Screen LimiterScreen Limiter / Compare
How Screen Limiter compares
Last updated November 2026
Eight apps are worth knowing about in this category, and there is no winner, because the right one depends on what your phone time actually looks like. Here is the map: what shape of limit each app uses, and a page for every comparison that matters.
Read this first. Screen Limiter did not invent the hourly allowance. Precursor shipped the same mechanic first — small allowance, resets at the top of the hour, three strictness levels, no account — and if you want that and nothing else, it is a fair choice. Screen Limiter exists because we wanted a different set of windows and no analytics at all. The full comparison is here.
The whole category in one table
The column that matters most is the second one. Everything else follows from how an app rations time: one budget for the day, one budget that keeps coming back, or no budget at all.
| App | Shape of the limit | Account | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen Limiter | Allowance per 30 / 60 / 120 min, per group | None | Free (payments off) |
| Precursor | Allowance per hour, per group | None | Free core + Plus |
| Apple Screen Time | One daily budget per app or category | Apple Account | Free, built in |
| Opal | Daily limits, schedules, focus sessions | Required | Free tier + Pro |
| one sec | No budget — a pause before each open | No (by default) | Free for one app + Pro |
| ScreenZen | Daily goals, open limits, timed blocks | Optional | Free (donations) |
| Jomo | Daily budget, or N opens per day | Optional | Free tier + Plus |
| Freedom | Timed sessions, across devices | Required | Free tier + Premium |
Summarised from each app's public listing and documentation in November 2026. Free tiers and features change often — check the source before deciding. Screen Limiter is not affiliated with any of them.
Every comparison
Best screen time apps, sorted by the problem
Seven apps, matched to seven different ways a phone habit misbehaves.
Read the roundup →Why daily limits fail
The 9am problem, the exit on the shield, and why a smaller budget that repeats lasts longer.
Read the essay →5 minutes of Instagram per hour
Apple's Screen Time cannot do this. Here is what can, and the fine print.
Read the how-to →Screen Limiter vs Precursor
The closest comparison on this site, including where Precursor wins.
Read the head-to-head →Screen Limiter vs Opal
A metering tool with no account against a focus suite with dashboards.
Read the comparison →Screen Limiter vs one sec
Two answers to two different problems: the automatic tap, and the long sit.
Read the comparison →Screen Limiter vs ScreenZen
Free and flexible against free and metered — both without a subscription.
Read the comparison →The full table
Nine rows, five columns, including what a stop costs in each app.
Back to the home page →How these pages are written
Every claim about another app comes from that app's own App Store listing, website or help docs, and the working notes are dated. Prices are described as tiers rather than numbers, because three of the six apps currently contradict their own pricing somewhere, and every number goes stale. Where something could not be verified, the page says so instead of guessing.
No app here is bad. Each one is a reasonable answer to a slightly different question, and the useful move is to work out which question you have.
Five minutes an hour. Then it stops.
Screen Limiter is in preview and free while it lasts: a small allowance per group, a window you choose, and no account to create.
See how Screen Limiter works