Comparison · checked August 2026

Opal vs Stoiq

Opal is a very good screen-time blocker with a real point of view: it thinks the answer is to stop you. Stoiq thinks the answer is to sit with you and ask first. Both are defensible, and one of them is probably right for you.

See the table Which one should you pick?

Written by Stoiq. Every fact about Opal below was read off their own site in August 2026 and is linked at the bottom of this page.

What Opal is

The fair description.

Opal lets you set rules that switch off chosen apps and sites for a window of time, built on Apple's own Screen Time API and running on-device. On top of the blocking it keeps an Opal Score — a running read on how your usage is going — and it offers harder modes for people who want the unblock button taken away from them.

It is polished, it is well-liked, and it is one of the few tools in this category that works on a phone and a Mac from the same account. If what you need is for something to actually stop you, Opal is built for exactly that.

Side by side

The whole difference, in six rows.

Opal compared with Stoiq, checked August 2026
What	Opal	Stoiq
How it works	Rules that block the apps and sites you choose for a set window, built on Apple's Screen Time API and running on-device, plus a focus timer and an “Opal Score” summarising your usage.	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 pricing page lists “iOS, Android & Mac”. No Windows, and no browser extension is named on their site.	macOS 14 or later, a Chrome companion, and iPhone. There is no Windows build and no Android build.
What it costs	A free tier at “$0/month”, limited to “1 Rule”, “Basic Timers & Soundscapes” and “Opal Score (Today only)”. Opal Pro is “$8.29/month” at “$99.99 billed annually”, or “$19.99/month” month to month. There is also a “$399/forever” one-time payment, and a Teams plan priced on request.	$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	You meet a block screen. In the harder modes there is no unblock — which is precisely what some people need, and precisely what makes other people uninstall it.	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 score and a block screen. Effective, 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, monthly or annual — or $399 once for the lifetime option.	One payment. Nothing renews, nothing lapses, and there is nothing to cancel.

Opal 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

Sometimes the answer is theirs.

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 Opal and get on with your afternoon.

Choose Opal if

Opal is your answer

Your phone is the problem. Opal is built on the iPhone's own Screen Time API and Stoiq is a Mac app first.
You want to be stopped, not asked. Opal's harder modes take the unblock button away; Stoiq deliberately checks in first.
You want a usage score across your devices, and you will actually look at it.
You are on Android. Stoiq is not, and will not be soon.
You want blocking that survives you being clever, on the platform where Apple gives an app the most enforcement power.

Choose Stoiq if

Stoiq is your answer

You want something in the corner of your Mac while you work, rather than a wall you meet afterwards.
You would rather own it once. Opal's own one-time option is $399; ours is a single payment and there is no subscription behind it.
Being asked first is what keeps you using a thing in week three. A wall with no door tends to get deleted.
You want help deciding what to work on, not only a rule that switches things off.
You want no score, no streak and no chart of your worst week — nothing in Stoiq keeps count of you.

The difference underneath

Everything else stands in your way.

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

Own it once. Nothing renews.

$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.

The longer case for Stoiq

$79once · no subscription

Stoiq for Mac, yours for good.

The small print

Where these facts came from.

Snapshot checked August 2026. Every claim about Opal 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 Opal 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.

Opal — pricing — https://opalapp.com/pricing
Opal on the US App Store — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/opal-screen-time-control/id1497465230

We are not affiliated with Opal and this page is not endorsed by them. Their name is used here to identify their product, which is the only reason it appears.

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