Opal vs RescueTime
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Opal
This app helps you regain control of your digital life by limiting app usage, blocking distractions, and improving focus. It provides tools and insights to reduce screen time, boost productivity, and enhance well-being.
- Screen time control
- App blocker
- Set app limits
- Focus modes
- Productivity reports
- Block apps and websites
- Mindful block screens
Read full descriptionHide full description
Achieve screen time control with the world’s most-loved screen time app! Opal is the fun, free Screen Time app to improve your focus and make the most out of every day. 5 to 6 hours. That’s the average time you’ll spend looking at your phone today, often without realizing it. It's time to fight back. With a combination of screen time control, app limits, app blockers, real time data, leaderboards and rewards, you will focus better and accomplish your dreams, just like Opal’s members. **As of August 2026, Opal has saved humanity 500 Million hours of screen time. ** Many of the world's top teams and companies trust Opal to help protect their focus. You can too. **Opal cut my screen time by 2 hours per day – Marketing at Google ** **You need this app. When I first got opal my daily screen-time was about 8 1/2 hours a day. Now it's 1 hour. ** **Opal has become an indispensable tool in my quest for productivity and mindful technology usage ** **Get Opal! - Ali Abdaal, productivity expert** BENEFITS Save 1 hour and 23 minutes per DAY from less screen time, on average. 94% of Opal members are less distracted 93% are more productive thanks to the app 90% report improved well-being Added benefits: - Better screen time control - Better productivity at work - Reduce stress, be more mindful - Supports focus challenges, including ADHD - Set daily work hours, sleep, and routines - Block apps to unplug and detox - Stay in focus when you need it most - You're happy and in control of your screen time FEATURES - #1 Screen Time Control: the most loved app for screen time control with 4.8/5. - #1 App Blocker: Instantly Block apps and websites you choose at a specific time of day throughout the week to organize your time. - Focus Difficulty: Make it hard, or make it a bit easier. Deep Focus won't let you cancel or bypass at all. - App Limits: Set daily usage limits on apps and websites to automatically block them and prevent overuse. - Mindful Block Screens: Discover quotes, puns and more every time you try to open an app or website you really shoudn't. - Blocklist & Allowlist: Easily pick any app, game or website you want to block or allow during your Blocks. - Focus Report: Measure your progress with clear metrics, actionable screen time stats, and benchmark against your peers. - Focus Score: Check your screen time and focus level at any point easily spotting Focus and Distracted time. - Calendar: Set daily working hours, sleep and routines, block apps automatically, so you don’t have to remember. - Precious Rewards: Unlock unique MileStones you can share with friends. - Leaderboard: Challenge friends to top the leaderboard, enhancing productivity, focus and keeping each other motivated. - Breaks: Choose the app you want to use, write your intention, and set a timer. - Focus Mode Integration: Sync your Opal Focus Sessions with iPhone Focus Mode to block apps. - Shortcut Integration: Connect iPhone shortcut automations to start/stop Focus Sessions based on app opens, time, location and more! - Focus Reminders: Get timely reminder notifications when you get distracted or reach a time limit. - Deep Focus: Need ultimate focus? Deep Focus is the maximum level of protection — you can’t bypass or cancel. - More Fun: Opal is guilt-free and fun. - Widget: Have Opal on your home screen! CREATE A PERSONALIZED APP BLOCK LIST Easily pick any app, game or website you want to block or allow to Block Apps. PRIVATE & SAFE We use Apple's Screen Time API in order to monitor and block apps you use. Installation is easy and takes a few seconds on your iPhone. Unlike most apps, Opal works entirely on your phone and personal browsing data never leaves your device. TERMS, PRIVACY & CONDITIONS Read on https://opal.so/terms & https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
RescueTime
Understand and manage your time automatically. This app helps you block distractions, track activities on your mobile and desktop, and set productivity goals. Gain insights into your workday and improve focus.
- Automatic time tracking
- Distraction blocking (Focus Sessions)
- Activity categorization
- Task timers
- Offline activity logging
- Home screen widgets
- Productivity goals and alerts
Read full descriptionHide full description
RescueTime helps you track time, block distractions, manage goals, and understand your full workday across phone and desktop. Together this gives you a clear view of your habits and the tools to improve them. Understand where your time goes, stay focused when it matters, and build better workdays without extra effort. One subscription works across all your devices, syncing your data to give you a complete picture of your time on mobile and desktop. **Created For iOS** RescueTime for iOS brings powerful, simple focus tools to your phone: • Automatic app tracking: see app activity with productivity ratings and daily and weekly summaries (optional Screen Time permission). • Focus Sessions with optional app blocking: stay on task with time-boxing, optionally grant permission to block distractions in real time. • Project tracking: log time to specific projects and track progress across sessions and timers. • Offline time: add meetings, calls, and other offline activities to complete your day. • Reporting: View and manage your time across all your devices in the app. • Available in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, and Russian. **Focus Sessions** Start a Focus Session when you need uninterrupted time to work. RescueTime blocks distractions, tracks your progress, and delivers a summary when you're done. Use timers for time boxing or to track open-ended tasks. Sessions and timers can be linked to projects, so your focused time always counts toward something meaningful. **Full Workday Perspective** Install RescueTime on your desktop to see the full picture. Your activity, focus sessions, and progress sync seamlessly across devices. Please note that RescueTime for desktop is only available in English. **Goals And Insights** Set daily goals for focused work, screen-free time, or better online habits. RescueTime tracks your progress automatically and shows how your behavior aligns with your goals. Weekly summaries highlight trends over time, so you can see what's working and what's not. **Permissions** Several optional features require elevated permissions. Reporting: tracking phone app activity requires Screen Time permission, and you can choose to use this feature or not. Focus Sessions: using the optional app blocking part of sessions requires Screen Time permission in order to offer real-time intervention. **Plans** Solo Focus includes automatic tracking with full history, Focus Sessions with real-time app blocking, offline activity logging, goals with daily targets, alerts and automations, advanced filtering, and integrations. Solo+ includes everything in Solo Focus, plus automated project and task tracking with RescueTime Timesheets. Link activities and timers to projects to automatically generate timesheets or track progress across work and personal goals. Free includes automatic basic tracking, daily and weekly reports, the Productivity Pulse, and two weeks of activity history. Offline time logging, project tracking, and distraction blocking require a subscription. **For Teams** RescueTime also offers team plans with shared projects, team dashboards, manager insights, and centralized settings. Team plans are only available at rescuetime.com. **Privacy** RescueTime does not record keystrokes, capture screenshots, or read message and website content. You control what is tracked, can pause tracking at any time, and can export or delete your data whenever you choose.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Opal at 62% against RescueTime's 21%. Opal also leads on ratings volume (88K vs 3) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 4 weeks). RescueTime's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Opal sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and RescueTime sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.00 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
RescueTime holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Opal has 88K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 62% of Opal's written reviews are positive against 21% of RescueTime's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Opal ships an update every 5 days, RescueTime every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Opal | RescueTime |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (88K ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.1% of reviews — better | 21.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 88K — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #47 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 303 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Opal OS | RescueTime, Inc |
Customer experience
Opal
RescueTime
Bugs and requests
Opal
Reported bugs
4 issues- Blocks apps that are not selected
- Inconsistent behavior when ending focus sessions
- Crashes when trying to manage blocked apps
- VPN issues causing other connectivity problems
Requested features
5 requests- Allow more customization of blocked apps
- Integrate with more productivity tools
- Provide more granular time tracking and reporting
- Offer a one-time purchase option
- Improve stability and reduce bugs
RescueTime
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Opal
- Weekly Plan3 Days trial$4.997 Days
- Weekly Plan3 Days trial$9.997 Days
- Opal Student Weekly3 Days trial$9.997 Days
Show 10 moreShow fewer
- Monthly Plan3 Days trial2 variants$19.991 Month
- Monthly Plan7 Days trial$19.991 Month
- Opal Pro Subscription7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Yearly Plan7 Days trial$69.991 Year
- Yearly Plan7 Days trial$89.991 Year
- Yearly Plan7 Days trial2 variants$99.991 Year
- Yearly Plan1 Month trial2 variants$99.991 Year
- Opal Pro Yearly$99.991 Year
- Yearly Plan7 Days trial$129.991 Year
- Yearly Plan7 Days trial$179.991 Year
RescueTime
- Solo Monthly14 Days trial$9.001 Month
- Solo+ Monthly14 Days trial$15.001 Month
- Solo Yearly14 Days trial$84.001 Year
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Solo+ Yearly14 Days trial$143.991 Year









