Alternatives

Brick Alternatives in 2026: Cheaper (and Stricter) Ways to Lock Your Phone

Brick costs $59 and needs a tap to unlock. Here are the alternatives, from free apps to friend-held keys, with prices, platforms and unlock rules dated.

By Engineer Foodie Desk Oct 18, 2026 ✓ Sources checked Oct 15, 2026

9 min read

Prices checked Oct 15, 2026 (website blocking, Jomo unlocks, ScreenZen Halo and Cold Turkey checked Oct 17, 2026) on each vendor’s official site, linked under Sources. No affiliate links on this page (how we work).

A little block, a tap, and your apps go dark until you walk back and tap again. Neat idea, $59. Is Brick worth it? Yes, if you need a lock you can’t undo from the couch. If a pause, a strict mode or a friend would do, you can spend less or nothing.

We haven’t tested Brick or any of the apps below.

TL;DR: the best Brick alternative by situation

Cheapest: ScreenZen. Free, donation-supported, on iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows.
Strictest without hardware: Freedom Locked Mode or Jomo Strict Mode, both paid.
You still want an object: ScreenZen’s Halo device is $49 one-time, against Brick’s $59.
Android, and you’ll cheat on yourself: a friend holds the key with FriendLock. Read the disclosure.
iPhone and Mac only: Jomo, $99.99 once for up to 5 family members.
The problem is your laptop: Cold Turkey, $45 once, desktop only.

What Brick costs and how it works

Brick’s product page listed this on Oct 15, 2026:

Brick: $59.00 one-time. The app is free.
2+ Bricks: $106.20 with free shipping (10% off $118).
Case: $39. Mount: $15.
HSA/FSA eligible, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Yes, the case for the brick costs two thirds of the brick. Somebody in that meeting deserves a raise.

How it works, per getbrick.com: “Activate your session by simply tapping your phone against the Brick device.” Getting out needs “a rescan to exit”, and the app gives you “five Emergency Unbricks” for real emergencies. It runs on Android 12 or later and iPhones on iOS 18 or later. Websites added in a block mode are blocked across Safari, Chrome and other browsers, per Brick support (Oct 17, 2026), with Apple limiting the Safari site list on iOS.

Brick alternatives compared

All prices USD unless shown in €, checked Oct 15, 2026 unless marked. “Check current price” means the vendor doesn’t publish one we could read.

App	Free tier	Price	Platforms	Unlock	Websites	Source
Brick (baseline)	App free	$59 device, one-time	iOS 18+, Android 12+	Tap the Brick again	Yes	getbrick.com
ScreenZen	Yes, all of it	Optional donations; Halo $49	iOS, Android, Mac, Windows	Wait out a pause	Yes	screenzen.co
Opal	Yes, 1 rule	$19.99/mo; $99.99/yr; $399 lifetime	iOS, Android, Mac	Hard Mode (Pro)	Yes, best in Safari	opalapp.com
one sec	Yes, 1 app	3.99 €/mo; 14.99 €/yr; 99.99 € lifetime	iOS, Android, browser	Breathing pause	Yes, extension	one-sec.app
Jomo	Yes	$29.99/yr; $99.99 once	iPhone, iPad, Mac	Wait, code, reason; Strict Mode	Yes, Mac	jomo.so
FriendLock	Yes, 3 apps	Pro: check current price	Android only	A friend approves	Yes	Google Play
Freedom	Yes	$8.99/mo; $3.33/mo yearly; $99.50 Forever	Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Chromebook	Locked Mode (Premium)	Yes	freedom.to
Forest	Yes	Plus: check current price	iPhone, Android	Give up, lose the tree	Yes, 1 site free	forestapp.cc
Cold Turkey	Yes	$45 Pro, one-time	Windows, macOS	Pro lock	Check site	getcoldturkey.com

Unlock methods as each vendor describes them.

The 8 Brick alternatives

ScreenZen

What it is: A free app that makes you wait before a distracting app opens. ScreenZen calls itself “the only donation-supported screen time app that blocks distracting apps and websites” (screenzen.co). Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): “ScreenZen is completely free.” Donations are optional. The hardware bit: ScreenZen sells its own Halo device for $49 one-time (Oct 17, 2026), with the app staying free. That’s the closest like-for-like swap for Brick on this list. The catch: The basic app is a pause, not a lock. You can wait it out.

Opal

What it is: The big-name screen-time app, with schedules, limits and a Pro-only Hard Mode that Opal describes as “No way out. You can’t turn Opal off.” (opalapp.com). Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Free with 1 rule. Pro is $19.99 a month, $99.99 a year or $399 lifetime. Brick vs Opal: Brick is $59 once with a physical key. Opal Pro yearly is $99.99 every year with a software key. Opal’s lifetime plan costs almost seven Bricks. More: our Opal alternatives list compares it with everything else.

one sec

What it is: A breathing pause before your chosen apps open, plus a browser extension that covers websites (one-sec.app, Oct 17, 2026). Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Free for one app. Pro is 3.99 €/month, 14.99 €/year or 99.99 € lifetime on one sec’s FAQ, which says prices vary by region. The US App Store listed $6.99/month, $19.99/year or $99.99 lifetime. The catch: It’s friction, not a lock. No USD price on its own site.

Jomo

What it is: An Apple-only screen-time app with unusually picky unlocks (jomo.so, Oct 17, 2026): a wait, a password, a QR code, typing some text, a selfie or giving a reason. Strict Mode makes rules unbreakable, per Jomo. Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Free, then Plus at $29.99 a year, $99.99 one-time for up to 5 family members, or $14.99 a year for students (jomo.so). Why it’s here: The QR-code unlock is the software version of walking over to a Brick. Print the code, stick it somewhere annoying. The catch: No Android. Website blocking is Mac only.

FriendLock

Disclosure: the team behind this site has a stake in FriendLock. (How we work)

What it is: An Android app blocker where the key is a person instead of a plastic block. A blocked app opens only when your friend approves it or shares a 6-digit code, and access is temporary (Google Play). Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Free blocks up to 3 apps and may show ads on in-app screens. Pro isn’t priced on the listing, so check current price in the app. Features on the listing: blocking just Reels, Shorts or Spotlight, a website blocker for major Android browsers, lock hours, and tamper alerts that tell your partner if protection is turned off. The catch: Its listing says it’s “a commitment device, not an unbreakable lock”. On a normal Android phone, the owner can still get around it. Android only.

Freedom

What it is: Blocking for apps and websites that syncs across Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and Chromebook (freedom.to). Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Free, then Premium at $8.99 a month or $3.33 a month billed yearly. Freedom’s Google Play listing shows $39.99 a year. Forever is $99.50 one-time, shown as 50% off $199 at the time of writing. How strict: “Locked Mode prevents you from quitting a session early” (freedom.to), and the limited early exit “can only be used once every 7 days” (Freedom support). The catch: Locked Mode is Premium only.

Forest

What it is: A focus timer that grows a cartoon tree while you stay off your phone, with app blocking in the free version (forestapp.cc). Price (checked Oct 15, 2026): Free for core focus. Forest says Plus pricing “varies by region and platform”, so check current price in your app store. How strict: “The only way out is to give up,” and giving up kills the tree. The catch: The lock is guilt about a cartoon tree, which is a bold thing to build a business on.

Cold Turkey

What it is: A desktop blocker for Windows and macOS, with a free tier and a 7-day Pro trial (getcoldturkey.com). Price (checked Oct 17, 2026): Pro is $45 one-time (“pay once, own forever”), read from its Paddle checkout for the US. There’s a 20% student discount and a 30-day refund window. The catch: It doesn’t touch your phone. Pair it with a phone app if both screens get you.

Hardware vs app: when a physical key helps

A physical key works for one reason: undoing it means getting up. That’s friction you can’t tap past. Research on phone limits backs the general idea. In a large experiment with Android users, limits that “could not be immediately overridden” cut use of the tracked apps by 22 minutes a day, or 16%, over 12 weeks (Allcott, Gentzkow & Song, NBER w28936; published in the American Economic Review, 2022). That study tested software limits, not a block on a shelf, so treat it as support for “hard to undo”, not for Brick specifically.

Pick hardware if:

you can leave the Brick (or Halo) in another room during the hours that matter;
you’ve already deleted every app limit you’ve ever set;
you’d rather spend once than pay a subscription.

Pick an app if you travel a lot or mostly need a pause rather than a wall. And if “another room” isn’t far enough, a person is further. Every Mission: Impossible vault has a guard; your friend at 1 AM is cheaper than Tom Cruise.

For the commitment-device idea in more depth, read how to stop doomscrolling. On Android, our best app blocker for Android list goes app by app.

Here’s what I’d do

Start free with ScreenZen for a week. If the pause works, you just saved $59. If you blow past it, try a strict mode: Freedom if your laptop is involved, Jomo if you live in Apple’s world. Want an object? Compare Halo at $49 with Brick at $59. And if you’re on Android and you know you’ll override anything you control, hand the key to a friend with FriendLock, and judge it by the same rules as the rest.

Torn between the two big names? Brick vs Opal puts the $59 block and the app side by side.

FAQ

Is Brick worth it? It’s worth $59 if you need a lock you can’t undo from where you sit, but free apps like ScreenZen are worth trying first.

Does Brick work without the device? Brick says you tap the device to start and need a rescan to exit, with five Emergency Unbricks in the app for when you can’t.

Brick vs Opal: which is better? Brick is $59 once with a physical key, while Opal Pro is $99.99 a year or $399 lifetime with a software Hard Mode, per each vendor on Oct 15, 2026.

Is there a free Brick alternative? Yes, ScreenZen is completely free, and Opal, one sec, Jomo, FriendLock, Freedom, Forest and Cold Turkey all have free tiers.

Can you bypass Brick? Brick gives you five Emergency Unbricks, and we haven’t tested any other way around it.

Sources

Brick product page: https://getbrick.com/products/grey-brick (checked 2026-10-15)
Brick homepage: https://getbrick.com/ (checked 2026-10-15)
Brick support, website blocking: https://support.getbrick.com/en/articles/5290433 (checked 2026-10-17)
ScreenZen: https://screenzen.co/ (checked 2026-10-15); Halo: https://screenzen.co/products/halo (checked 2026-10-17)
Opal pricing: https://opalapp.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-15)
one sec FAQ: https://one-sec.app/faq/ (checked 2026-10-15); one sec: https://one-sec.app/ (checked 2026-10-17)
one sec on the US App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-sec-screen-time-focus/id1532875441 (checked 2026-10-15)
Jomo pricing: https://jomo.so/pricing (checked 2026-10-15); features: https://jomo.so/features (checked 2026-10-17)
FriendLock on Google Play: https://link.sayne.design/friendlock (checked 2026-10-15)
Freedom Premium: https://freedom.to/premium (checked 2026-10-15); Freedom on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=to.freedom.android2 (checked 2026-10-15)
Freedom features and support: https://freedom.to/features and https://support.freedom.to/en/articles/1776713-ending-a-block-session (checked 2026-10-15)
Forest: https://www.forestapp.cc/ (checked 2026-10-15 and 2026-10-17)
Cold Turkey pricing: https://getcoldturkey.com/pricing/ (checked 2026-10-15; $45 Pro price checked 2026-10-17)
Allcott, Gentzkow & Song (2022), Digital Addiction, AER: https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20210867; NBER w28936: https://www.nber.org/papers/w28936 (checked 2026-10-15)