Short version: try Apple Screen Time first. It's free and already on your iPhone. If you need more, Opal is the most complete blocker. It has schedules, app limits, a Deep Focus mode you can't cancel, and an Editors' Choice badge on the App Store. one sec is the pick if you want a pause instead of a block. It runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac, and has a peer-reviewed study behind it. Toll: Study to Unlock Apps, which we make, does something narrower. Opening a gated app costs a few questions from your own study material, or real minutes in a study app. It's iPhone-only, needs iOS 27, and is still in App Store review.
Who wrote this: the makers of Toll, so we're a competitor of every other app here. Nobody paid to be included. Facts about Opal and one sec come from their own US App Store listings, and facts about Screen Time from Apple Support, all checked November 8, 2026. Each one is linked so you can check it. If we got something wrong, email vilde@vevatne.no and we'll fix it.
At a glance
| Apple Screen Time | Opal | one sec | Toll (ours) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main idea | Time Allowances by category, plus Schedules | Block apps and websites on a schedule or after a limit | A short pause before distracting apps instead of a block | Opening an app costs questions or study minutes |
| Learning-based unlock | No | No. Breaks ask for an intention and a timer | Math and typing interventions, plus a LENGO vocabulary integration | Questions from your own decks or arithmetic, or 15+ min in any study app you pick |
| Strictest setting | Settings locked with a Screen Time passcode | Deep Focus: "won't let you cancel or bypass at all" | Re-Intervention kicks you out after a set time | None. You can always delete Toll |
| Platforms | Built into Apple devices (Schedules and Allowances need iOS 27) | iPhone only, iOS 18 or later | iPhone, iPad, Mac, iOS 15 or later | iPhone only, iOS 27 or later |
| Free tier | Everything; it's free | Free download with in-app purchases | Free for one app | Gate 2 apps with arithmetic, free forever |
| Paid (US) | None | Listing shows plans from $4.99 to $99.99 (weekly, monthly, yearly) | $6.99/month, $19.99/year, $99.99 lifetime; family plans too | $2.99/week, $3.99/month, $29.99/year (free first week), $49.99 once |
| App Store rating | n/a | 4.7 from 91K ratings; Editors' Choice | 4.8 from 24K ratings | None yet (in review) |
Checked November 8, 2026 on the US App Store and Apple Support. Prices and features change, so check the listing before you subscribe. Toll's prices are the ones submitted to the App Store.
What each one does better than Toll
Apple Screen Time
It's free, made by Apple, and needs nothing installed. In iOS 27 its Schedules and Time Allowances are a real step up: windows for work, dinner and evening, allowances per category, and "Always Allowed" apps and contacts for emergencies (Apple Support). If a time limit is all you need, you don't need any app on this page.
Opal
Opal is stricter and more complete. Its listing describes a Deep Focus mode that "won't let you cancel or bypass at all", blocklists and allowlists for apps and websites, a calendar for work hours and sleep, focus reports, leaderboards with friends, and Focus Mode and Shortcuts integration (listing). It has 91K ratings and Apple's Editors' Choice, and it runs on iOS 18, so it works on more iPhones than Toll. Choose Opal if you want a hard wall rather than a toll.
one sec
one sec has the strongest evidence. In a 2023 PNAS study, 280 people who used it for six weeks opened their chosen apps 57% less (Grüning et al., 2023; one co-author created one sec). It works on iPhone, iPad and Mac, back to iOS 15. It has many intervention types, a free Safari extension, and support for 30+ languages besides English, per its listing. Its LENGO integration already does "learn vocabulary to unlock" for language learners. Choose one sec if a pause is what you need.
Where Toll fits
Toll is for one specific person: someone studying for something who keeps reaching for their phone. Instead of a wait or a wall, the toll is a little of the work itself.
- Your own material. Paste notes, slides or a chapter into any chatbot with the prompt Toll gives you, and import the result as a deck. Or write cards by hand.
- Any study app counts. The study-time toll unlocks after real minutes in the learning app you choose, such as Anki, Duolingo or Hello Interview, with no quiz at all.
- Graded, not stuck. A round ends with a score and the cards you missed. A bad round never traps you.
- Private. No accounts and no servers. Screen Time gives Toll opaque tokens, so it never learns which apps you gate.
Where Toll is weaker: it's new, it has no ratings yet, and it's still in App Store review. It's iPhone-only and needs iOS 27. Deleting it removes the gates. If you don't want to study before you scroll, one of the other three is the better choice.
Questions
Do I need a paid app at all?
Often not. Try Screen Time's Schedules and Time Allowances for two weeks, with a passcode someone else sets. Pay for an app only if you find yourself working around it.
Can I use more than one?
Technically yes, but stacked gates mostly make your phone frustrating. Pick the one that matches what stops you: a limit, a pause, a wall or a toll.
Why should I trust a comparison written by Toll's makers?
You don't have to. Every fact about another product links to its own listing or to Apple, and we've said plainly where each one beats us. Nobody paid to be included.
Sources
- Opal: Screen Time Control (Opal OS) on the US App Store: apps.apple.com/us/app/id1497465230, checked November 8, 2026.
- one sec | screen time + focus (riedel.wtf apps S.L.) on the US App Store: apps.apple.com/us/app/id1532875441, checked November 8, 2026.
- Apple Support: Set Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances on iPhone; Screen Time passcode, checked November 8, 2026.
- Grüning, Riedel & Lorenz-Spreen (2023), PNAS 120(8): full text.
- Toll: getglod.com/toll.