# AppBlock vs Freedom

Both are blockers you configure. AppBlock goes deep on one Android phone; Freedom goes wide across every device you own.

*Source: https://phonestop.app/compare/appblock-vs-freedom · Last checked September 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.*

## The short version

**Choose AppBlock if Android is where the problem is and you want it locked down
hard.** Strict Mode, profiles, schedules, and a free tier that is genuinely usable.

**Choose Freedom if the problem is spread across your devices.** One session covers the laptop, the
phone, the tablet and the browser at once, the thing AppBlock, living on one phone, cannot do. It is a
subscription.

Depth on a single Android phone, or breadth across everything you sign into.

| | AppBlock | Freedom |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Platforms | Android, iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, Chrome |
| Price | Usable free tier; premium by month, year or a one-time payment | Subscription, with a lifetime option (around $100) |
| At the limit | Blocks the profile's apps and sites, and Strict Mode refuses to be turned off | Blocks the sites and apps on your list for the scheduled session |
| Warns before the limit | Profile start and end notices | Session start and end notices |
| Enforcement | Usage access, plus an accessibility service for websites and Strict Mode | A local VPN profile to filter traffic, plus app blocking |
| Blocks individual apps | Yes — profiles, schedules, per app and per website | Yes — apps and websites, across your devices at once |
| Account needed | Optional | Yes |
| Data leaves the device | Optional account | Yes — account and cross-device sync |
| Google Play rating | 4.7 stars (240K) | 4.5 stars (8.1K) |

*Google Play ratings verified September 2026.*

## How each one stops you

AppBlock enforces through usage access and an accessibility service, with Strict
Mode as the hard stop that refuses to be disabled. It is deep, and it is local to the phone it runs on.

Freedom runs a local VPN profile plus app blocking and syncs the session across every device on your
account. Its reach is the selling point; its per-phone enforcement is softer than a dedicated Android
blocker's Strict Mode.

## Where AppBlock wins

- **Strict Mode**, a block you cannot switch off in a weak moment.
- **A usable free tier**, and a one-time option.
- **Deep Android control**: profiles, schedules, sites.
- **No subscription required** to get real use.

## Where Freedom wins

- **Every device from one session**, laptop, phone, tablet, browser.
- **A browser extension and desktop apps.**
- **One schedule** instead of one per machine.
- **The better fit for cross-device work.**

## Strict or synced, you are still maintaining a blocklist

AppBlock makes the block strict; Freedom makes it span devices. Both still ask you to
build and maintain a list of what to block, and both are only ever as good as that list. The evening you
lose is usually to the app that was not on it, the new one, the browser tab, the thing you did not think
counted.

[PhoneStop](https://phonestop.app/) retires the list. One budget for the whole phone, spent down by every app equally, warned
before it runs out and stopped when it is gone. No profiles to maintain, no strict mode to configure,
free on Android with iPhone coming. It is [built on the idea that the blocklist itself is the
problem](https://phonestop.app/why-blocking-apps-does-not-work).

![A PhoneStop budget warning arriving on top of another app.](https://phonestop.app/assets/warning-dark-640.e3c6fb7e.webp)

*A warning notification at 30 minutes left*

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

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

*Disclosure: we make PhoneStop. 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, 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

### AppBlock or Freedom?

AppBlock for a hard lockdown on one Android phone; Freedom to cover a laptop, phone and browser from a single session. Different problems.

### Is AppBlock enough on its own?

On Android, for locking down chosen apps, yes, Strict Mode is genuinely hard to defeat. It still only covers the apps you list, which is the limit of every blocker.

### Which is free?

AppBlock has a real free tier. Freedom is a subscription with a lifetime option. Neither budgets your whole day the way [PhoneStop](https://phonestop.app/) does.

## Keep reading

- [PhoneStop vs AppBlock](https://phonestop.app/vs/appblock)
- [PhoneStop vs Freedom](https://phonestop.app/vs/freedom)
- [Why blocking one app does not lower your screen time](https://phonestop.app/why-blocking-apps-does-not-work)