Comparison · checked August 2026
Freedom does one thing better than anyone: it switches the internet off everywhere you are at once. Stoiq does something different — it sits on your Mac while you work and brings you back. If your problem is that the distraction just moves to another screen, Freedom is very likely your answer.
Written by Stoiq. Every fact about Freedom below was read off their own site in August 2026 and is linked at the bottom of this page.
What Freedom is
Freedom blocks apps, websites, or the whole internet on a schedule, and syncs that block across every device on your account at the same time. It covers Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and Chromebook with unlimited devices, which is the widest coverage of anything on this list by a distance.
It has been around a long time, it is stable, and it offers a lifetime option as well as a subscription — which in this category is increasingly rare and worth crediting.
Side by side
| What | Freedom | Stoiq |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Blocks apps, websites, or the entire internet on a schedule, synced across every device signed into your account at the same time. | Say what you're working on and pick a length. A small companion sits in the corner of your Mac while the block runs. Drift to a distracting site and he checks in first — one tap takes you back to the sentence you left. Keep going and the page goes behind him until the block ends. |
| Where it runs | Their upgrade page lists “Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Chromebook”, with “Unlimited Devices”. | macOS 14 or later, a Chrome companion, and iPhone. There is no Windows build and no Android build. |
| What it costs | A free plan at “$0”. Premium is “$3.33 / month” billed yearly or “$8.99 / month” month to month, and there is a “$99.50 for life” one-time option, shown on their page as 50% off “$199”. The yearly plan offers a “Try It Free For 7 Days” trial. | $79 once, and that is the end of it. There is a $7.99 a month plan if you would rather rent it. 30-day refund, no questions. |
| When you slip | A block screen — on every device at once. Nothing you have built is taken away; the door is simply shut everywhere. | Nothing dies. There is no streak to break, no score to keep and no chart of your worst week. Everything you have grown stays grown, and coming back after four days away costs you nothing at all. |
| Who's with you | Nobody. It is a very good switch, and it is honest about being a switch. | A character with eyes, actually present while you work. He notices, he asks before he blocks, and he says nothing at all while you're on track. |
| Rent or own | Subscription, monthly or yearly — or $99.50 once for the lifetime option. | One payment. Nothing renews, nothing lapses, and there is nothing to cancel. |
Freedom is a trademark of its owner and we have no affiliation with them. Their column describes their product in our words; where a number appears in it, the page it came from is linked below.
Which one
You are shopping, not being sold to. Here is the honest split, and the left-hand card is not a courtesy — if one of those lines is you, buy Freedom and get on with your afternoon.
Choose Freedom if
Choose Stoiq if
The difference underneath
Every tool in this category works by standing between you and the thing you were about to do. It blocks the site, it charges you a breath, it locks the machine, or it kills something you grew. All of that works, and some of it works very well.
Stoiq is the one with somebody in it. A small companion sits in the corner of your Mac while the block runs, notices when the scroll starts, and asks first — because sometimes the tab is the work. Nothing you have grown ever dies, there is no streak to break and no score to keep, and coming back after four days away costs you nothing at all.
That is not a feature list. It is the reason people still have it installed in week three.
Join
$79, once — you’re in as a Day One. The Mac app, the browser companion, iPhone, and every character we ever make. Nothing lapses and there is nothing to cancel.
$79once · no subscription
Stoiq for Mac, yours for good.
The small print
Snapshot checked August 2026. Every claim about Freedom on this page was read from the pages listed below on that date. Prices and platforms change, and theirs may have changed since. If you find something here that is out of date or unfair, write to hello@stoiq.ai and we will fix it — that goes for Freedom too.
Prices are shown as their own site shows them, in the currency it shows them in, and several of these companies price differently by region. Check the number on their page before you buy anything.
We are not affiliated with Freedom and this page is not endorsed by them. Their name is used here to identify their product, which is the only reason it appears.