Forest alternatives in 2026
Forest is plant a tree, stay off the phone, keep the tree. The category's emotional favourite. Here is what to use instead, depending on why you are leaving.
By Ruslan Shchuchkin, who built PhoneStop · · Read this page as Markdown
Why people look for an alternative to Forest
Forest is the best-loved app in this category and the one people outgrow fastest, for a specific reason.
- It only works while you are playing. Forest guards a session you chose to start. It has nothing to say about the six hours you did not plan.
- The stakes are imaginary. Once you have killed a few trees and noticed the world did not end, the mechanism stops working.
- It is a reward loop. Coins, species, a forest to grow: that is a game economy, which is the same machinery as the apps you are trying to put down.
- No real reporting. Forest tells you about your sessions, not about your day.
| App | Platforms | Price | At the limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| PhoneStop | Android | Free | A full-screen stop, a reset, then a one-tap lock |
| StayFree | Android, iPhone, Chrome | Free with a premium tier | An overlay warning, and a block screen on the app you set a limit for |
| 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 |
| ScreenZen | iPhone, iPad, Android | Free, donation-supported | Shows a pause screen and can refuse the open once you pass your cap |
| Freedom | iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, Chrome | Subscription, with a lifetime option (around $100) | Blocks the sites and apps on your list for the scheduled session |
| AppBlock | Android, iPhone | Usable free tier; premium by month, year or a one-time payment | Blocks the profile's apps and sites, and Strict Mode refuses to be turned off |
The alternatives
1. PhoneStop
Android · Free
Free, Android. Swaps the game for a budget: the day counts down, you get warned, and at zero the screen is taken over.
2. StayFree
Android, iPhone, Chrome · Free with a premium tier
If what you want is the number rather than the tree: the best free usage tracking on Android.
3. one sec
iPhone, iPad, Android, browser extension · Free for one app; subscription to go further (around $50/year)
Friction without the game: a breath and a confirmation before the app opens.
4. ScreenZen
iPhone, iPad, Android · Free, donation-supported
Free, and it does the thing Forest will not: puts a pause and a limit on the specific apps you lose time to.
5. Freedom
iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, Chrome · Subscription, with a lifetime option (around $100)
For planned deep work across a laptop as well as a phone, with sessions you cannot casually cancel.
6. AppBlock
Android, iPhone · Usable free tier; premium by month, year or a one-time payment
The Android answer when a dead tree is no longer a deterrent and you want a real block.
Disclosure: we make PhoneStop, so treat our own entry with the scepticism it deserves. Everything else here is written from public information and hands-on use; prices and platforms were checked in September 2026 and change often, so check the vendor before you pay.
PhoneStop is a free Android app. Set a daily screen time budget, get warned before it runs out, and get stopped when it does.
Android. No account, no ads. Your screen time never leaves your phone. An iPhone version is coming soon.
Questions people ask
What is like Forest but for the whole day?
Forest guards a session you start. For the whole day you need something that runs by itself: Digital Wellbeing for free, StayFree for the numbers, or PhoneStop for a budget that ends with a stop.
Is there a Forest alternative without the game?
Most of them, and that is the point of the switch. If the tree stopped working for you, the honest next step is a tool with no stake to lose: a timer, a limit, or a budget.