Brain.fm vs Coffitivity (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Coffitivity grades higher than Brain.fm: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 4, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Brain.fm grades higher on platforms. Coffitivity grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Brain.fm
Functional music for focus, relaxation, sleep and meditation
Coffitivity
Cafe and ambient background sounds for writing and study
Which one is for you
Pick Brain.fm if
- Fits if lyrics pull you out of your work and silence doesn't help either
- Works for people who want focus, sleep and meditation audio in one subscription
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you only want something on in the background, at $99.99 a year in one payment
- Not for you if you want a free version to live on, because after the trial it's pay or stop
- Skip it if you'd pay monthly for long, as twelve months at $14.99 comes to $179.88
- Watch out: the pricing page doesn't say how long the trial lasts; the App Store says 14 days
- Watch out: student and team prices mean contacting the company, and no integrations or API are listed
Pick Coffitivity if
- Fits if a cafe hum helps you write and an hour a day is enough
- Works for people who would rather pay $239.99 once than subscribe
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you listen all day, because the free plan stops at 1 hour
- Pricey if you want the whole library: Plus unlocks unlimited time but only some of the tracks
- Skip it if you want an app, as it is a browser page only
- Watch out: the monthly-billing prices were not readable on the pricing page, only the yearly ones
How we grade them
| 2.0GPABrain.fmFair | 2.2GPACoffitivityFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$99.99 a year works out at $8.33 a month, the dear quarter of this category, against a middle of $3.99. Pay monthly and it's $14.99, past the $12 where the dearest tenth starts, and twelve of those come to $179.88. What you get for it is music. Students can ask for 20% off. | CPlus is $2.99 a month billed yearly and Premium $3.99, where the middle for focus apps is $3.99. Plus keeps the track list limited, and Lifetime Premium is $239.99, well past the $10 middle for one-time prices. |
| Free plan and trial | DNo free plan at all. The trial is the start of a subscription that then charges $99.99 in one go, and the pricing page won't even say how long it runs; the App Store listing says 14 days. | CA free plan with 1 hour of streaming a day and limited tracks, which you will hit within a working afternoon. Paid plans carry a 7-day trial with a full refund if you cancel during it. |
| Features | CIt does its one thing: modes for focus, relaxing, sleep and meditation, five kinds of focus alone, an effect strength you can turn up or down, count-up, countdown and interval timers, and downloads for a flight. But music is one slice of what this category does. | CCafe tracks, soundscapes, sound colors and brain waves. It plays sound and nothing more: no timer, no tasks. The full library needs Premium. |
| Ease of use | B4.54 from about 5,500 App Store ratings, just over the 4.5 line for a B. A short quiz at sign-up picks your starting effect level, then you press play and work. | BNo store rating on record. Open the site and press play, with nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with menu bar control on a Mac and offline downloads on a phone, so every device is covered. It joins up with nothing, though: no integrations and no API listed. | CWeb only. No phone or desktop app was found, and nothing connects to anything else. |
| Best for | focus music with no lyrics to pull you away | cafe background noise while you write |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Brain.fm and Coffitivity. How we grade
Price against what you get
Brain.fm starts at $8.33 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Coffitivity starts at $2.99 a month and scores 2.3.
Brain.fm scores higher, and starts $5.34 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other focus apps on the chart, 15 score higher than Brain.fm for less, and 20 score higher than Coffitivity for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Coffitivity can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Brain.fm also covers Pomodoro timer.
At a glance
| Brain.fm | Coffitivity | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $99.99 / year, billed annually | $2.99 per month, billed yearly ($35.99) |
| Free plan | None | 1 hour of streaming per day and limited track access. |
| Free trial | Free trial with full access; 14 days according to the App Store listing | 7-day free trial on every subscription plan, cancel during it for a full refund |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Brain.FM, Inc. | Coffitivity |
| Price read from | brain.fm | coffitivity.com |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Brain.fm
- There is no free plan; listening after the free trial requires a subscription.
- The pricing page does not state how long the trial lasts; the 14-day figure comes from the App Store listing.
- The yearly plan is charged as a single $99.99 payment; paying monthly costs $14.99 a month.
- The student discount and team pricing are arranged by contacting the company rather than at checkout.
Coffitivity
- The free plan caps streaming at 1 hour per day and offers a limited track set.
- Plus removes the daily cap but keeps the limited tracks; the full library needs Premium.
- Only the yearly prices were readable: the pricing page has a Monthly toggle whose figures were not captured, and the page says yearly saves 40%.
- No mobile or desktop app was found; it is used in the browser.
Key features
Brain.fm
- Modes for different activities
- Focus covers Deep Work, Creativity, Learning, Light Work and Motivation. Separate modes handle relaxation, sleep, including power naps, and guided or unguided meditation.
- Adjustable neural effect level
- The intensity of the modulation in the music can be turned up or down. A short quiz at sign-up sets a starting level, and a high level is aimed at listeners with ADHD.
- Built-in timers
- A count-up timer tracks how long you have worked, a countdown timer ends a session, and an interval timer alternates work and breaks in the Pomodoro style.
- Music made to stay in the background
- Tracks have no lyrics or intrusive sounds and run extra long so that a work session is not broken up by song changes.
- Offline listening on mobile
- The App Store listing says music can be downloaded for offline use, including in airplane mode.
- Desktop apps with menu bar control
- Apps for macOS 12 or later and Windows 10 or later sit alongside the web player, with playback control from the Mac menu bar.
Coffitivity
- Cafe ambience
- Free tracks such as Morning Murmur, Lunchtime Lounge and University Undertones are named on the homepage.
- Soundscapes, sound colors and brain waves
- Premium unlocks all soundscapes, sound colors and brain-wave tracks, beyond the cafe recordings.
- Free daily allowance
- The free plan allows 1 hour of streaming per day, without an account purchase.
- Use-case pages
- The site has pages aimed at writers, students, remote workers, developers and teachers.
Plans
Brain.fm
Yearly plan$99.99
per year, billed annually
Full access to the focus, relax, sleep and meditate modes on web, desktop and mobile. Starts with a free trial.
Monthly plan$14.99
per month, billed monthly
The same access paid month to month, with cancellation at any time.
Coffitivity
Free$0
per month
1 hour of streaming a day and a limited set of tracks.
Plus$2.99
per month, billed yearly ($35.99)
Unlimited daily streaming, but still a limited set of tracks.
Premium$3.99
per month, billed yearly ($47.99)
Unlimited streaming plus all cafe tracks, soundscapes, sound colors and brain waves.
Lifetime Premium$239.99
one-time
Everything in Premium with a single payment and no recurring charges.
Ways to pay less
Brain.fm
- Annual discount
Yearly plan costs less than paying monthly
The yearly plan is $99.99 against $14.99 a month, which comes to $179.88 over twelve months. The pricing page marks the yearly plan with a 40% discount badge.
- Education
20% discount for active students
Students can email support from a .edu address, or send a copy of a student ID or other proof of enrollment, to receive 20% off.
- Other savings
Special pricing for teams
Brain.fm supports team accounts for companies and classrooms and asks teams to get in touch through a form for special pricing.
Coffitivity
- Annual discount
Yearly billing saves 40%
Coffitivity's pricing page marks yearly billing as a 40% saving over monthly.
- Lifetime license
Lifetime Premium
A one-time payment of $239.99 gives Premium access with no recurring charges.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Brain.fm or Coffitivity?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Coffitivity is cheaper to start with: $2.99 a month, against $8.33 a month when paid by the year for Brain.fm. Brain.fm starts at $99.99 / year, billed annually, and Coffitivity starts at $2.99 per month, billed yearly ($35.99).
Which has a free plan, Brain.fm or Coffitivity?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Coffitivity has a free plan. Brain.fm does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Brain.fm and Coffitivity run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Brain.fm lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.