The 8 Best Focusmate Alternatives

Focusmate is a tool that has a great many supporters as well as critics. It uses the body doubling technique, which involves working in the presence of another person. In this article we will present the best Focusmate alternatives.

It allows many people to focus on a task instead of other activities. During a Focusmate session, you draw a partner for a session at a designated time. Work sprints occur every 15 minutes.

At the beginning of each slot, participants say what they will be working on. After a few minutes, they mute the microphones but stay with the cameras on (a required condition). When the session is over, participants tell each other which tasks they have completed.

critics

Focusmate is a great solution to the lack of accountability buddy. It also allows you to start working with another person without prior planning.

Although Focusmate has many supporters, it has many critics too. The most common opinions relate to:

• working with a random stranger – you never know who the other person is and how they will behave
• the need to work with the camera on – there is no option to switch off the camera while the other person is looking at you
• no group co-work – only 1:1 sessions are possible
• lack of host/group leader roles and permissions – many people organize group sessions for others. These types of sessions are not possible on Focusmate

Here are Focusmate alternatives that you may find interesting:

Zoom, Meet, Teams

Meeting tools, not adapted to the needs of co-working sessions. They do not have an option for sharing task lists, a timer, or team-building tools to strengthen participants’ bonds. Only to be used if you care about the budget version and have a facilitator in your group.

Pros:

• you probably have one of these tools available in your organization

Cons: 

• No function for the session host
• High risk of turning the session into a multi-hour meeting, which can be traumatic for many participants
• Lack of features to support co-working sessions

Discord

Free community building tool. Many communities create a so-called ‘Study room’ where participants on voice channels work together in silence, so we treat them as Focusmate alternative. There is a lack of tools adapted typically to these sessions, but it is a good tool to get started. Focusity.space is creating an integration with Discord to combine community-building tools with co-working sessions.

Pros:

• Free 
• Many communities use this tool, so it is easy to organize these types of sessions in one tool
• Has voice channels, which (although without moderation) allow for the simplest of sessions to be created

Cons:

• Lack of a group host/leader role/function
• No sharing of the shuffle list
• No timer
• No team-building tools during the session

Caveday

Another Focusmate alternative is a platform where we participate in group co-working sessions moderated by professionals. 

Pros:

• you do not need to have an accountability group to participate in co-working sessions
• sessions are moderated by a professional



Cons:

• High price ( $40/mo per participant)
• You work with random people
• Participants do not influence the course of the session
• You can not share sensitive data

flow.club

A platform where we participate in group co-working sessions moderated by other attendees. 

Pros:

• you do not need to have an accountability group to participate in co-working sessions

Cons:

• High price ($40/mo per participant)
• You work with random people
• Participants do not influence the course of the session
• You can not share sensitive data

flown

Next Focusmate alternative. A platform where we participate in group co-working sessions moderated by professionals. 

Pros:

• you do not need to have an accountability group to participate in co-working sessions
• sessions are moderated by a professional

Cons:

• High price ($24/mo per participant)
• You work with random people
• Participants do not influence the course of the session
• You can not share sensitive data

FOCUSIty.space

A tool that lets you create your co-working session with people you know. It allows you to share your task lists with other attendees and have built-in dopamine triggers.

Pros:

• you can join virtual coworking sessions with people you know 
• you can share sensitive data
• you share task lists with other group members
• anyone can host a co-working session

Cons:

• you need to have accountability partner or accountability group
• brand new tool