Opal is good at what it does. It blocks apps on sessions, schedules, time limits and open limits, it runs on iPhone, Android and Mac, and its Hard Mode is genuinely strict: no breaks, no leaving early, just one emergency pass a week. It’s one of the apps AI answers name most often for a reason.
People still look for alternatives, and the reasons tend to be specific. The strict features are in the paid plan. It needs an account. Some people want something lighter than a blocker, some want something harder, and some want the unlock to cost something other than waiting. Each of those points at a different app, so this is organized by reason rather than by rank.
Everything below was checked against each app’s own listing, site and help center on October 4, 2026. I make one of these apps, WalkGate. It’s here because it answers one of those reasons, not all of them.
At a glance
| App | How it differs from Opal | Free plan | Account | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ScreenZen | A delay before opening, which can grow each time | Entirely free, donation supported | Not needed for blocking | iPhone, Android, Mac |
| one sec | A breathing pause, then you choose | 1 app | Optional | iPhone, Android, Mac, browser |
| Freedom | The same blocklist across phone and computers | Sessions up to 2 hours | Required | iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, ChromeOS |
| AppBlock | You choose what unlocking requires, including someone’s approval | Strict Mode up to 12 h, 2 schedules | Not documented | iPhone, Android, browser |
| Jomo | Unlock by a task: wait, password, QR, NFC, or steps | 1 session and 1 action or limit | Optional | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Brick | A physical device ends the block | App is free; device is bought | Required | iPhone, Android with NFC |
| Forest | Quitting a session kills a tree you’re growing | Deep Focus free | Used for sync | iPhone, Android, browser |
| WalkGate | Apps open when you walk your step goal | 1 app, every feature | No | iPhone |
| Steppin | Steps buy minutes of screen time | Entirely free | No | iPhone, Android |
If it’s the price or the account
ScreenZen is the obvious first stop. The whole app is free, supported by tips, with no subscription. Its core is a wait before an app opens, which can get longer every time you open it, plus optional strict blocks by time, number of opens or screen time, and locks on its own settings. It’s softer than Opal by default and can be made firmer.
one sec is free for one app, and its account is optional. By default it shows a breathing exercise before an app opens, then lets you continue; “re-interventions” kick you back out after a set time. The paid plan adds strict blocks that can’t be paused or ended early, so it can stand in for Opal’s harder modes too.
WalkGate and Steppin need no account at all, and both are free to start. More on them below.
If you need your computer blocked too
Freedom is the one built for this. The same blocklists run on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and ChromeOS. The free plan covers on-the-spot sessions of up to two hours; scheduling and Locked Mode are Premium. In Locked Mode you can end a session early once every seven days. Freedom is also candid that on iOS you can still revoke its Screen Time permission in Settings, and suggests a Screen Time passcode to close that door.
If Opal isn’t strict enough
Brick moves the exit into the physical world. You tap the device to start a block and tap it again to end it, so if it lives in the kitchen, so does your way back in. You get five emergency unbricks in total, and its Strict Mode stops you deleting the app mid-session. You do have to buy the device.
AppBlock is the software route to the same place. Its Strict Mode makes you meet the condition you set before you can unlock: a cooldown, a timer, a PIN, plugging in your charger, or a trusted person’s approval. With Approval, the decision literally isn’t yours. It can also block uninstalling, time changes and Face ID settings while it’s on, and the free iOS plan includes Strict Mode for up to 12 hours.
If strictness is the whole question, our ranking of the strictest app blockers for iPhone by what their exit costs goes through every option.
If you want a gentler nudge
Forest turns focus into a small game: start a session and a tree grows; give up and it dies. Its Deep Focus genuinely blocks other apps during a session and is free. The cost of quitting is symbolic, which for a lot of people is exactly enough.
Jomo sits in the middle. You decide what an unlock takes, from waiting a few seconds to typing a reason, scanning a QR code or tapping an NFC tag, and it can count steps too. Its paid Strict Mode stops you deleting rules or uninstalling it, with two emergencies a week. It runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
If you’d rather the unlock be good for you
This is the reason I built WalkGate. Opal’s exits cost time: a waiting room, a session that has to run out. A walk-to-unlock app makes the exit something you’d want to do anyway.
WalkGate keeps the apps you choose shut until you walk your daily step goal, read from Apple Health. Then they open for the rest of the day, or, in Earn Minutes mode, every 100 steps buys a minute. There’s no one-tap ignore on the block. You get one 10-minute break a day behind a 5-second hold, and pausing it in Settings resets your streak. The free plan locks one app with every feature; Pro adds unlimited apps and whole categories. No account, iPhone only.
Steppin is the free version of the same idea with a softer exit. Steps buy minutes, 100 steps per minute by default, it runs on iPhone and Android, and you can override any lock instantly.
There are a dozen of these now, and they differ a lot on what’s free and what the exit costs. They’re all in walk-to-unlock apps for iPhone, compared.
How to choose
Write down the moment Opal lost you. If it was the paywall, start with ScreenZen or one sec. If it was the account, WalkGate, Steppin or one sec. If it was your laptop, Freedom. If it was the night you tapped your way past Hard Mode’s pass and kept going, Brick or AppBlock with Approval. If you’d simply rather your phone sent you outside, try a walk gate on the one app that costs you the most.
Whatever you pick, give it two weeks before you judge it. The first week of any blocker is mostly you testing where the edges are.