TollieFreedom app alternatives for iPhone
Freedom has been blocking distractions since before the iPhone had Screen Time. It is good at what it was built for, and ordinary at what you probably want it for.
What Freedom is good at
- Every device at once. Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, with sessions that sync. Nobody else on this page does that.
- Websites as well as apps. Useful on the desktop, where the distraction is a browser tab.
- A lifetime tier. Freedom Forever is $199, often on sale, and the only lifetime among the classic blockers that is sold in every country.
Tollie closes the apps you pick. The key is a spot in your home.One booth free forever · No account · iPhone
Get TollieWhere it is ordinary on the iPhone
- The lock is a timer. Locked mode means you cannot end a session early until the timer runs out. It is the same software promise Opal and AppBlock make, and the reviews list the same ways around it.
- Website blocking on iOS is fragile. It is where Freedom collects its worst reviews: the filter dropping, Safari still open, blocks not firing.
- You pay for the desktop even if you only need the phone. $39.99 to $59.99 a year, or $199 once.
- An account. Sessions sync through Freedom's servers.
If the iPhone is the problem
Most people searching for a Freedom alternative have one device in mind: the one in bed with them. For that, the cross-device feature is weight, and the timer lock is the weak point. The alternatives below all do one thing: close apps on the iPhone with a key you cannot tap.
| Option | The key | Price | Account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom | A timer | $39.99 to $59.99 / year, $199 once | Yes |
| Tollie | A spot in your home you scan, or real steps | Free for one booth, €59.99 once for all | No |
| Brick | A $59 NFC device | $59 device, free app | Yes |
| ScreenZen | A waiting period | Free, tips optional | No |
Tollie against Freedom, on the phone
- The key isn't on your phone. No passcode, no timer to wait out. A block ends when its window ends; a ten-minute pass costs a walk to your spot.
- The lifetime costs less than a third. €59.99 at launch against $199, and one booth is free forever.
- No account and no server. Rules sync through your own iCloud. The apps you block never leave the phone.
- No website blocking. On purpose. Apps are where the scrolling happens, and the browser filter is where Freedom's reviews go wrong.
- An honest emergency exit. Break Glass: 30 minutes, once a week, and your witness hears about it.
Keep Freedom for the laptop if you like it. Put Tollie on the phone, where the key needs to be somewhere else. One booth is free.
Questions
I bought Freedom Forever. Should I switch?
Only if the phone is where it fails you. Freedom on the desktop is still good. Tollie's free tier costs nothing to try alongside it.
Can Tollie block websites?
No. If you need YouTube blocked in Safari, Freedom or BlockSite do that. Tollie blocks apps.
Does Tollie work on Mac?
No. iPhone with iOS 17 or later.
Tollie is made by the people who wrote this page. Freedom, Brick, ScreenZen, Opal, AppBlock and BlockSite are the names of other products, used here to describe them. Prices were read from the US App Store on 21 October 2026 and may have changed. Review themes come from reading each app's most recent public App Store reviews.