# PhoneStop vs Unpluq

A physical key for your distracting apps. The most deliberate unlock in the category, on a subscription.

*Source: https://phonestop.app/vs/unpluq · 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.*

## The short version

Buy Unpluq if you have already proved that you will tap through any software
prompt, and you want per-app control that Brick's all-or-nothing puck does not give you. It is the better tool
for a specific, named set of apps you would like to make genuinely difficult. Install PhoneStop instead if you
have not measured your week yet, or if your honest complaint is the total rather than three particular apps —
it is free, and a number may be the only intervention you need.

| | PhoneStop | Unpluq |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Platforms | Android | Android and iPhone, plus a physical tag |
| Price | Free | Around $79 for the Tag with a year included, then a subscription (around $35/year) |
| At the limit | Full-screen stop, then a reset and a one-tap lock | Blocked apps open only for the tag, or for a deliberate in-app barrier |
| Warns before the limit | Yes — 60, 30 and 10 minutes left | No |
| Enforcement | Foreground service + display-over-apps overlay | A passive NFC tag plus the OS blocking APIs |
| Blocks individual apps | No — whole-phone budget | Yes |
| Account needed | No | Yes |
| Data leaves the phone | No | Account |

## How each app stops you

Unpluq and Brick share a thesis — make the undo physical — and split on
granularity. Brick is all-or-nothing: bricked or not. Unpluq is fine-grained, with per-app rules, schedules and
software barriers for when the tag is not to hand. If you want the hardware idea with real configuration behind
it, Unpluq is the one that has it.

PhoneStop does not remove anything, so there is nothing to unlock and no key to carry. It assumes the common
failure is not a decision you would defend but a session nobody ended, and it treats that with arithmetic: a
budget, three warnings as it drains, and a full screen at zero with a lock button on it. Where Unpluq asks
*have you earned this app back*, PhoneStop asks *do you know how much of today is already gone*.

![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*

## Where Unpluq is the better choice

- **The most deliberate unlock in software.** Reaching for a tag is a real decision in a way that
  tapping through a dialog never is.
- **Both platforms**, with the tag doing the same job on each.
- **Genuinely granular.** Per-app rules and schedules, which the all-or-nothing hardware options do not offer.
- **In-app barriers as a fallback** — shake the phone, type a phrase — for when the tag is in the other room.
- **A family plan**, which makes the hardware cost per person much easier to justify.

## Where PhoneStop is the better choice

- **Free, with nothing to buy and nothing to carry.**
- **A whole-phone total**, which no per-app blocker gives you.
- **Warnings before you arrive**, rather than a barrier at the door and silence in between.
- **No account**, and the Android app holds no internet permission, so your usage physically cannot leave.
- **Nothing to lose down the back of a sofa.**

## 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. An iPhone version is coming soon. Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.phonestop · https://phonestop.app/

## Questions people ask

### Does the Unpluq tag need a battery?

No. It is a passive NFC tag, so there is nothing to charge and nothing to pair. Your phone powers it for the moment it is held against it.

### Is Unpluq a one-time cost?

No. The Tag is a one-time purchase that includes a year of the subscription, and the subscription renews after that. Without it the blocking stops.

### Do I need hardware to control my screen time?

No — you need an undo that is inconvenient enough to interrupt the reach. Hardware buys that reliably. A budget that stops you and asks for twenty squats is a softer version of the same idea, and it is free.

## Keep reading

- [Unpluq alternatives](https://phonestop.app/alternatives/unpluq)
- [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)