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Apps like Opal, compared
Opal is the best-known screen time app, and it is a good one. It is also a subscription, and it is built around blocking. If either of those is why you're looking, here is what else exists and who each one suits.
We make Kiri, which is in this list. We've written the other entries the way we'd want ours written: what the app does, what it does better than us, and who should choose it.
Short answer: if you want an app made impossible to open, stay with a blocker: Opal, Jomo or Roots, or a Brick if you want the key out of reach. If blocks make you delete the blocker, try a pause: one sec before you open the app, or Kiri once your time is up. If you want free, ScreenZen.
The two kinds of app
Almost every app here is one of two things.
A wall. The app won't open until a timer ends or you complete something. Walls work well for people who want the decision taken away. They fail in one particular way: the day you really need the app, you turn the wall off, and it often stays off.
A pause. The app opens, or stays open, after a moment that makes you choose. Pauses work well for people who resent being locked out. They fail differently: on a bad day you choose to keep going.
Neither is better. They suit different people, and the useful question is which failure sounds like you.
Side by side
| App | What it does | Can you get past it? | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opal | Blocks the apps and sites you choose: on a schedule, after a time limit, or after a number of opens. | In the easier modes you can snooze or cancel. Deep Focus, in Pro, can't be cancelled. | Free with one rule. Pro $19.99 a month, $99.99 a year, or $399 once |
| Jomo | Blocks by rules: schedules, usage limits, a number of opens a day, or until you finish a task. | Strict Mode locks your rules for days at a time. | Free with limits. $5.99 a month, $29.99 a year, or $99.99 once |
| Roots | Limits and schedules, and unblocking by doing an activity first. | Monk Mode can't be switched off, though there is an emergency unblock. | Free with two blocks. Plus $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year |
| Brick | A small device. Tap your phone on it to block the apps you chose; tap it again to unblock. | Only by walking back to the Brick. There are five emergency unlocks. | $59 for the device |
| one sec | Makes you take a breath before a chosen app opens, then asks whether you still want it. | Yes. After the pause you can carry on. | Free for one app. Pro $6.99 a month, $19.99 a year, or $99.99 once |
| ScreenZen | Adds a wait before an app opens, which can grow each time, plus daily limits and a limit on opens. | Depends on how you set it. It has strict blocks and a lock on its own settings. | Free, with optional tips |
| Kiri | Covers the app with mist when its daily time is up. You wipe it away and take a breath. | Always. It asks; it never locks. | Free for one app. Pro $7.99 once |
| Screen Time (built into iPhone and Mac) | Covers the app with a limit screen when its daily time is reached. | With one tap, unless someone else holds the passcode. | Free |
Prices are US prices, checked in November 2026. They change; each app's own site has the current one.
Opal
Blocks the apps and sites you choose: on a schedule, after a time limit, or after a number of opens. In the easier modes you can snooze or cancel. Deep Focus, in Pro, can't be cancelled. It runs on iPhone, Android, Mac.
What it does better than Kiri: Sessions you can't back out of, and a daily focus score. If you want to hand the decision to the app for two hours, Opal will hold it.
Price: Free with one rule. Pro $19.99 a month, $99.99 a year, or $399 once.
Choose it if you want real blocking and you'll use it enough to justify a subscription.
Jomo
Blocks by rules: schedules, usage limits, a number of opens a day, or until you finish a task. Strict Mode locks your rules for days at a time. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac.
What it does better than Kiri: Rules that make you earn screen time. You can require a task before an app unlocks.
Price: Free with limits. $5.99 a month, $29.99 a year, or $99.99 once.
Choose it if you want Opal-style blocking on Apple devices with a lifetime option.
Roots
Limits and schedules, and unblocking by doing an activity first. Monk Mode can't be switched off, though there is an emergency unblock. It runs on iPhone.
Price: Free with two blocks. Plus $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year.
Choose it if you're on iPhone and want a strict mode with an emergency exit.
Brick
A small device. Tap your phone on it to block the apps you chose; tap it again to unblock. Only by walking back to the Brick. There are five emergency unlocks. It works with iPhone, Android.
What it does better than Kiri: The key to your apps can be in another room. No app can do that.
Price: $59 for the device.
Choose it if you've beaten every software block you've tried.
one sec
Makes you take a breath before a chosen app opens, then asks whether you still want it. Yes. After the pause you can carry on. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, and extensions for Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge.
What it does better than Kiri: The pause comes before you start scrolling, and a published study measured its effect. Kiri's pause comes after your time is used; one sec's comes every time you open the app. There's more on this in our comparison with one sec.
Price: Free for one app. Pro $6.99 a month, $19.99 a year, or $99.99 once.
Choose it if your problem is opening the app at all, dozens of times a day.
ScreenZen
Adds a wait before an app opens, which can grow each time, plus daily limits and a limit on opens. Depends on how you set it. It has strict blocks and a lock on its own settings. It runs on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows.
What it does better than Kiri: It's free, and you can limit how many times a day you open an app.
Price: Free, with optional tips.
Choose it if you want a lot of control for no money and don't mind setting it up.
Kiri
Covers the app with mist when its daily time is up. You wipe it away and take a breath. Then you decide: done, or two more minutes. On Android and Mac a small hourglass hangs over the app while you use it, so you can see the time going. It runs on iPhone, Android, Mac.
What it doesn't do: block anything. You can always keep going. If you need a wall, Kiri is the wrong choice.
Price: Free for one app. Pro $7.99 once. No subscription, no account.
Choose it if you've deleted a blocker before, or you tap “Ignore Limit” without reading it.
What's already on your phone
Before paying for anything, try the built-in limit: Screen Time (built into iPhone and Mac), or Digital Wellbeing (built into Android). Both are free. With one tap, unless someone else holds the passcode. If that one tap is what's defeating you, this guide explains why and what helps.