An honest comparison
Particle & Session
A polished Pomodoro timer for the Apple ecosystem.
Session is the closest tool to Particle in spirit: a focus timer built with care by an independent developer, with intentions, reflection, and analytics at its heart. It is genuinely good. If Particle didn’t exist, Session is the app we would recommend most often. Here is how to tell which one fits you.
What Session does brilliantly
Native to Apple, through and through
Session feels at home on Mac, iPhone, and iPad — widgets, notifications, seamless sync across devices. Start a session on your Mac, carry it on your phone.
Intentions and reflection built in
Every session starts with a written intention and can end with a note on what you learned. That loop — intend, work, reflect — is the right shape for focused work, and Session committed to it early.
It blocks what distracts you
Session can block the apps and websites you choose for the length of a focus block, then restore them. If enforcement helps you, it is well executed here.
Independent craft
Session is built by an independent developer running a sustainable business. The care shows in the details, and your subscription funds exactly that.
Where Particle is different
The deepest difference is enforcement versus trust. Session can lock your distractions away during a focus block. Particle blocks nothing — no app blocker, no website jail. We think the discipline that lasts is the one you build, not the one software enforces. That is a philosophy, not a missing feature, and you should pick the side that actually helps you.
Particle runs keyboard-first in any browser — Mac, Windows, Linux — with no installation. The timer counts up instead of down, because watching time grow feels different from watching it drain. Finished hours become particles: a quiet, permanent record of what you’ve made.
And Particle reaches beyond the session. A day planner mapped to your energy curve, generative soundscapes built in, reflection that asks how the work felt — the whole arc of a working day, not only its focused blocks.
The honest decision
Choose Session if
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You live entirely in the Apple ecosystem and want a native app today.
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Blocking distracting apps and websites genuinely helps you.
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You want a focused tool that does sessions, and sessions only, very well.
Choose Particle if
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You work on any platform — the browser is your native app.
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You prefer trust over enforcement: no blockers, no punishments.
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You want planning, sound, and reflection in the same room as the timer.
Questions
Is Particle a Pomodoro timer like Session?
It includes one. Classic 25 is one of Particle’s three foundation rhythms, next to Deep Work 52 and a 90-minute block. The timer counts up rather than down, and nothing punishes you for stopping early.
Does Particle block apps or websites?
No, deliberately. Particle never locks you out of anything. We believe lasting focus comes from a space you want to return to, not from software standing guard.
Is there a native Mac app?
A native Mac app is coming. Today Particle runs in your browser — no download, no installation, and it works on Windows and Linux too.
The full thinking
The best tool is the one
you stop noticing.
Try the quieter room.
Free forever. No credit card.