Comparison

Writebulb vs DutyLock

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Writebulb

Read full description

When you could write anything, where do you begin? Writebulb. No ideas? Writebulb helps you get past fear of the blank page, with imaginative catalysts to get your creativity flowing. No time? Fit writing into your day. Choose a 5, 15 or 30 minute session. The built-in timer will help you stay focused during your writing sessions. Intimidated? Be encouraged with awards for time spent, for number of words, and with bonus surprise prizes. Save, export and share your compositions. How does it work? Each time you sit down with Writebulb, it presents you with 3 writing prompts to choose among. Is it for you? Get started whether you are a poet or an author of short fiction. For student or professional. Build your skills and discipline. Each Writebulb prompt has been carefully crafted as springboard for poetry or fiction. Why Writebulb? Unlike some generic prompts, Writebulb gets fresh, evocative specifics. Get three levels of prompts: sensations and feelings, situations and topics, or deep diving into introspection or using rhythm or sound constraints. Challenge yourself. Reward yourself. Exercise your brain. Adult, queer and feminist friendly. Improve your skills in this brain gym. No ads, no subscriptions. A one-time in-app purchase adds 1000 additional writing prompts.

About

DutyLock

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Focus where it matters. DutyLock blocks your most distracting apps the moment you walk into a place you've chosen. Walk out, they unlock. No willpower required. WALK IN. APPS LOCK. Pick the places. Pick the apps. DutyLock takes the decision off your hands. WHO USES DUTYLOCK Knowledge workers who can't afford a five-minute Instagram detour every hour. They set a lock at their desk and the phone goes quiet while they're there. People reclaiming their evenings. The phone goes down when they sit at the dinner table. Their partner gets them back. Their kids notice. The doomscroll quitters. They turn bedtime into a zone. The TikTok rabbit hole stops existing between 9pm and 7am. People trying to actually sleep. The phone locks itself when they get into bed instead of becoming the thing that keeps them awake until 2am. Gym-goers who want their session. They walk in, the apps lock, the workout is the workout. People who want to read on the train again, or just sit and think on the bus. The commute becomes a real commute, not another scroll session. Movie-goers who go to watch the movie. Couples who want dinner without a phone face-down on the table. People on a date who would like to be on it. Students who turn the library into a study zone and don't see Reddit until they walk back outside. Managers and operators who run shifts on a warehouse floor, in a store, or anywhere phones are supposed to stay in pockets. DutyLock locks the named apps inside the named zones and time windows. Every lock event is logged. No quiet workaround. No restart trick. No Settings toggle that turns it off without somebody knowing. YOUR HISTORY. ON THE RECORD. Every lock and unlock is logged. Export it as a clean report whenever you want proof of where the time went. STAYS ON YOUR IPHONE No account. No cloud. No analytics. DutyLock is for people who want to focus and have tried everything else. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION DutyLock offers optional auto-renewing subscriptions and a one-time lifetime unlock. Ā· DutyLock Pro (Weekly): $2.99/week Ā· DutyLock Pro (Monthly): $4.99/month Ā· DutyLock Pro (Annual): $49.99/year Ā· DutyLock Pro (Lifetime): $99.99 one-time Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your device's App Store account settings. Privacy Policy: https://dutylock-828984049402-eu-west-2-an.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/legal/privacy-policy.html Terms of Use: https://dutylock-828984049402-eu-west-2-an.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/legal/terms-of-use.html

Screenshots

Writebulb3 screens
DutyLock4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: DutyLock at fortnightly against Writebulb's monthly. Writebulb's advantage is iOS requirement (15.5 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Writebulb sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and DutyLock sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Writebulb ships an update monthly, DutyLock fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 4 level
Writebulb versus DutyLock: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWritebulbDutyLock
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyMonthlyFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.5 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB28 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperBrian PirieFAT FIRE APPS

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Writebulb

One-time1
  • A Thousand Prompts$2.99
5 purchases

DutyLock

Subscriptions4
  • DutyLock Pro Weekly$2.997 Days
  • DutyLock Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • DutyLock Pro Annual$49.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • DutyLock Pro Annual 50% First Year1 Year trial$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • DutyLock Pro Lifetime$99.99

Questions

Is Writebulb free?
Writebulb is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DutyLock free?
DutyLock is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Writebulb or DutyLock have ads?
Neither Writebulb nor DutyLock shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Writebulb or DutyLock?
Writebulb ships an update monthly, and DutyLock fortnightly. Most recently, Writebulb was updated on October 10, 2026 and DutyLock on October 1, 2026.

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