Brain.fm vs Lofi Girl (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Lofi Girl grades higher than Brain.fm: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 4, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Brain.fm grades higher on features and platforms. Lofi Girl grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on 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
Lofi Girl
Lofi radio live streams for studying, including a Pomodoro stream
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 Lofi Girl if
- Fits if you want background music while you work
- Works for people who follow a Study With Me stream as a timer
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a timer you can set, because the Pomodoro element is a stream
- Not for you if you decline YouTube cookies; the Lofi Desk page reports needing them accepted
- Watch out: Lofi Desk is labelled a beta
- Watch out: its pages state no prices or plans, so pricing is unverified
How we grade them
| 2.0GPABrain.fmFair | 2.2GPALofi GirlFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CThe pages we read state no prices or plans, so there is nothing to grade against. |
| 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. | BListed as free, with the streams watched on YouTube. No paid plan or trial appears on its pages. |
| 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. | DLive lofi streams, a Study With Me Pomodoro stream, a sleep stream and the Lofi Desk player. The Pomodoro part is a stream you watch, not a tool you control. |
| 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 a stream and press play; there is 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, through YouTube and the Lofi Desk page. No app of its own and no integrations. |
| Best for | focus music with no lyrics to pull you away | lofi radio streams to work or study to |
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 Lofi Girl. 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. Lofi Girl has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
Brain.fm scores higher, and starts $8.33 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 none scores higher than Lofi Girl 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
At a glance
| Brain.fm | Lofi Girl | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free |
| Starts at | $99.99 / year, billed annually | Free |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Free trial with full access; 14 days according to the App Store listing | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Brain.FM, Inc. | Lofi Girl, Inc. |
| Price read from | brain.fm | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Nov 13, 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.
Lofi Girl
- The pages we read state no prices or plans, so pricing is unverified.
- The streams are watched on YouTube, and the Lofi Desk page reports needing YouTube cookies to be accepted.
- It is a music channel, not a timer: the Pomodoro element is a stream, not a tool you control.
- Lofi Desk is labeled a beta.
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.
Lofi Girl
- Live lofi radio streams
- Streams include lofi hip hop, synthwave and jazz lofi stations.
- Study With Me Pomodoro stream
- A stream built around Pomodoro-style study sessions.
- Sleep stream
- A separate lofi stream aimed at sleeping and relaxing.
- Lofi Desk web player
- A beta site with stations and soundscapes, a live chat and a login.
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.
Lofi Girl
Pricing could not be confirmed. See lofigirl.com.
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.
Lofi Girl
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Brain.fm or Lofi Girl?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Brain.fm starts at $99.99 / year, billed annually, and Lofi Girl has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Brain.fm or Lofi Girl?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Lofi Girl has a free plan. Brain.fm does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Brain.fm and Lofi Girl run on?
As of Nov 13, 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.