Published October 28, 2026.
A student needs one list and, if the phone is the problem, one blocker. The apps below still publish a price on their own sites. Google Tasks and Todoist Beginner cover a homework list at no charge. Notion's Plus plan is free for a student or teacher using a school email. Freedom's paid plan is $39.99 a year on the yearly option, or $8.99 a month. Pick the category that matches the actual snag, use it for two weeks, and stop there.
Prices, from each company's page
| App | Job | Price on the company site | Limit a family should know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Tasks | A short list inside Gmail and Google Calendar | No separate Tasks subscription. It is part of a Google account, at tasks.google.com. | Few features beyond a list and a due date. That is the point. |
| Todoist | Tasks, due dates, and a Today view | Beginner is free, with 5 personal projects. Pro is $7 a month or $60 a year ($5 a month, billed yearly). | No student, family, or nonprofit discount. A yearly plan can be refunded within 30 days. A monthly plan is not refundable. |
| Notion | Notes, a class wiki, or a database of assignments | Free is $0. Plus starts at $10 per member per month, billed annually. Plus for one member is free with a school email. | A shared Free workspace hits a block limit. A student working alone on Free does not. Notion AI on Free and Plus is a trial, not an unlimited feature. |
| Freedom | Block sites and apps across devices | A free tier exists. Premium is $8.99 a month, or $3.33 a month on the yearly plan. The App Store lists that yearly plan at $39.99. A lifetime option was listed at $99.50. | The free tier cannot run a session longer than two hours, cannot schedule a session, and has no Locked Mode. The yearly plan includes a 7-day trial. |
| Toggl Track | See where the homework hour went | The pricing page lists Free at $0, including up to 3 users. Paid plans on that page start at $9 a license per month. | A help article updated July 24, 2026, lists a higher Premium starting price than the pricing page. Check the pricing page at signup. Toggl says it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes. |
Match the app to the snag
Forgotten assignments. If the student already lives in Gmail, Google Tasks shows the list on the calendar without a new login. Todoist is the step up when natural language entry ("math homework tomorrow 4pm") and recurring tasks are worth a second app. Five projects on the free plan is enough for a school schedule. Three hundred projects on Pro is not the feature a ninth grader needs.
Notes that disappear. Notion's Free plan is enough for one student's pages. The school-email Plus plan adds the paid-plan extras, including more version history and larger uploads, still for a single member. A family that builds a shared workspace with several people will hit the Free block limit and then the per-member price. Do not start a student on a team workspace.
The phone during a problem set. Freedom's free tier can block apps and sites, on unlimited devices, for a session of up to two hours. That covers a homework block. Scheduling, recurring sessions, and Locked Mode, which stops the student from quitting the block, are on Premium. Buy the website plan if you want Freedom's own billing. A purchase inside the iOS or Android app is billed by Apple or Google and managed there.
No sense of where the time went. Toggl Track's free plan is a timer and a personal report, not a surveillance tool. A week of honest timers tells you whether chemistry is taking twenty minutes or two hours. That is more useful than another motivational quote inside a habit app.
What this list leaves out
Use the price on the company’s own page. A one-time App Store price from last year is not a 2026 price.
An app does not teach planning. It stores the plan the student already made, or it removes a distraction while they work. If assignments are missed because the work is too hard, or because the student does not know how to start, a list app will fill up and stay full. The guides linked below cover that part. A school plan, when there is one, still governs accommodations. None of these companies is a clinical service.
Try one app for three weeks, with a goal on paper
Families often download five apps and keep none. A slower test works better:
- Name the one problem you want fixed, such as missing assignments or homework that drags past midnight.
- Choose a single app from the list above that targets that problem.
- Write down what success would look like after three weeks, for example every assignment entered before leaving class.
- At the end, look honestly at what happened: used daily, used sometimes, or abandoned.
An abandoned app usually points to a missing skill rather than the wrong tool. Our Executive Functioning course teaches those skills directly.
Questions families ask
Which executive-functioning app should a student start with?
Start with the one pain point. If the problem is remembering assignments, use a task list the student will actually open, such as Google Tasks or Todoist Beginner. If the problem is a phone during homework, use a blocker such as Freedom. Adding five apps at once creates a second organization problem.
Is Todoist free?
The Beginner plan is free and includes 5 personal projects. Pro is $7 a month, or $60 a year, on Todoist’s pricing page as checked in October 2026. Todoist says the higher price took effect December 10, 2025. There is no separate student discount.
Is Notion free for students?
The Free plan is $0. Notion says the Plus plan, limited to one member, is free for students and educators who sign up with a school email. Paid Plus for a team starts at $10 per member per month when billed annually.
Do focus apps replace a diagnosis or a school plan?
No. An app is a reminder and a barrier. It does not evaluate attention, and it does not replace an IEP, a 504 plan, or a conversation with the adults who already work with the student.
Sources
Checked October 28, 2026.
- Google Tasks.
- Todoist pricing.
- Todoist plans and billing FAQ. Updated October 15, 2026. Confirms Pro at $7 a month or $60 a year, and the refund rule.
- Notion pricing. Free, Plus at $10 per member per month, and the school-email Plus plan.
- Freedom Premium.
- Freedom, free and Premium features. Written February 23, 2026.
- Toggl pricing.
- Toggl Track payment plans. Updated July 24, 2026.