Focus5 vs Sunsama: a simpler Sunsama alternative
Sunsama costs $204 a year and connects to 21 other tools. Focus5 costs $29 once and shows you 5 tasks at a time, one at a time, in the right order.
Sunsama is a daily planner. It pulls your tasks in from 21 other tools like Jira, Asana and Gmail, puts them on your calendar as time blocks, and walks you through planning every morning. It costs $22 a month, or $17 a month if you pay for the year.
Focus5 does something narrower. You add as much as you like, then open Focus: it shows 5 at a time, one on screen with a timer, and picks the order for you. It costs $29 once.
Pick Sunsama if your work is spread across a lot of tools. Pick Focus5 if you already know what to do and keep not doing it. Here is the full comparison.
| Sunsama | Focus5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Connect your tools, then plan every morning | Sign in and pick five things |
| Philosophy | Plan a realistic day across every tool you use | Hands you the next task, five on screen at a time |
| Capture | Type it, or pull it in from an integration | Talk, and it writes it down and files it |
| Integrations | 21, from Jira to Slack | None, by design |
| Price | $22 a month, or $17 a month billed yearly ($204 a year) | $29 once, lifetime |
| Platforms | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android | Android and desktop web today, iPhone next |
Why people pick Focus5 over Sunsama
Nothing to set up
Sunsama’s power comes from its connections, and so does its setup cost. You authorise each tool, decide what syncs, and reconnect things when a token expires.
Focus5 has no setup step at all. You sign in with Google and you’re looking at today. There’s nothing to connect, so there’s nothing to configure and nothing to maintain.
You talk, it writes
Most planners ask you to type a task, pick a project, set a date and choose a priority. That’s four decisions before anything leaves your head, which is why so much never gets written down at all.
In Focus5 you ramble about your day and it writes the tasks down, dates them, and files them into the right book. Nothing has to be organised to get out of your head.
You never decide what to do next
Add as much as you like. When you want to work, open Focus and it hands you the next task with the clock already running: today’s work first, then anything still open from before, then what is coming up.
You see 5 at a time and one on screen. Finish it and the next slides in from the backlog. Not in the mood? Later moves it down and nothing nags you about it.
One payment, not a subscription
Sunsama is $204 a year, every year. Five years of it is $1,020. Focus5 is $29 once, and that covers every feature, every device, and every update after this.
The bigger difference isn’t the total, it’s what each model pushes the app to become. A subscription has to keep justifying itself every month, and for a hub with 21 integrations to maintain that’s fair enough. For an app whose whole job is to show you five things, it turns into features nobody asked for. Charging once removes the incentive.
Where Sunsama is the better fit
Sunsama does several things Focus5 doesn’t attempt, and if you need them you’ll be happier paying for it.
Your work arrives from other tools. If your tasks are Jira tickets, Linear issues or Gmail threads, Sunsama picks them up and Focus5 would mean retyping them every morning.
Your calendar runs your day. Sunsama syncs both ways and blocks your work onto it. Focus5 has a calendar view of its own tasks and nothing more, so it has no idea about your 3pm meeting.
You need it on an iPhone. Sunsama has an iPhone app. Focus5 has an Android app on Google Play, and the web app is built for a keyboard and a mouse, so on iPhone you are waiting. The iPhone app is next and it is included, but next is not now.
You’re planning with other people. Sunsama has shared workspaces and team plans. Focus5 is single player.
If two or more of those describe your week, buy Sunsama. Their trial runs 14 days and doesn’t ask for a card, so you’ll know quickly.
Who Focus5 is for
Focus5 suits fewer people than Sunsama does. Choose it if:
- You already know what needs doing. The list was never the problem.
- Your work isn’t scattered across four other systems.
- You want to spend zero minutes a day planning.
- You’d rather pay once than carry another subscription.
- You want a bad day to just end. The streak here forgives one, and nothing else scolds you.
See Focus5 in action
Frequently asked questions
Is Focus5 a Sunsama alternative?
It is if your problem is finishing. Sunsama helps you plan a realistic day across every tool your work lives in. Focus5 hands you one task at a time in Focus mode, in an order it picks. If your work is genuinely scattered across Jira, Gmail and three calendars, Sunsama is the better buy and we would rather you got the right one.
How much does Sunsama cost?
$22 per user per month billed monthly, or $17 per user per month billed yearly, which comes to $204 a year. There’s a 14 day free trial and it doesn’t ask for a card.
Is $29 really the whole price?
Yes. One payment, no renewal, no expiry date. Your account keeps every premium feature, including the ones that aren’t built yet. There’s no monthly plan and there won’t be one.
Can you try Focus5 without paying?
Every feature is unlocked for your first 7 days, with no card. After that, Today, Agenda, Calendar and 2 books stay free with no time limit, and nothing you wrote gets deleted.
Does Focus5 sync with Google Calendar?
No. Focus5 has a calendar view of your own tasks, but it doesn’t read or write your real calendar, so it doesn’t know about your 3pm meeting. Sunsama syncs both ways. If your day is decided by meetings, that single difference matters more than anything else on this page.
Can you import Sunsama tasks into Focus5?
No, there’s no importer. Most people switching start fresh with today’s five anyway, which isn’t a bad way to begin.
Why one payment instead of a subscription?
An app that bills you every month has to keep proving it’s worth it, usually by growing into something you never asked for. That’s how simple apps stop being simple. One payment removes the incentive.
Compare Focus5 with another app
Focus5 vs Todoist
Todoist organises your whole list from $5 a month. Focus5 costs $29 once and shows you 5 tasks at a time so you never decide what to do next.
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Focus5 vs TickTick
Both apps have a focus timer. TickTick costs $35.99 a year and leaves you to choose what to work on. Focus5 costs $29 once and chooses for you.
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Focus5 vs Motion
Motion uses AI to build your calendar, from $19 per person a month. Focus5 costs $29 once and just queues your tasks in order, 5 on screen at a time.
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Focus5 vs Things 3
Neither app charges a subscription. Things 3 is Apple only and costs up to $79.97 across devices. Focus5 is $29 once for every device, with a focus queue Things does not have.
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Focus5 vs Notion
Notion makes you build your own task system. Focus5 gives you one you cannot change, and a Focus mode that decides what you do next.
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Focus5 vs Microsoft To Do
Microsoft To Do is free and syncs with Outlook. Focus5 costs $29 once and adds a Focus mode that queues your tasks and times them.
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Focus5 vs Google Tasks
Google Tasks is free and sits inside Gmail. Focus5 costs $29 once and adds a Focus mode that picks your next task and times it.
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Focus5 vs Trello
Trello shows all your work on a board at once. Focus5 shows 5 at a time and one on screen, in an order it picks for you.
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Focus5 vs ClickUp
ClickUp runs a whole company’s work. Focus5 runs your next hour: it picks the next task and starts the timer.
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Focus5 vs Superlist
Both apps let you add tasks by talking. Superlist is $59 a year. Focus5 is $29 once and adds a Focus mode that queues them and times them.
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