The Best Free Digital Detox Apps in 2026 (What Is Actually Free, App by App)
By Thomas Shellberg, Founder of emberglow~10 min read
If you want one free app that limits your phone, get ScreenZen. It is the only app in this list where everything is free with no catch. If you want one that gives you a reason to put the phone down rather than a wall in front of it, try emberglow, which I built, and which is free through the first act of its story. Below I go through seven apps and say exactly what is free, what you pay for, and what it costs, with the prices taken from each app's official page on 5 September 2026. I am Thomas, and I am the founder of one of these apps, so read the ranking with that in mind.
Last updated 5 September 2026.
What “free” actually means for each app
Most lists of “free digital detox apps” mix apps that are free forever with apps that give you a week and then ask for a card. I found that annoying enough that I made this table first, before I wrote anything else.
| App | Free forever | Free trial only | What the paid tier adds | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ScreenZen | Yes, everything | No | Nothing. There is no paid tier, only an optional donation | $0. A separate hardware tile, the Halo, is $49 |
| emberglow | Yes. Act one of the story, custom quests, character progression, holdout mode. No ads | No | emberglow premium: the story after act one | $3.99 a month, $29.99 a year, or $79.99 once |
| one sec | Yes. The breathing pause on one app. No ads | No | Pro: the pause on more apps | €3.99 a month, €14.99 a year, or €99.99 once, varies by region |
| Freedom | Yes. Block apps, sites or the whole internet, sync across devices, custom blocklists, focus music | Seven-day trial on the yearly plan, on top of the free tier | Premium. The upgrade page lists the price, not a clean feature split | $8.99 a month, $39.99 a year, or $99.50 once |
| Opal | Yes. One rule, basic timers, app blocking, today's Opal Score | No | Pro: harder blocking, no unblocks, more rules | $19.99 a month, $99.99 a year, or $399 once |
| Flipd | Yes. Timers up to 40 minutes, one break a session, 30-day stats, one reminder | No | Premium: longer timers and the rest of the features | $5.99 a month or $42.99 a year |
| Forest | Yes. Focus timer, Deep Focus app blocking, Plant Together, basic analytics. Ads on the Android free version | No | Plus subscription | From about $6 a month. The yearly plan shows $32.49 to $35.99 on the US App Store |
Every row in that table comes from the app's own pricing page or store listing, checked on 5 September 2026. If a price has changed since, tell me and I will fix it.
How I picked these
- The free tier has to be usable for months. A seven-day trial does not count as free.
- I dock points for punishment. An app that makes you feel bad for picking up your phone tends to get deleted, and a deleted app helps nobody.
- It has to run on both Android and iPhone, unless I say otherwise.
- I have used each one myself for at least two weeks, and most of them for far longer.
Forest breaks the second rule and is still on the list, at the bottom, because more people ask me “is Forest free” than about any other app.
The apps, ranked
ScreenZen
What it does: ScreenZen puts a pause in front of the apps you choose. Open Instagram and you get a short wait and a question before it lets you in. You can set limits on how many times a day an app opens, and how long each visit lasts. It runs on iOS, Android, macOS and Windows.
What is free: All of it. ScreenZen is supported by donations. There is no paid tier, no trial, no ads. If you want to give something, you can. If you want hardware, they sell a $49 tile called the Halo, but the app does not need it.
Where you hit the wall: It is less polished than the paid apps, and setting it up properly takes an evening. There is no hard block, so if you decide to get past the pause, you can. Some people need the hard block. I did not.
Who it suits: Anyone who wants a real screen time tool and does not want to pay. I recommend it to friends without hesitation.
emberglow
What it does: emberglow is the app I built. It is a small fantasy RPG where your hero only makes progress while your phone is locked. You pick a quest, put the phone down, and when you come back the next chapter of the story is waiting, narrated. The story is set in a world called Vaedros and it branches on your choices. If you pick the phone up early, the quest slips away. Nothing dies, no streak breaks. You try again when you are ready.
What is free: Act one of the story, which is the first ten main quests. That adds up to a little under three hours of locked-phone time, and most people spread it over one to two weeks. Custom quests, character progression and holdout mode are also free, and there are no ads.
Where you hit the wall: The story after act one is paid. The tier is called emberglow premium, and it is $3.99 a month, $29.99 a year, or $79.99 once for life. Custom quests keep working for free after act one, so you can keep using the app without paying. You just do not get more story.
Who it suits: People who have tried blocking and found it made them want to fight the app. People who like cozy games, stories, or characters. It is not for people who want a plain timer.
one sec
What it does: one sec makes you take a breath before a distracting app opens. Literally: a short breathing animation, then a question, “do you still want to open this”. It turns the automatic open into a choice. It runs on iOS, Android and as a browser extension.
What is free: The breathing pause on one app, with no ads and no time limit. Pick the app that costs you the most time and put one sec in front of it.
Where you hit the wall: One app. If Instagram and TikTok and Reddit all pull at you, you have to pick, or pay. Pro is €3.99 a month, €14.99 a year, or €99.99 for life, and the price changes by region. The other wall is that the pause itself becomes a habit after a while. I got very good at breathing and then opening the app anyway.
Who it suits: People who mostly need to notice what they are doing. The data one sec shows you about how often you reach for your phone is worth the install on its own.
Freedom
What it does: Freedom blocks apps, websites, or the whole internet, on a schedule or on demand, and it does it across your laptop and phone at once. It has a locked mode you cannot switch off mid-session.
What is free: The free tier lets you block apps and sites, sync across devices, keep custom blocklists, and use the focus music. There is also a seven-day trial of Premium on the yearly plan.
Where you hit the wall: Freedom's upgrade page lists the Premium prices, $8.99 a month, $39.99 a year, or $99.50 once, but it does not spell out a clean line between free and paid, so I am not going to guess at one. The other thing is that Freedom is a desktop tool first. The phone apps work, but the heart of it is your laptop.
Who it suits: People whose problem is the laptop as much as the phone, and who want one blocker across both.
Opal
What it does: Opal blocks apps on a schedule, with difficulty levels that make the block harder to get around. It is the best-known app in this category, and the most expensive.
What is free: More than people expect. The free plan gives you one rule (a schedule, a time limit, or a limit on opens), basic timers, app blocking, and today's Opal Score. There is no time limit on the free plan.
Where you hit the wall: One rule. Most people want a bedtime block and a work block, and the second one costs money. Pro is $19.99 a month, $99.99 a year, or $399 for life. The Android app is weaker than the iOS one. And blocking, for me, read as punishment. I wrote a whole post about that.
Who it suits: People who want the polished version of a blocker and only need one rule. If that is you, the free plan is genuinely enough.
Flipd
What it does: Flipd locks your phone for a session, and pairs that with a community feed and study rooms. It leans toward students.
What is free: Timers up to 40 minutes, one break a session, 30 days of stats, and one custom reminder.
Where you hit the wall: Forty minutes. If you want a two-hour session you pay $5.99 a month or $42.99 a year. The community features are nice if you are studying with people and beside the point if you are not.
Who it suits: Students who want a lock timer and some company.
Forest
What it does: You plant a tree, and it grows while you stay off your phone. Leave the app and the tree dies. Over time you build a forest of past sessions.
What is free: More than it used to be. The free version has no time limit and includes the focus timer, Deep Focus app blocking, Plant Together group sessions, and basic analytics. On Android the free version has ads.
Where you hit the wall: The dead tree. I know it is a cartoon, and I still felt bad every time. The rewards also stop feeling new after a few weeks. The old one-time purchase is closed to new users, so the only way to pay now is the Plus subscription, from about $6 a month, or $32.49 to $35.99 a year on the US App Store listing.
Who it suits: Short study sprints with a visible timer, if guilt does not bother you.
Where emberglow falls short (the honest part)
I am asking you to consider an app I built, so here is where it is the wrong pick.
- It does not block anything. If you need a hard wall between you and TikTok, emberglow will not build one. Pair it with ScreenZen or Opal's free rule.
- The free story ends. Act one is about ten quests. After that the story is paid, and the free part of the app is custom quests without new chapters. ScreenZen never asks for money. I do.
- It is a fantasy story with characters. If that sounds like one more thing to manage, it will feel that way. Some people want a timer and nothing else, and that is a fair thing to want.
- English only. The narration and the story are in English, and there is no plan for other languages yet.
If you only try one
Start with ScreenZen if you want a free tool that limits your phone and never asks for a card. It is the answer to “what is the best free screen time app” and I would rather send you there than oversell my own.
Start with emberglow if you have already tried limits and blocks and found yourself fighting them. Act one is free and takes a week or two. If the story pulls you, you will know by the third quest. Download it for iPhone or Android. If you want the longer story of why I built it instead of using Opal, Forest or one sec, it is here. If you have ADHD, this post is closer to your situation.
Try emberglow
Act one of the story is free on iOS and Android, with no ads.
Frequently asked questions
Is emberglow free?
Yes, to download and to play through act one of the story, which is the first ten main quests, about three hours of locked-phone time in total. Custom quests, character progression and holdout mode are free too, with no ads. The story after act one is a paid tier called emberglow premium, at $3.99 a month, $29.99 a year, or $79.99 once.
What is the best free alternative to Opal?
ScreenZen, if you want the closest free thing to what Opal does. It pauses and limits the apps you choose, on iOS and Android, and everything in it is free. Opal's own free plan is also worth knowing about: one rule with no time limit. If you left Opal because blocking felt like punishment, emberglow is the different answer rather than the cheaper one.
Do free screen time apps work?
The free tiers of the apps above are the same tools the paid users get, with fewer rules or fewer apps covered. So yes, in the sense that a free limit on one app will hold as well as a paid limit on one app. What decides it is whether you keep the app installed after the first bad evening. That has more to do with how the app treats you than what it costs.
Is Forest free?
Yes. The free version has no time limit and includes the focus timer, Deep Focus blocking, Plant Together and basic analytics. On Android the free version shows ads. The paid Plus plan is a subscription from about $6 a month. The old one-time purchase is no longer sold to new users.
Is Opal free?
Opal has a free plan with no time limit. You get one rule, basic timers, app blocking, and today's Opal Score. Pro, which adds harder blocking and more rules, is $19.99 a month, $99.99 a year, or $399 for life, with student discounts.
Which digital detox app has no subscription at all?
ScreenZen. There is no paid tier, only an optional donation. Of the others, emberglow, one sec, Freedom and Opal each offer a one-time lifetime purchase instead of a subscription if you prefer paying once.
What is the best free app blocker for Android?
ScreenZen, for a pause-and-limit approach that is entirely free on Android. Freedom's free tier blocks apps and sites on Android too. Forest's free Android version includes Deep Focus blocking but shows ads. Opal's Android app is weaker than its iOS app, so I would not start there on Android.
Is there a completely free screen time app with no ads?
ScreenZen has no ads and no paid tier. emberglow and one sec have no ads on their free tiers, though each has a paid tier for more. Forest's free version has ads on Android but not on iOS.
Methodology and updates
Every price and feature claim in this post comes from competitor-facts-2026-09.md, a fact sheet I keep where each app has one row with its free tier, its paid price, the official page I checked, and the date I checked it. The check date for everything above is 5 September 2026. I refresh this post every quarter, and sooner if a reader tells me a price has moved. You can reach me through the contact page.
I built emberglow. I have tried to be fair to the others, and where I could not be sure of a fact, I said so instead of guessing.
Last updated: September 5, 2026. Author: Thomas Shellberg, Founder, emberglow.
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