Opal is one of the best-built screen time apps on iOS. If you're here, it's probably not because it stopped working — it's because of the price, the complexity, or one bad experience with a strict session. Which of those it is determines where you should go next.
Disclosure: we make Bedside, one of the alternatives listed below. We've tried to be genuinely fair to Opal, because recommending the wrong tool wastes your time and ours.
Worth being honest about before you switch, because you may lose something you liked:
If none of those matter to you, that's your answer: you're paying for a dashboard you don't read.
Opal Pro is $99.99/year, or $19.99 a month. Over three years that's roughly $300 for a tool whose core job is "don't let me open Instagram." There is a lifetime tier, but it's $399 — buying out costs about four years of subscription upfront. For a lot of people, this paragraph is the whole reason they're reading this page.
Go here instead: a blocker with a one-time purchase or a free tier. See our fuller writeup on app blockers without a subscription.
Opal is a focus platform: sessions, schedules, scores, streaks, a whole system. If your actual problem is one specific thing — you scroll in bed until 1 a.m. — the platform is overhead. A tool that does one thing needs less of your attention to keep working.
Go here instead: one sec or ScreenZen if you want a light nudge before opening an app; Bedside if the problem is specifically nighttime.
Any blocker strict enough to work will eventually catch you when you genuinely need through. It's the single most common reason people uninstall a blocker — not one bad feature, one bad minute.
Go here instead: anything with a deliberate escape hatch — a way through that's slow rather than impossible. Ask about this before you commit, not after.
Analytics dashboards need somewhere to compute the analytics, which usually means an account and a cloud. If you'd rather your late-night usage never left your phone, you want a blocker with no account at all.
Go here instead: a fully local blocker. ScreenZen and Bedside both work without an account.
| App | Best if you're leaving because… | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| ScreenZen | …of the price, entirely | Free, no in-app purchases |
| one sec | …you want a nudge, not a wall | Free for one app; $19.99/yr or $99.99 lifetime |
| Forest | …you want focus to feel rewarding | $3.99 once (iOS) |
| Jomo | …you like Opal's approach but not its price | $29.99/yr or $99.99 lifetime |
| Bedside (ours) | …your real problem is bedtime, and you hate subscriptions | Free with ads; one-time unlock |
Prices verified July 2026. They change regularly — check the store before you buy.
This is the case we built for, so here's the direct version. Bedside blocks the apps that keep you up during a sleep window you set, on iOS and Android. It's a single-purpose tool: no focus scores, no sessions to start, no streak to break.
And what it doesn't do, so you can rule it out quickly: no cross-device sync, no cloud history, no analytics dashboard. If those were the reasons you liked Opal, stay with Opal — you'll be happier.
Sleep first. Scroll tomorrow.
→ The full screen time app comparison
→ App blockers without a subscription