Focusmate without the camera or the strangers
No camera, no strangers, nothing to book. One timer, shared with the person you already focus best beside. Free to start; premium is $4/month and covers both of you.
How they differ
| Focusmate | Clockin Duo | |
|---|---|---|
| Who you work with | A member of their community, assigned when you book. You can favourite partners you liked. | One person you chose and paired with. Always the same person, never a stranger. |
| Camera | Required. Their guidance is to keep your video on throughout and stay visible in the frame. | None. There is no video in the product at all. You see that they started, and their local time. |
| Starting a session | Usually booked ahead on their calendar. After three sessions, Focus Now matches you with whoever is ready, for 50-minute sessions only. | Start whenever you are both there, or set a standing time. |
| Session lengths | 25, 50 and 75 minutes. | 25, 50 and 90 minutes, or any length you type. |
| What else is there | Coworking is the product. | The same pair also watches YouTube in sync and plays Four in a Row, and keeps a streak across all of it. |
| Paid plan, for two people | $16 to $24 a month: $8 to $12 each, depending on billing. | $4/month: one subscription covers both of you. |
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Focusmate Free | Free | 3 sessions per week |
| Focusmate Plus (annual) | $8/month | Unlimited sessions, billed annually |
| Focusmate Plus (monthly) | $12/month | Unlimited sessions, billed monthly |
| Clockin Duo Free | Free | One session a day, every length, one standing weekly time |
| Clockin Duo Premium | $4/month | Unlimited sessions, full history, covers both of you |
Focusmate prices and features checked against Pricing and How it works and Faq and 9994509 focus now on 18 October 2026. Prices change; check theirs before deciding.
What Focusmate is
Virtual coworking. You book a session, Focusmate pairs you with another member somewhere in the world, and you both work on camera for 25, 50 or 75 minutes.
When Focusmate is the better answer
Pick Focusmate if you want accountability without having to bring anyone. Focusmate finds you a partner; Clockin Duo assumes you already have one.
- You do not need to know anyone. Booking a session finds you a partner, which is the whole point and something we deliberately do not do.
- Sessions run 24/7 with partners worldwide, and they report over 99% of bookings getting matched. Availability is not something a fixed pair can offer.
- Being visible on camera is a stronger commitment device for some people, and it is the reason Focusmate works for them.
- 75-minute sessions, which we do not offer as a preset.
Before you start
Is Clockin Duo a direct replacement for Focusmate?
Do I need to turn my camera on?
What if I cannot get anyone to join me?
What does Clockin Duo cost?
The catch: you have to bring someone
Clockin Duo asks something up front that most tools in this category do not: you send one invite link, and until somebody accepts it there is nobody on the other end. Being handed a partner is the easier thing, and it is why the tools that do it work for so many people.
That is the trade, not an oversight. The product is built on the pair being fixed, because that is what makes a streak mean anything and what makes the other person noticing you did not show up matter at all. A tool that could substitute a stranger when your person was busy would be a different tool, and it already exists.
What a session actually looks like
One timer, both of you on it. Either of you can pause and it pauses for both. Nobody is on camera; the only thing your partner sees is that you showed up.
And when the work is done
The same pairing carries into the part that is not work. You watch YouTube in step, where either of you can pause it, and there is a game for two for when neither of you wants to talk. One streak across all of it, so the habit and the time off are in one place rather than three apps.
In different time zones? Work out when you are both actually awake.