The Best Opal Alternatives in 2026 (From Someone Who Quit Opal)
By Thomas Shellberg, Founder of emberglow~9 min read
The best Opal alternative depends on why Opal stopped working for you. If it was the price, ScreenZen does most of what Opal does for nothing. If the blocking itself started to feel like punishment, that is the reason I left, and the app I built afterwards, emberglow, takes the opposite approach: instead of a wall, it gives you a story that only moves while your phone is locked. If the problem was the Android app, Freedom or Brick hold up better there. Below are seven alternatives, sorted by those reasons, with every free tier and price checked against the official pages on 5 September 2026.
Last updated 5 September 2026.
Why people leave Opal
I paid for Opal for the better part of a year, so none of this is from the outside. These are the four reasons I hear most, and the facts behind each.
The price. Opal Pro is $99.99 a year, $19.99 a month, or $399 for life, with student discounts of up to half off. That is the highest price in this category by a wide margin. The free plan gives you one rule, basic timers, app blocking and today's Opal Score, with no time limit, and for some people one rule is enough. For most people it is not, and the second rule costs $99.99.
Blocking felt like punishment. This was mine. Every block is a small argument with yourself, and Opal's harder difficulty levels and the no-unblock option on Pro turn the volume up on that argument. Some people find that steadying. I found that after a few weeks I was fighting the app instead of using it, and then I deleted it, which is the worst outcome for everyone.
Android. Opal started on iPhone, and the Android app is weaker than the iOS one. If you are on Android and have read a glowing review, there is a fair chance it was written on an iPhone.
The VPN. People still search for this, so I will be clear about it. Opal used a local VPN on iPhone to block apps until November 2022. Since then it has used Apple's Screen Time API, and Opal says so in an update on its own post about the VPN. If the VPN was your reason for leaving, that reason is out of date on iOS. I cannot say anything about how the Android app blocks, because I have not verified it.
The alternatives compared
| App | Replaces which part of Opal | Free tier | Price | Android | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ScreenZen | Blocking and limits, without the hard wall | Everything, donation supported | $0 | Yes | Best free alternative |
| Jomo | The polished iPhone blocker, cheaper | Limited free tier, three-day trial on the yearly plan | $5.99 a month, $29.99 a year, $99.99 once | No, iOS only | Closest to Opal on iPhone |
| Freedom | Scheduled blocking across phone and laptop | Block apps, sites or the whole internet, sync across devices | $8.99 a month, $39.99 a year, $99.50 once | Yes | Best if the laptop is half the problem |
| emberglow | Nothing Opal does. A reason to lock the phone instead of a block | Act one of the story, custom quests, no ads | emberglow premium: $3.99 a month, $29.99 a year, $79.99 once | Yes | Best if blocking felt like punishment |
| one sec | The friction, not the block | The pause on one app, no ads | €3.99 a month, €14.99 a year, €99.99 once | Yes | Best gentle friction |
| ClearSpace | Friction plus session limits | Limited, about one app | $6.99 a month, from $44.99 a year | Yes | Between one sec and a blocker |
| Brick | Blocking that holds, with no subscription | The app is free, the tile is not | $59 once | Yes, Android 12 and up | Best if you need a block you cannot argue with |
The alternatives, one by one
If the price was the problem
ScreenZen
ScreenZen puts a pause and a question in front of the apps you choose, and lets you cap how many times a day an app opens and how long each visit lasts. Everything in it is free, on iOS and Android, with no ads and no paid tier. The developers accept donations and sell a $49 hardware tile called the Halo, but the app does not need it. What you give up compared with Opal is polish and a hard block: the pause can be dismissed if you decide to, and setup takes an evening. In exchange you get most of Opal's daily use for nothing. This is the app I point people to first when they ask for a free alternative to Opal.
Jomo
If what you liked about Opal was the polished iPhone blocker, Jomo is the closest thing at a lower price. It blocks apps and sites on schedules and with “budgets”, and it has a strict mode for when you do not trust yourself. Plus is $5.99 a month, $29.99 a year, or $99.99 once, so the yearly plan is under a third of Opal's. The free tier is limited, and the yearly plan comes with a three-day trial. The catch is that Jomo is iOS only, with a macOS companion. If you are on Android, skip to Freedom.
Freedom
Freedom blocks apps, sites, or the whole internet, on a schedule or on demand, across your phone and your laptop at once, with a locked mode. The free tier includes blocking, sync across devices, custom blocklists and focus music, and the yearly plan has a seven-day trial. Premium is $8.99 a month, $39.99 a year, or $99.50 once. Freedom was built for desktop first, so if your problem is the laptop as much as the phone, it replaces Opal and then some. If your problem is only the phone, it is more than you need.
If blocking felt like punishment
emberglow
This is the app I built after I quit Opal, so I will keep it short and let the longer story speak for itself. emberglow is a small fantasy RPG. You pick a quest, lock your phone, and your hero makes progress in a world called Vaedros only while the phone stays locked. When you come back, the next chapter of the story is waiting, narrated, and it branches on the choices you make. If you pick the phone up early, the quest slips away. Nothing dies, no streak breaks, you try again when you are ready. It runs on iOS and Android. Act one of the story, the first ten quests, is free, along with custom quests, character progression and holdout mode, 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. It does not block anything, and it never will. If you need a wall, pair it with ScreenZen.
one sec
one sec keeps the part of Opal that is a moment of friction and drops the part that is a wall. Before a distracting app opens, it makes you take a breath and then asks whether you still want to go in. The free tier covers one app with no ads and no time limit, and Pro, which covers more apps, is €3.99 a month, €14.99 a year, or €99.99 once, varying by region. It runs on iOS, Android, and as a browser extension. The weakness is that the pause never blocks, and after a while the breath becomes part of the ritual of opening the app. For people who mostly need to notice what they are doing, it is enough. For people who need to be stopped, it is not.
ClearSpace
ClearSpace sits between one sec and a blocker. It puts a breathing exercise and an intention prompt in front of an app, and adds session limits on top. It runs on iOS, Android, and as a Chrome extension. Premium is $6.99 a month or from $44.99 a year, with a family plan at $79.99. The free tier is small: from what reviewers report it covers about one app, and the official site does not spell it out, so treat it as a trial of the idea rather than a free plan. If one sec felt too light and Opal felt too heavy, this is the middle.
If you need a block you cannot argue with
Brick
Brick is a small physical tile. You tap your phone on it to lock the apps you chose, and you tap again to unlock. Because the tile can be in another room, unlocking means getting up and walking, and that turns out to be exactly enough friction for a lot of people. The app is free; the tile is $59 once, with no subscription, which makes it cheaper than one year of Opal Pro. It works on iOS 17 and up and Android 12 and up. The weakness is the same as the strength: leave the tile at home and the whole thing stops working. If Opal's problem for you was that you could always talk your way out of the block, Brick is the answer, because there is nobody to talk to.
Where emberglow falls short (the honest part)
I am recommending an app I built, so here is where it is the wrong pick.
- It does not block anything. If you left Opal because the blocks were not strict enough, emberglow is the opposite direction and will feel like no help at all. Readers who need hard blocks should pair it with a blocker, or just pick Brick or Jomo instead.
- It is a fantasy story with characters. Opal is a clean utility. emberglow has a hero, a world, a map and a narrator. If that sounds like a chore, it will be one.
- The free story ends. Act one is about ten quests, a little under three hours of locked-phone time, and then the story is paid. ScreenZen never asks you for money.
- English only. The narration and story are in English, with no other languages planned yet.
What I'd do
If I were leaving Opal today because of the price, I would install ScreenZen, set it up properly one evening, and see whether I missed anything after two weeks. Most people do not. If I were leaving because I wanted Opal's polish for less, Jomo on iPhone, Freedom on Android. If I were leaving because the block never held, Brick, and I would leave the tile in the kitchen.
If I were leaving because I was tired of fighting an app, which is what happened to me, I would try emberglow. Act one is free and takes a week or two. If the story pulls you, you will know by the third quest, and if it does not, you have lost nothing. Download it for iPhone or Android. If you want the free version of every app in this category, that list is here, and 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 there a free alternative to Opal?
Yes. ScreenZen is free in full, on iOS and Android, with no ads and no paid tier. It pauses and limits the apps you choose, which covers most of what people use Opal for. Opal's own free plan, one rule with no time limit, is also worth knowing about before you switch. emberglow is free through act one of its story if you want a different approach rather than a cheaper one.
Does Opal work on Android?
There is an Android app, but it is weaker than the iOS one. If you are on Android and want a blocker, Freedom's free tier blocks apps and sites on Android, ScreenZen is free on Android, and Brick works on Android 12 and up. Jomo is iOS only.
What is the best Opal alternative for ADHD?
The pattern I see most is one friction tool plus one reward tool: one sec or Brick to interrupt the impulse, and emberglow to give your brain something to pull toward. Hard blocking alone tends to turn into a fight with the app for a lot of ADHD adults. I wrote about this in more detail in the ADHD post linked above.
Is emberglow like Opal?
No. Opal blocks apps on a schedule. emberglow blocks nothing. It is a fantasy RPG where the story only advances while your phone is locked, and where an early pickup just retries the quest. People who left Opal because blocking felt like punishment tend to like it; people who left because the blocks were too easy to get around will not.
Is one sec better than Opal?
They do different jobs. Opal is a wall; one sec is a pause. one sec is better if you mostly need to notice what you are doing, and it is cheaper, with the pause on one app free and Pro at €14.99 a year. Opal is better if you need to be stopped. Plenty of people run both, one sec on the free tier and Opal's free plan for one rule.
Why is Opal so expensive?
I do not know Opal's costs, so I will not guess. What I can say is that Pro is $99.99 a year, $19.99 a month, or $399 for life, that students get up to half off, and that the free plan with one rule has no time limit. Whether Pro is worth it comes down to whether you need more than one rule and whether harder blocking helps you or makes you fight it.
Does Opal still use a VPN?
Not on iOS. Opal used a local VPN to block apps until November 2022, and since then it has used Apple's Screen Time API. Opal says so in an update on its own post about the VPN. I have not verified how the Android app blocks, so I cannot speak to that.
Can I keep using Opal for free?
Yes. The free plan has no time limit and includes one rule, which can be a schedule, a time limit, or a limit on the number of opens, plus basic timers, app blocking and today's Opal Score. If one rule covers your problem, there is no reason to leave.
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 paid for Opal, I left it, and I built emberglow afterwards. I have tried to be fair to Opal and 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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