LifeAt vs Noisli

LifeAt

• People who like working against an ambient video backdrop with sound
• Remote workers and students who want shared Pomodoro rooms
• Keeping a task planner, calendar and focus timer in one window

Noisli

• Masking office, traffic or household noise while working
• People who prefer mixing their own ambient sound to playing music
• Writers who want background sound, a timer and an editor in one tab

LifeAt

• The free plan has no daily planner, allows one to-do list and one calendar, and includes only a limited set of background spaces.
• LifeAt's help center says it does not offer refunds on any plan, except when upgrading from monthly to yearly.
• Desktop apps are offered for macOS and Windows only; no iOS or Android app is listed.
• Business pricing is not published, and the Pro prices are labelled early-bird with no end date given.

Noisli

• The Free plan limits streaming to 1.5 hours a day and includes 16 of the 28 sounds.
• Oscillation, Shuffle, the advanced Timer and the advanced Text Editor need Pro or Business.
• Noisli says plan features are intended for desktop browsers on Mac or Windows; the iPhone and iPad app is a separate $1.99 purchase.
• The site also names an Android app and a Chrome extension, but its Google Play link returned Not Found and its Chrome Web Store link showed the item as not available.

LifeAt

Virtual spaces

Full-screen moving backgrounds in themes such as nature, cafe, city and beach sit behind your widgets. Free accounts get a limited set; Pro opens more than 1,000.

Sounds and music

An ambient soundboard with more than 20 sounds that can be mixed, plus a media widget that plays YouTube and Apple Music inside the workspace. Pro lists custom Spotify playlists.

Pomodoro timer

A Pomodoro timer with adjustable settings and a stopwatch. In a shared room the timer is synchronized, so the group works and rests together.

Focus with others

Join a public coworking room or invite people to your own. Members share the same background and timer and can use the built-in chat and video.

Planner with time tracking

Tasks carry tags and tracked time and can be dragged between days or onto the calendar to block out time. The daily planner is a Pro feature.

Unified calendar

Google and Outlook calendars appear in one view, with work and personal schedules kept separate. Connecting multiple calendars needs Pro.

Noisli

Sound mixer

28 background sounds, each with its own volume control, can be layered into a mix that Noisli calls a Combo. The Free plan includes 16 of them.

Curated Playlists

Playlists group suggested Combos for situations such as focus, study, writing and sleep. Free accounts get 3 Playlists and paid plans 10.

Favorites

Save your own Combos to replay later and share them with other people. The Free plan stores up to 5 and paid plans up to 10.

Session Timer

Set the length of work sessions and breaks, with optional auto-start and a daily count of finished sessions. Sounds stop when the time is up.

Text Editor

A minimal writing space with Markdown formatting and a word counter. Text is saved to the account and can be downloaded or sent to Dropbox or Google Drive.

Oscillation and Shuffle

On paid plans, Oscillation slowly varies the volume of sounds within a Combo, and Shuffle moves between Combos at a frequency you set.

LifeAt

• Free$0

  One to-do list, a limited set of background spaces and community support. No daily planner and no multiple calendars.

• Pro (Early bird), yearly$8

  per month, billed yearly

  Daily planner, 1,000+ Pro background spaces, unlimited to-dos and notes, multiple calendars and priority support. Shown against a crossed-out $15.

• Pro (Early bird), monthly$12

  per month, billed monthly

  The same Pro features billed month to month. Shown against a crossed-out $25.

• BusinessCustom

  For companies: project management, a collaborative workspace, invoicing and dedicated support. No price is shown.

Noisli

• Free$0

  1 user, 16 sounds, 1.5 hours of streaming a day, 3 curated Playlists, up to 5 Favorites, simple Timer and Text Editor.

• iOS app$1.99

  one-time purchase, US App Store

  The iPhone and iPad app, bought separately from the web plans: offline sounds, saved Combos and a timer with fade-out.

• Pro$10

  per month, billed yearly ($120)

  1 user, 28 sounds, unlimited streaming, 10 Playlists, advanced Timer and Text Editor, Oscillation and Shuffle. $12 if billed monthly.

• Business$24

  per month for 2 users, billed yearly

  Pro features plus team management and centralised billing. The page's plan data prices it at $144 per user a year, or $14 per user monthly.

LifeAt

• Annual discount

  Save 33% with yearly billing

  The pricing page says switching to yearly saves 33%: Pro is $8 a month billed yearly against $12 a month billed monthly.

Noisli

• Annual discount

  Yearly Pro billing costs about 17% less

  The pricing page's plan data lists Pro at $120 billed yearly against $12 billed monthly, which comes to $144 over twelve months.

• Education

  Discount for students and teachers

  Noisli offers students, teachers and educational institutions a special discount on its yearly plan. The page does not state the amount.