timeline, sessions, Discover, Library, Growth and reports, monthly Sprints, more languages.
Forest
- Free: the focus timer, Deep Focus, Time Guard, default tags like Study and Work, basic statistics and Plant Together. Shows ads, but not during a session.
- Forest Plus: custom allow lists, custom tags, advanced analytics, all tree species, no ads, and planting up to five real trees with Trees for the Future. The US App Store lists Plus at $5.99 a month and $32.49 to $35.99 a year, depending on the offer.
- Coins and in-app items are also sold. The old one-time Forest Pro purchase is no longer sold.
Forest says Plus pricing varies by region and platform, so check the App Store or Google Play. Both are cheap. The real question is whether you need to stay off your phone or learn through it.
FAQ
Questions people ask.
Is Forest good for language learning?+
For focused desk study, yes. It keeps you off your phone during a textbook chapter, a writing session or a long flashcard review. For immersion through your phone, like podcasts and YouTube, it gets in the way unless you pay for Plus and allow those apps.
Can I listen to podcasts while using Forest?+
On the free plan, Deep Focus blocks other apps during a session. Forest Plus lets you make an allow list of apps that stay usable. Forest also has its own soundscapes you can layer over a session.
Does Immersed block distracting apps?+
No. Immersed has no app blocker. It goes the other way: it plays YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts inside a session, and Discover gives you a feed in your language that counts as immersion.
Is Forest free?+
The core app is free, with ads outside of sessions. Forest Plus adds allow lists, custom tags, advanced analytics, no ads and real-tree planting. The US App Store lists Plus from $5.99 a month, and prices vary by region.
Can I log my Forest sessions in Immersed?+
Yes, by hand. Log a session afterward as Study, Writing or SRS with the start and stop time. Immersed does not connect to Forest.
Is Immersed free like Forest?+
Partly. The blueprint, the listening games with their leaderboards, the Discord and the sample app are free. The timeline, sessions, Discover and reports are Immersed Pro: $60 a year with a free week first, or $9.99 a month.
More comparisons
Stop guessing. See what your hours add up to.
Answer a few questions and Immersed builds your plan: a daily routine that fits your life, milestones for your first months, and things to watch at your level. Free, about two minutes, no account needed.
The plan is free and stays free. No card.
Checked October 24, 2026 against published product information. Prices and features change; if something here is out of date, tell me on Discord and I'll fix it.