Comparison

PeerPause vs ScreenPact

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

Head to head
About

PeerPause

This app helps you manage screen time by requiring a trusted friend to approve any extensions to your daily app limits. It prevents self-override, ensuring you stick to your goals and reclaim your time.

Highlights
  • App blocking for social, video, games, and shopping
  • Daily screen time limits
  • Time extension requests to a trusted friend
  • Buddy confirmation for limit changes
  • Streak tracking and improvement insights
  • No instant self-override
Features
Read full description

Screen time limits only work when you can't quietly undo them. PeerPause fixes that by putting one person you trust between you and the "just five more minutes" button. Set a daily limit for the apps that eat your day. When the time is gone, the app locks. If you genuinely need longer, you send a request to your Time Buddy — a friend, partner, or sibling who taps accept or deny. No secret override, no deleting the limit at 1am. HOW IT WORKS 1. Pick the app that distracts you most. 2. Set its daily limit. 3. Add a Time Buddy. 4. When you hit the limit, the app locks. 5. Ask for more time, with a note if you want. 6. Your Time Buddy decides. WHAT YOU GET • Blocking for social, video, game, dating, and shopping apps • Daily limits built on Apple's Screen Time • Time extension requests, answered by a real person • Buddy confirmation before a limit is changed or removed • Streaks and insights that show what's actually improving • No instant self-override when you hit the limit WHY A BUDDY BEATS WILLPOWER Every other blocker lets you turn it off. That is the whole problem — the moment you want to break the limit is exactly the moment you are least able to argue with yourself. Handing that one decision to someone else takes about two seconds and changes the outcome. Your Time Buddy is not a parent or a monitor. They see the app name, how much time you asked for, and any note you send. They cannot see your messages, your browsing, your photos, or what you do inside any app. Your Screen Time data stays on your device. BEING SOMEONE'S TIME BUDDY Answering requests for a friend costs nothing — install PeerPause, get added, and tap accept or deny when they ask. A PeerPause Pro subscription is what lets you create and manage your own limits. Pause first. Scroll less. Take your time back. TERMS OF USE https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

ScreenPact

This app helps users stay focused by allowing a trusted partner to control access to distracting applications. It's designed for students, friends, parents, and couples to enforce app limits and achieve shared goals together.

Highlights
  • Partner-controlled app locking
  • Mutual pacts for shared goals
  • Scheduled app locks
  • Unlock requests with partner approval
  • Focus streaks and statistics
Features
Read full description

ScreenPact locks the apps that steal your time, and hands the key to someone you trust. Whether that’s a friend keeping you focused or a parent managing their kid’s screen time, Pact turns app limits into something that actually holds. Screen time tools fail for one reason: the person setting the limit is the person breaking it. You snooze your own restrictions. Your kid finds the workaround in a day. Pact fixes this by putting the lock in someone else’s hands. No 3am override, no “just five more minutes” - access comes back when your partner says it does. MADE FOR • STUDENTS — Lock social media during finals. Your study partner decides when you’ve earned a break. • FRIENDS — Keep each other off scrolling and on track. Mutual pacts mean you’re both in it together. • PARENTS — Manage your kids’ app access remotely, without the nightly negotiation over the iPad. • COUPLES — Stage the social media intervention your partner clearly needs. With love. FEATURES • Lock and unlock your partner’s selected apps, any time, from anywhere • Mutual pacts: lock each other’s apps for shared goals • Scheduled locks for study sessions, work hours, or bedtime • Unlock requests: plead your case, let your partner decide • Streaks and stats to see how far you’ve come Your time is the most valuable thing you own. Stop giving it away one scroll at a time. Make a Pact.

Screenshots

PeerPause4 screens
ScreenPact4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ScreenPact at none against PeerPause's 4. ScreenPact also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 8 days) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. PeerPause sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. ScreenPact asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for PeerPause against 5.0 for ScreenPact. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 6 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PeerPause ships an update every 8 days, ScreenPact every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
PeerPause versus ScreenPact: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPeerPauseScreenPact
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings36 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 daysEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB15 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperAndrei TarceYesake Abreham Teshale

Customer experience

PeerPause

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ScreenPact

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

PeerPause

Subscriptions4
  • PeerPause Weekly$3.997 Days
  • PeerPause7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • PeerPause3 Days trial$24.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • PeerPause Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
None

ScreenPact

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PeerPause free?
PeerPause is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ScreenPact free?
ScreenPact is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PeerPause or ScreenPact?
PeerPause and ScreenPact are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 6 ratings respectively.
Do PeerPause or ScreenPact have ads?
Neither PeerPause nor ScreenPact shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PeerPause or ScreenPact?
PeerPause ships an update every 8 days, and ScreenPact every 4 days. Most recently, PeerPause was updated on November 9, 2026 and ScreenPact on October 31, 2026.

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