# BePresent alternatives in 2026

BePresent is duolingo for screen time: streaks, XP, leaderboards, and friends who are told when you fail. Here is what to use instead, depending on why you are leaving.

*Source: https://phonestop.app/alternatives/bepresent · Last checked August 2026 · PhoneStop — A daily screen time budget that stops you. A free Android app, on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.phonestop.*

## Why people look for an alternative to BePresent

BePresent is unusually well made and it genuinely works for the people it suits.
The complaints cluster in four places.

- **The price, and the trial.** It is roughly $60 a year, and the seven-day trial charges automatically. A large
  share of the negative reviews are from people who meant to cancel.
- **The social half needs other people to pay.** Accountability partners, group sessions and leaderboards are
  the reason to choose BePresent over its rivals, and they are worth very little on your own — so the real cost
  is a subscription multiplied by however many friends you can recruit.
- **It fights fire with fire, and some people do not want the fire.** Streaks, XP and a ranking are the exact
  mechanics of the apps you are trying to use less. Pointed at a better goal, they are the same loop, and for
  some people the last thing they need is one more score to protect.
- **It is session-shaped.** You schedule a present session and it holds. It has nothing prepared for the
  unplanned Tuesday that quietly becomes three hours.

| App | Platforms | Price | At the limit |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PhoneStop | Android | Free | A full-screen stop, a reset, then a one-tap lock |
| Forest | iPhone, iPad, Android, browser extension | One-time purchase on iOS; free with in-app purchases on Android | Nothing — the tree dies if you leave your focus session |
| Opal | iPhone and iPad (an Android build exists but trails the iOS app) | Free tier, subscription for the real features (around $100/year) | Blocks the apps in your session; Deep Focus makes the block hard to lift |
| Jomo | iPhone and iPad | Subscription, with a one-time lifetime option | Blocks the app or category and shows your own intention back to you |
| ScreenZen | iPhone, iPad, Android | Free, donation-supported | Shows a pause screen and can refuse the open once you pass your cap |
| one sec | iPhone, iPad, Android, browser extension | Free for one app; subscription to go further (around $50/year) | There is no daily limit — it interrupts each time you open the app |

## The alternatives

### 1. PhoneStop

*Android · Free*

The opposite bet, free: no streak, no score, nobody watching — one budget for the whole phone, three warnings as it drains, and a full-screen stop at zero.

### 2. Forest

*iPhone, iPad, Android, browser extension · One-time purchase on iOS; free with in-app purchases on Android*

If the gamification was the part that worked, Forest is the original and the gentlest version of it — grow a tree, and it dies if you leave.

[PhoneStop vs Forest](https://phonestop.app/vs/forest)

### 3. Opal

*iPhone and iPad (an Android build exists but trails the iOS app) · Free tier, subscription for the real features (around $100/year)*

The polished iPhone rival without the social layer. Similar price, Deep Focus instead of a leaderboard.

[PhoneStop vs Opal](https://phonestop.app/vs/opal)

### 4. Jomo

*iPhone and iPad · Subscription, with a one-time lifetime option*

The deepest iPhone option, with a one-time purchase available if the recurring charge is the objection.

[PhoneStop vs Jomo](https://phonestop.app/vs/jomo)

### 5. ScreenZen

*iPhone, iPad, Android · Free, donation-supported*

Free on both platforms, and covers the everyday blocking half with no subscription at all.

[PhoneStop vs ScreenZen](https://phonestop.app/vs/screenzen)

### 6. one sec

*iPhone, iPad, Android, browser extension · Free for one app; subscription to go further (around $50/year)*

Cheaper and much simpler: a breath before the app opens, with real published evidence behind it.

[PhoneStop vs one sec](https://phonestop.app/vs/one-sec)

![The PhoneStop over-limit takeover screen.](https://phonestop.app/assets/takeover-dark-640.c0f44075.webp)

*The full-screen stop, 57 minutes over budget*

![The PhoneStop home screen: one ring, draining as you use the phone.](https://phonestop.app/assets/home-dark-640.a10347c8.webp)

*1h 20m left of a 3h budget*

*Disclosure: we make PhoneStop. Prices and platforms were checked in August 2026 and change often — check the vendor before you pay.*

**PhoneStop** is a free Android app: set a daily screen time budget, get warned before it runs out, get stopped when it does. An iPhone version is coming soon. Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.phonestop · https://phonestop.app/

## Questions people ask

### Is there a free alternative to BePresent?

ScreenZen is free on both platforms and PhoneStop is free on Android, neither with a paid tier. Neither has the social layer, which is the honest trade — the accountability is the part you are paying for.

### What works instead of streaks and leaderboards?

A number you cannot argue with. Gamification supplies motivation you do not have; a budget supplies information you have been avoiding. If scores have never held your attention for long, the second is a better bet than a harder-working version of the first.

## Keep reading

- [PhoneStop vs BePresent](https://phonestop.app/vs/bepresent)
- [Why blocking one app does not lower your screen time](https://phonestop.app/why-blocking-apps-does-not-work)
- [The best free screen time apps](https://phonestop.app/best/free-screen-time-apps)