Comparison · checked August 2026
one sec is the closest thing on this list to our own stance: it does not want to fight you, it wants to give you a second to notice. The difference is where it stands. one sec meets you at the door of an app on your phone; Stoiq is already sitting with you while you work.
Written by Stoiq. Every fact about one sec below was read off their own site in August 2026 and is linked at the bottom of this page.
What one sec is
one sec puts a short breathing pause between you and a distracting app. Open the app and instead of the feed you get a moment of nothing, and then the choice. Their own description is exact about the goal: it “adds friction to distracting apps to make them less appealing…long-term”. It runs on iOS and Android, with a browser extension for Windows, macOS and Linux.
The mechanism is deliberately soft. You can still go in — that is the design, not a loophole. What it changes is the thoughtless open, the one where your thumb got there before you did.
Side by side
| What | one sec | Stoiq |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Opening a chosen app triggers a short breathing pause before it will open. Friction rather than a block — you can still go in, and that is the design. | 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 | iOS and Android, plus a browser extension for “Windows, macOS and Linux computers”, supporting “Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge and other browsers”. | macOS 14 or later, a Chrome companion, and iPhone. There is no Windows build and no Android build. |
| What it costs | Free for one app — the free version “allows to set up a breathing interruption for one app”. Their FAQ lists Pro at “Monthly: 3,99 € - Anually: 14,99 € - Lifetime: 99,99 €” with a “1 week free trial”, and notes that “prices differ by region”; the US App Store listing shows $2.99 monthly, $19.99 annually and $99.99 lifetime. | $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 | Nothing. You take the breath, and then you decide — and often you do not go in. Nothing is lost either way. | 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 | A breath. Beautifully judged, and nobody is in there. | 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, or a one-time lifetime purchase. | One payment. Nothing renews, nothing lapses, and there is nothing to cancel. |
one sec 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 one sec and get on with your afternoon.
Choose one sec 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 one sec 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 one sec 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 one sec and this page is not endorsed by them. Their name is used here to identify their product, which is the only reason it appears.