Screen time apps
compared.
Six apps that shut apps, and the honest differences between them. We make one of these, so read the sources rather than us. Every fact below comes from the app’s own site where it publishes one, and from its App Store listing where it does not.
The table scrolls sideways when it does not fit.
| ScrollBuddy | Opal | one sec | Clearspace | Brick | Jomo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | The apps you picked are shut from midnight. Finishing one of your tasks mints a thirty minute pass, and spending a pass opens them until it runs out. | You block chosen apps on schedules and timers. Hard Mode makes a session harder to end early. | A breath, a mirror or a short delay sits between you and the app. A full block is available, but the delay is the idea. | Opening a chosen app asks for a breath, or a set of pushups, and then for how long you mean to stay. | A magnet-mounted object you tap your phone against to start a block, and tap again to end it. | You block apps at set times, after a limit, or until you take an action, and you can lock the block so it cannot be switched off. |
| Price, US App Store | Free first full day, then $4.99 a month, $29.99 a year, or $49.99 once | Free tier, then $19.99 a month, $99.99 a year, or $399 once | Free tier, then $2.99 a month, $19.99 a year, or $99.99 once | Free tier, then $6.99 a month or $44.99 a year | $59 once for the device. Their site says no subscriptions and no extra fees | Free tier, then $29.99 a year, $14.99 a year for students, or $99.99 once |
| Account needed | No account, no login | Optional. Their privacy page says you may choose to sign up | Yes for syncing across devices, on the same account | Sign in exists at their web app. Whether it is required is not stated | Not stated on their site | Not stated on their site |
| Where your data sits | On the phone. Blocking runs on Apple's Screen Time, so it never sees which apps you open | Their privacy page: private data stays on your device, and they do not store it | Their site: usage data is yours, either offline or in a private cloud, and the intervention logic runs locally | Not stated on their site. Their App Store privacy label says data may be used to track you across other companies' apps and websites | Their FAQ: all blocking information is stored locally on your phone, and they cannot see your block lists | Their site: app usage stays on your phone and they do not sell data to advertisers |
| Runs on | iPhone, iOS 26 and later | iPhone, Android, Mac | iPhone, Android, browser extension | iPhone, Android, Chrome extension | iPhone iOS 17 and later, Android 12 and later | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Uses Apple Screen Time | Yes, stated | Yes, stated | Not stated. Their listing names Shortcuts Automation | Not stated | Not stated | Yes, stated |
Prices are US App Store prices in dollars, not converted, so your local price will differ. Checked 12 September 2026. Where an app publishes a fact itself we took it from there, otherwise from its App Store listing: ScrollBuddy, their App Store listing; Opal, their own site; one sec, their App Store listing; Clearspace, their App Store listing; Brick, their own site; Jomo, their own site.
What the table does not say
Three things worth knowing before you read a row as gospel. First, prices move and listings disagree with websites. Opal’s own pricing page shows a $399 lifetime that its App Store in-app purchase list does not, and its listing shows tiers the site does not. We took the site figure and are telling you the listing differs. Everything here was checked on 12 September 2026.
Second, a blank is not a verdict. Where an app does not state whether it needs an account, we wrote that it does not state it rather than guessing. Clearspace states no privacy posture on its own site, and its App Store privacy label says data may be used to track you across other companies’ apps and websites. That is a fact about the label, not an accusation about the app.
Third, only Opal and Jomo say outright that they use Apple’s Screen Time API. On iOS, blocking apps this way effectively requires it, so silence in a listing is probably silence rather than a different mechanism.
Who each one is right for
one sec is for the person a pause still works on. It is the lightest intervention here and among the cheapest, and if a breath is enough to break the reach for you then nothing heavier is worth paying for. Its browser extension also covers desktop, which most of this list does not.
Clearspace is for the person who wants to enter an app deliberately rather than not at all. Choosing a session length before you go in is a real difference from a schedule, and the pushup challenge suits people who like a physical cost.
Opal is for the person whose problem spans devices. It is the only one here covering iPhone, Android and Mac, it has the most developed scheduling, and it has a free tier to test that with. If your scroll happens on a laptop too, this is the practical answer.
Jomo is for the person who wants a lockable block inside Apple’s system without a subscription forever. A one off $99.99 and a student price are unusual in this category, and it covers iPad and Mac.
Brick is for the person who has already tried software and found the switch too easy. A block you end by tapping a physical object is the strongest commitment here, it is a single $59 rather than a subscription, and the object living by the front door is itself the reminder.
ScrollBuddy is for the person whose problem is the morning going missing rather than the hours being high. The apps are shut from midnight and open for thirty minutes when you finish one of the tasks you wrote. If you want a schedule, Opal does schedules better. If you want a pause, one sec is cheaper. This one is for the day after the pause stopped working.
The thing no app on this list can do
None of them can stop you. You can turn it off. ScrollBuddy holds no key you cannot take back, and it only ever knows what you tell it. The object ones come closest and still ship an emergency unlock, because a tool that cannot tell a scroll from a real need is a tool you will eventually be right to throw away.
So the useful question is not which one is strictest. It is which mechanism you will still be using in three weeks. We wrote about why the easy exit is usually the part that fails in why app blockers fail, and the head to head pages are at compare.
Questions
Which screen time app is the cheapest?
Opal, one sec and Jomo all have a free tier, so the cheapest way to start is free. Paid, one sec is the lowest at $2.99 a month, and Brick is a one off $59 for the device with no subscription. Prices are US App Store prices and are not converted.
Which one blocks apps hardest?
Brick, because ending a block needs the physical object. Jomo and Opal can both lock a block so it is not one tap from off. one sec and Clearspace are built around a pause rather than a wall.
Do any of them work without an account?
ScrollBuddy has no account and no login. Opal says signing up is a choice. one sec needs an account to sync across devices. Brick and Jomo do not state it on their own sites.
Do these apps see what I do on my phone?
Apps built on Apple's Screen Time permission receive opaque tokens rather than app names, so they block without seeing. Check each app's own privacy claim in the table, and note that Clearspace states none on its site while its App Store label declares tracking.