# PhoneStop vs StayFree

The tracker. The clearest picture of where your hours went, on Android, for free.

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

## The short version

Use StayFree for a week first — genuinely, it is the fastest way to find out
that you are on the phone for five hours a day and not three. Then decide whether you need something that acts
on that number. If you do, that is what PhoneStop is.

| | PhoneStop | StayFree |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Platforms | Android | Android, iPhone, Chrome |
| Price | Free | Free with a premium tier |
| At the limit | Full-screen stop, then a reset and a one-tap lock | An overlay warning, and a block screen on the app you set a limit for |
| Warns before the limit | Yes — 60, 30 and 10 minutes left | Yes — usage-limit alerts on individual apps |
| Enforcement | Foreground service + display-over-apps overlay | Usage access, plus an accessibility service for websites |
| Blocks individual apps | No — whole-phone budget | Yes — per-app limits and blocklists |
| Account needed | No | Optional |
| Data leaves the phone | No | Optional account and sync |

## How each app stops you

StayFree and PhoneStop both start from Android's usage data and go opposite
ways with it. StayFree turns it into reporting: per app, per day, per week, with limits you can attach to
individual apps.

PhoneStop turns it into one countdown. There is a single number for the day, it is on the home screen as a ring
that drains, and the app's whole job is to make sure you know where that number is *before* it is gone —
warnings at 60, 30 and 10 minutes, and a full screen at zero.

![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-640.411574cd.webp)

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

## Where StayFree is the better choice

- **Far better statistics.** Per-app history, comparisons, streaks of data PhoneStop simply
  does not collect.
- **Per-app limits**, if a single app is your problem.
- **Website blocking** through the accessibility service.
- **It is also on iPhone.**

## Where PhoneStop is the better choice

- **One number instead of forty.** A budget you can feel, rather than a report you read.
- **The interruption is the product.** Warnings that reach you inside other apps, then a stop you cannot scroll
  past.
- **Free with no premium tier and no ads.**
- **Nothing leaves the phone.**

## What PhoneStop does at the limit

The whole product is three moments. Warnings arrive as the budget empties, inside whatever app you are in:

> **PhoneStop — 30 minutes left**
> Half an hour of budget to go. A good moment to pick where it goes. [PAUSE]
>
> **PhoneStop — Time's up**
> You are out of budget for today. Take a minute, then lock the phone. [PAUSE]

Then, at zero, the screen is taken over: a fifteen-second breath or twenty squats, and a button that locks the
phone. If you genuinely need it, one tap extends the window and says so honestly, because an intervention you
cannot escape is one you uninstall.

*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

### Is StayFree accurate?

It reads Android's own usage statistics, so it is as accurate as the system data — which is very, with the usual caveats about screen-on time versus active use.

### Does StayFree block apps or just track them?

Both, but the blocking is the weaker half: per-app limits with an overlay you can dismiss. The tracking is what it is best at.

### StayFree or PhoneStop?

StayFree to find out where the time goes. PhoneStop to have something happen when it goes.

## Keep reading

- [StayFree alternatives](https://phonestop.app/alternatives/stayfree)
- [Why blocking one app does not lower your screen time](https://phonestop.app/why-blocking-apps-does-not-work)
- [Every PhoneStop comparison](https://phonestop.app/compare)