ScreenFine

Compare

ScreenFine vs everyone else.

Most screen-time apps add a speed bump. ScreenFine adds a consequence. Here's where each one wins, loses, and quietly lets you off the hook.

  SCREEN⁠FINEAPPLE SCREEN TIMEONE SECOPALSCREENZEN
Cost $1/week Free $20-30 / yr $80-100 / yr Free + Pro
Earn-back to unlock 25 pushups, steps or workout
AI roast / villain Six villain personas
Public accountability Wall + partner mode ~ Family Sharing ~ Friend leaderboard
Per-app limits ~ ~
Total-device daily cap ~
Pause for travel ~ ~
Hard to disable on a whim ~ ~
Free tier ~ Paid from day one ~ ~
Yes ~ Partial / workaround No

Where each one wins, and loses.

APPLE SCREEN TIME
+ Free and built in
+ True OS-level data
✕ "Ignore limit" is one tap away
✕ No consequence, no accountability
ONE SEC
+ Great breathing-pause friction
+ Cheap, simple
✕ You can still proceed every time
✕ No earn-back, no real stakes
OPAL
+ Polished, strong blocking sessions
+ Good focus scores
✕ Expensive vs $1/week
✕ No physical earn-back or villain
SCREENZEN
+ Free, gentle nudges
+ Good for light users
✕ Easy to bypass when motivated
✕ No accountability layer

How to choose

How to pick a screen-time app.

Before you choose, be honest about the failure you keep hitting. If you simply forget your goals, a tracker that reports your usage is enough. If you remember the goal and override it anyway, a tracker won't help, and neither will a timer you can dismiss. That is the line most tools never cross: they assume the problem is awareness, when for most people the problem is the override.

Three questions sort the field. First, can you bypass it in the moment? Soft blockers like One Sec or Opal add a pause you can click through; ScreenFine uses Apple's Family Controls to deny the launch outright. Second, what does breaking the rule cost? For most apps it costs nothing, so there is no reason not to. Third, how do you get back in? A countdown only rewards waiting; an effort-based unlock rewards doing something better with the moment.

If you want a gentle nudge and full flexibility, the lighter tools are a fine fit. If gentle nudges are exactly what stopped working, you want a real consequence and a hard block you can't wave away, which is the gap ScreenFine was built to fill.

The bottom line

Everyone else builds a speed bump. We built a pre-commitment device.

The others rely on the same willpower that already failed you at the limit. ScreenFine takes the decision away from future-you and gives it to the version of you who set the rule, then makes breaking it cost something your body has to pay. That's the whole difference.