Forest alternatives that actually block apps

Updated September 13, 2026 · By the Stint team

Short answer

Forest is a focus timer that grows a tree while you stay in the app, and it is one of the friendliest ways to start a focus habit. Its limit on iPhone is that it does not truly block anything; leaving just kills the tree, and after a few dead trees that stops hurting. If you want apps actually shielded, look at Opal or Freedom. If you want a consequence that keeps mattering, look at Stint: Screen Time shielding inside a focus challenge with an entry fee and a prize pool split by everyone who qualifies.

Download on theApp Store

Stint shields your apps for real and gives the session a stake that does not wear off like a dead tree.

What Forest gets right

Forest makes a session feel like something. The tree is a visible, slightly emotional commitment, and the forest you build over weeks is a real record. For people who respond to streaks and gentle guilt, it is a great first focus app, and it has a low price.

Where it stops working

It cannot shield other apps on iPhone. The block is symbolic.
Dead trees stop hurting. The consequence is imaginary, and the brain learns that fast.
It is solo. Nobody else knows, so nothing changes on the days you do not care.

Stint: real shields and a real consequence

Stint sits on Apple's Screen Time framework, so the apps you choose are genuinely shielded during a session, with the shield screen appearing if you try. Around the session is a challenge: a pool of people, an entry fee each, a daily focus goal for a fixed number of days. Focus counts only in your chosen work apps, and opening a blocked app ends the session. Meet the goal every day and you qualify; everyone who qualifies splits the prize pool. Miss and you forfeit your share, with nothing further charged.

It keeps Forest's best idea, a session with a visible commitment, and replaces the tree with something that does not stop mattering.

Opal and Freedom: blockers without stakes

Opal is a polished Screen Time blocker with schedules and stricter modes; Freedom blocks across phone and computer with a locked mode. Both actually shield apps, which is the main thing Forest lacks. Both can still be paused by you, and both are subscriptions. They are the right choice if a hard block is all you were missing.

one sec: friction instead of a tree

If Forest appealed because it was gentle, one sec is the gentle blocker: a breathing pause before a distracting app opens. It cuts reflexive opens without hard rules. Pair it with sessions for work.

Which one to pick

You like Forest and it still works: keep it.
You need the apps actually blocked: Opal or Freedom.
The tree stopped hurting and you want a stake that lasts: Stint.
You want less friction, not more rules: one sec.

Questions people ask

Does Stint have streaks or visuals like Forest?

Stint shows your session countdown on the lock screen and in the Dynamic Island, and your pool progress in the app. The motivation is the pool and the people in it rather than a growing forest.

Can I use Stint alone, without a pool?

Yes. You can run personal focus sessions with shields at any time. Pools are where the entry fee and prize pool come in.

Focus with money on the line.