Brick Alternatives That Don't Need Hardware (2026)

The best Brick alternatives that don’t require hardware are Jomo (iOS, Strict Mode with random-code unlocks), Freedom (cross-platform, Locked Mode), AppBlock (Android-first, timer-locked Strict Mode), ScreenZen (completely free), and Shabbat Mode (automatic weekly Shabbat blocking on iPhone). Each replicates Brick’s core promise — blocking you can’t casually undo — in pure software, so there’s nothing to buy, carry, or lose.

Brick is genuinely good at what it does. But its defining feature — a physical NFC puck you must tap to lock and unlock your apps — is also its constraint. Here’s what each software option does, where it matches Brick, and where it doesn’t.

What does Brick actually do?

Brick is a small, battery-free NFC device (a “puck”) that costs $59 one-time, with a free companion app and no subscription. You choose which apps to block, then tap your phone on the Brick to activate blocking. Tap again to unblock. The puck typically lives somewhere fixed at home, so the friction is physical: to get your apps back, you have to walk to it.

That model has real strengths:

• High bypass resistance. You can’t unlock from the couch. A Strict Mode closes software loopholes like deleting the app, and there are only 5 lifetime “Emergency Unbricks.”
• No subscription. One payment, done.
• A physical ritual. The tap is a deliberate act, which some people find meaningful.

It works on iOS 17+ and Android 12+, and one Brick can serve multiple phones.

Why look for a Brick alternative without hardware?

Four common reasons:

1. The upfront cost. $59 is fair for what it is, but several software options below cost less over a year — and two are free.
2. You can lose or forget it. The puck’s physical nature cuts both ways. Away from home without it? You’re either locked out or burning an emergency unlock.
3. No automatic scheduling. Brick’s model is manual tap-on, tap-off. There’s no automatic sunset-triggered or calendar-triggered blocking on the official feature list. If you want apps to lock on a schedule — every workday morning, every Friday evening — you have to remember to tap every single time. The moments you most need a blocker are exactly the moments you’re least likely to walk over and tap it.
4. The Shabbat problem. For observant Jewish users, the tap itself is the issue: unlocking requires operating an electronic interaction on Shabbat. In practice you’d need to brick before candle lighting and unbrick after Havdalah — and remember to do both manually every week. More on this below.

Which software blockers come closest to Brick’s strictness?

Brick’s real product is commitment — blocking you can’t undo on impulse. These apps deliver that in software.

Jomo (iOS) — the strictest software option on iPhone

Jomo builds on Apple’s Screen Time API and offers configurable difficulty: Easy (pause anytime), Medium (limited pauses per day), and Strict (no pauses, edits, or deletions while a rule is active). Strict Mode add-ons go further than most: you can lock changes for a set number of hours, require retyping a random code to make changes, and even block the iPhone’s Settings app itself — closing the workaround that defeats many iOS blockers. Like Brick’s emergency unlocks, there’s a limited safety valve: 2 emergency unlocks per week in Strict Mode.

There’s a free plan with one session; paid plans are reported at around $5.99/month or $29.99/year — check their current pricing. Interestingly, Jomo also supports NFC tags to start sessions, so if you like the tap ritual, you can add it with a cheap generic tag rather than dedicated hardware.

AppBlock (Android-first) — timer-locked strictness

If you’re on Android, AppBlock is the closest thing to Brick-level commitment. Its Strict Mode locks your settings so schedules can’t be changed — via a timer (locked for, say, a week), while schedules are active, with a cooldown, or even requiring third-party approval. It blocks apps, websites, and specific in-app features like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, and triggers by time, day, location, or connected Wi-Fi. A free tier exists; premium pricing is reported at around $4.99/month or $29.99/year — verify current figures on their site.

Freedom — cross-device Locked Mode

Freedom blocks apps, websites, or the entire internet across Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and Chromebook, with sessions synced across devices. Its Locked Mode (a Premium feature) prevents ending a session or editing blocklists until the timer expires — software’s version of “the puck is across the house.” Premium runs $8.99/month, or about $3.33/month billed yearly, with a one-time “Forever” option (listed at $199, on sale for less at the time of writing). If your distraction problem spans a laptop as well as a phone, Freedom is the one on this list that covers both.

ScreenZen — completely free

ScreenZen is free, donation-supported, with no premium tier. Its default mode is friction (a pause screen and prompt before flagged apps open), but it also supports harder scheduled blocks configurable by day of week and time, with blackout windows that reportedly can’t be bypassed while active and a settings-lock to stop in-the-moment rule editing. It’s the obvious first stop if the $59 puck price is what sent you looking for alternatives.

Opal — strong scheduling, softer edges

Opal (iOS, Android, Mac) offers recurring scheduled sessions with tiered difficulty, topping out at Deep Focus, which can’t be paused or ended early. It’s polished and schedule-friendly, but documented workarounds exist — disconnecting its VPN or toggling off Screen Time access in iOS Settings — so it doesn’t quite match Brick, Jomo, or AppBlock for bypass resistance. Pro is $19.99/month or $99.99/year, with a free tier limited to one rule. See our Opal alternatives roundup for the full picture.

Apple Screen Time — free, but leaky

Worth mentioning because it’s built in: Downtime supports per-day-of-week schedules at zero cost. But for self-control it’s weak — an Ignore Limit button, a daily “One More Minute” grace in iOS 26 that can’t be disabled, a date-change bypass, and the fact that you know your own passcode. We cover this in depth in why iPhone Downtime fails for Shabbat. If Screen Time were enough, you wouldn’t have googled Brick.

Want your phone to rest when you do — no puck required? Get Shabbat Mode on the App Store — set it up once and your apps lock at candle lighting and unlock after Havdalah, every week, automatically. Free trial included.

What if the reason you want Brick is Shabbat?

A lot of people discover Brick while looking for a way to keep their phone quiet for Shabbat or a weekly tech sabbath. For that specific job, there’s a mismatch worth naming honestly.

Brick’s blocking starts and ends with a manual NFC tap. That means two things for Shabbat use. First, nothing is automatic: you must remember to tap before candle lighting every Friday, and if you forget, your apps are wide open all of Shabbat. Second, the unlock tap is itself an electronic operation — so for halachically observant users, unbricking has to wait until after Havdalah anyway, and the tap-to-unlock “feature” you paid for sits unused during the exact window you bought it for.

Shabbat Mode approaches the same problem from the other direction. It’s an iPhone app built specifically around the Shabbat schedule: you pick your apps once, and they lock automatically at candle lighting (about 18 minutes before sunset on Friday) and unlock after Havdalah on Saturday night, with the end offset customizable to your custom (for example, 42 or 72 minutes after sunset). Times are computed from your location, so they shift correctly week to week as sunset moves — no taps, no remembering, nothing to touch on Shabbat itself. Like Brick, it’s a true commitment device: it uses Apple’s Screen Time API (the same enforcement as parental controls), and there is deliberately no unlock button during Shabbat. Everything stays on your phone — no account, no backend. It’s iOS 17+ (Android is coming; you can join the waitlist at hello@tryshabbatmode.app), with a free trial and then a subscription.

For a fuller head-to-head, see Brick vs Shabbat Mode, and for setup details, how to put your iPhone in Shabbat mode.

When is Brick still the better choice?

Fair is fair — Brick wins in some situations:

• You want zero subscriptions. $59 once, and the app is free forever. Most strict software alternatives are subscription-based (ScreenZen being the free exception).
• The physical ritual matters to you. Some people genuinely change their behavior more when the unlock requires standing up and walking. Software can imitate that friction; it can’t replicate the walk.
• Your blocking is spontaneous, not scheduled. If you block in unpredictable bursts — “bricking” for a deep work session whenever the mood strikes — the tap-on/tap-off model is elegant. Schedule-based software shines when your blocking is recurring.
• You share one blocker across a household. One Brick works with multiple phones.

If none of those describe you — and especially if your need is a recurring weekly window like Shabbat — software does the job with less to buy, carry, and remember.

How do you choose among the software options?

A quick decision path:

• It’s for Shabbat: Shabbat Mode. It’s the only option here where the schedule itself is Shabbat-aware — auto-computed candle lighting and Havdalah from your location, weekly recurrence, no unlock during the window.
• You want maximum iOS strictness for general use: Jomo, in Strict Mode.
• You’re on Android: AppBlock, with Strict Mode’s timer lock.
• You need laptop + phone coverage: Freedom, with Locked Mode.
• You want to spend nothing: ScreenZen, then reassess.

For the wider field beyond Brick-style strictness — including friction-based apps like one sec and gamified ones like Forest — see our full guide to the best app blockers for Shabbat.

This article is for general information only, not halachic ruling. Consult your rabbi for guidance on your specific situation.