Skip to content
BEST ADHD APPS

The best app blockers for ADHD in 2026

Friction design, override honesty, and how each one behaves when you really want to bypass it.

one sec is the best blocker for impulse scrolling: a forced pause beats a locked door for most brains. Opal is the locked door when you need one. Freedom covers every device at once. Cold Turkey rules the desktop. Bypass honesty scores below.

Every score on this page comes from the same published rubric. how we score

The ranked table

Scored comparison of apps in The best app blockers for ADHD in 2026
AppScoreVerdictTapsPriceLitmus
one sec81KEEPNot yet measured$
  • Setup friction 16 out of 20
  • Capture friction 13 out of 15
  • Forgiveness 13 out of 15
  • Reward design 8 out of 10
  • Notification quality 8 out of 10
  • Price honesty 8 out of 10
  • Accessibility 8 out of 10
  • Staying power 7 out of 10
Opal72TRIAL FIRSTNot yet measured$$$
  • Setup friction 14 out of 20
  • Capture friction 11 out of 15
  • Forgiveness 10 out of 15
  • Reward design 7 out of 10
  • Notification quality 8 out of 10
  • Price honesty 6 out of 10
  • Accessibility 8 out of 10
  • Staying power 8 out of 10
Freedom71TRIAL FIRSTNot yet measured$$ or lifetime
  • Setup friction 12 out of 20
  • Capture friction 10 out of 15
  • Forgiveness 11 out of 15
  • Reward design 6 out of 10
  • Notification quality 7 out of 10
  • Price honesty 8 out of 10
  • Accessibility 8 out of 10
  • Staying power 9 out of 10
Cold Turkey66TRIAL FIRSTn/aone-time $
  • Setup friction 13 out of 20
  • Capture friction 9 out of 15
  • Forgiveness 8 out of 15
  • Reward design 5 out of 10
  • Notification quality 7 out of 10
  • Price honesty 9 out of 10
  • Accessibility 7 out of 10
  • Staying power 8 out of 10

Entry by entry

one sec

KEEP81/100

Adds a breathing pause before distracting apps open. The friction is the feature: most opens are impulses, and a short delay kills a surprising share of them. Cheap, and among the rare blockers with published research behind the mechanic.

Best for
Doomscroll interruption without going full lockdown.
Watch out
Determined-you can still get through; that is the design, not a flaw.
Price
$

Opal

TRIAL FIRST72/100

Opal is the locked door: sessions, schedules, and hard modes that make bypassing genuinely difficult. It costs more than every friction-based rival and the rigidity cuts both ways.

Best for
People who need the door actually locked.
Watch out
Premium price; hard modes can frustrate legitimate needs mid-block.
Price
$$$

Read the full Opal review →

Freedom

TRIAL FIRST71/100

Cross-device blocking that follows you from phone to laptop.

Best for
People whose escape hatch is "I'll just use the other device."
Watch out
Setup across devices is the tax; pays off after.
Price
$$ or lifetime

Cold Turkey

TRIAL FIRST66/100

The desktop blocker that does not negotiate.

Best for
Writers and workers whose problem is the browser, not the phone.
Watch out
Desktop only; brutal by design.
Price
one-time $

Cards, if you scan

one secKEEP
  • Setup friction 16 out of 20
  • Capture friction 13 out of 15
  • Forgiveness 13 out of 15
  • Reward design 8 out of 10
  • Notification quality 8 out of 10
  • Price honesty 8 out of 10
  • Accessibility 8 out of 10
  • Staying power 7 out of 10

A forced breath before distracting apps open; the pause kills the impulse.

81/100 · $ · Not yet measured

OpalTRIAL FIRST
  • Setup friction 14 out of 20
  • Capture friction 11 out of 15
  • Forgiveness 10 out of 15
  • Reward design 7 out of 10
  • Notification quality 8 out of 10
  • Price honesty 6 out of 10
  • Accessibility 8 out of 10
  • Staying power 8 out of 10

Heavy-duty app blocking with sessions, schedules, and hard modes.

72/100 · $$$ · Not yet measured

FreedomTRIAL FIRST
  • Setup friction 12 out of 20
  • Capture friction 10 out of 15
  • Forgiveness 11 out of 15
  • Reward design 6 out of 10
  • Notification quality 7 out of 10
  • Price honesty 8 out of 10
  • Accessibility 8 out of 10
  • Staying power 9 out of 10

Cross-device blocking that follows you from phone to laptop.

71/100 · $$ or lifetime · Not yet measured

Cold TurkeyTRIAL FIRST
  • Setup friction 13 out of 20
  • Capture friction 9 out of 15
  • Forgiveness 8 out of 15
  • Reward design 5 out of 10
  • Notification quality 7 out of 10
  • Price honesty 9 out of 10
  • Accessibility 7 out of 10
  • Staying power 8 out of 10

The desktop blocker that does not negotiate.

66/100 · one-time $ · n/a

Questions people actually ask

Can I just use Screen Time?

Honest yes-but. It is free and built in, but it is trivial to bypass for most people. Friction apps add the pause Screen Time does not.

Do blockers work long-term?

Friction-based ones tend to hold longer than hard blocks, because hard blocks get uninstalled the first time they get in the way of real work.

What about work apps I cannot block?

Block the route, not the tool: schedule blocks around meetings, and use a pause rather than a lock on anything you genuinely need.

Related lists

We may earn a commission when you buy through links here. Commissions never change a score or a verdict. How we make money →