# StayFree alternatives in 2026

StayFree is the tracker. The clearest picture of where your hours went, on Android, for free. Here is what to use instead, depending on why you are leaving.

*Source: https://phonestop.app/alternatives/stayfree · Last checked August 2026 · PhoneStop — A daily screen time budget that stops you. A free Android app.*

## Why people look for an alternative to StayFree

StayFree is the best measuring instrument in the category. The complaints are
about what happens after you have measured.

- **Knowing is not stopping.** A beautiful chart of the six hours you lost is still six hours.
- **The limits are per app**, so the total keeps drifting even when every app is inside its rule.
- **The blocking is soft** — an overlay you can dismiss — and it needs the accessibility service to do the
  website half.
- **Ads and a premium tier** in an app whose core value is a chart.

| App | Platforms | Price | At the limit |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PhoneStop | Android | Free | A full-screen stop, a reset, then a one-tap lock |
| Digital Wellbeing | Android (built in) | Free | The icon greys out and a Time's up screen appears — with a button to dismiss it for the day |
| 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 |
| ScreenZen | iPhone, iPad, Android | Free, donation-supported | Shows a pause screen and can refuse the open once you pass your cap |
| 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 |
| 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*

Free, Android. Turns the same usage data into one draining budget with warnings and a full-screen stop, instead of a report.

### 2. Digital Wellbeing

*Android (built in) · Free*

The free built-in version of the same chart. Less detail, zero installs.

[PhoneStop vs Digital Wellbeing](https://phonestop.app/vs/digital-wellbeing)

### 3. AppBlock

*Android, iPhone · Usable free tier; premium by month, year or a one-time payment*

When tracking has done its job and you want rules with teeth.

[PhoneStop vs AppBlock](https://phonestop.app/vs/appblock)

### 4. ScreenZen

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

Free, per-app pauses and open limits — the acting half that StayFree's charts are missing.

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

### 5. Forest

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

If the missing ingredient is motivation rather than information.

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

### 6. one sec

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

Friction at the app door, for the specific apps your StayFree chart just indicted.

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

![The PhoneStop over-limit takeover screen.](https://phonestop.app/assets/takeover-dark-640.411574cd.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. https://phonestop.app/

## Questions people ask

### What should I use once StayFree has shown me the numbers?

Whatever matches the shape of the problem the chart just showed you. Two apps at the top and a long tail: per-app limits. A flat spread across everything: a whole-phone budget.

### Is there a screen time tracker without ads?

Digital Wellbeing has none and is already installed. PhoneStop has none because it has no revenue model at all — it tracks total screen time only, not app by app.

## Keep reading

- [PhoneStop vs StayFree](https://phonestop.app/vs/stayfree)
- [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)