BlockMate vs Kept
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BlockMate
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Stop doomscrolling. Without willpower. BlockMate is your AI mate for intentional screen time on iPhone. Instead of hard-blocking apps, it asks one honest question when you reach for Instagram, TikTok, or any app you'd rather not be on. Most of the time, you put the phone down on your own. The friendly way to reduce screen time, without locking yourself out of your own phone. THE PROBLEM You unlock your phone 80+ times a day. Most of those weren't your idea. Hard blockers fail because you override them. Willpower runs out by 2 PM. The lever that actually works is intention — and you only need one second of it, the moment your thumb is moving. Whether you call it doomscrolling, phone addiction, or just a habit you'd like to break, the same one-second lever applies. HOW IT WORKS 1. Pick the apps that pull you in. Instagram, TikTok, X, Reddit, YouTube Shorts — gate any apps, categories, or websites in Safari. BlockMate uses Apple's FamilyControls API, so the gating is real. 2. When you reach for one, BlockMate asks why. A short, honest exchange. No password, no countdown — a 30-second conversation. The AI mate reflects what you said before it asks anything. 3. Walk away, or get exactly the time you asked for. Real reason? You get the minutes you named. Just bargaining? You'll catch yourself, and the app stays closed. Auto-locks when time's up. WHY IT WORKS - Reflects, then asks. A bare question is interrogation. BlockMate restates what you said before asking anything. - Self-compassion, not shame. Honest impulses get honored. Guilt cycles drive more scrolling, not less. - Your past self knew. You set this up in a clear moment, for a foggy one. - Adapts as you grow. The more intentional you become, the quieter BlockMate gets. VS HARD BLOCKERS Opal, One Sec, Jomo, ScreenZen, Refocus — every one promises to reduce screen time. Every one relies on willpower. BlockMate uses a different lever: a 30-second conversation in the moment your thumb is moving. A mate, not a warden. PRIVACY - Apple FamilyControls — your blocklist stays on your device. - Conversations are short, anonymized, and never sold. - No ad networks. No third-party trackers. The product is the business. PRICING Free to start. Upgrade to unlock unlimited negotiations, multi-app gating, and adaptive coaching that learns your patterns. Yearly plan starts with a 7-day free trial. The friendly way to reduce screen time. Helping people live a little more, scroll a little less. Terms of Service: https://cloudy-bite-d28.notion.site/Terms-of-Service-354cc3aac91081908268cf66507229ec Privacy Policy: https://cloudy-bite-d28.notion.site/Privacy-Policy-2f1cc3aac9108061b102e03cf5eb3ce8
Kept
This app helps you reduce time spent on distracting applications by setting daily limits and scheduled blocking periods. It offers customizable prompts and a "Protect Now" feature for immediate control, with a focus on privacy and on-device data.
- Set daily limits for individual apps
- Schedule app blocking for evenings and bedtime
- Customizable usage prompts
- Immediate app blocking with 'Protect Now'
- Streak tracking and 'freeze' rewards
- Privacy-focused with no account or tracking
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Kept helps you spend less time on the apps that eat your day. Pick one app, or up to 5, and give each one a daily limit. Kept checks in while you use it, and it can block those apps for the hours you want back, like your evenings or bedtime. Everything stays on your phone, and there are no ads. HOW IT WORKS • Pick your apps in Apple's own picker. Kept doesn't block whole categories, and Phone, Messages, alarms, and any app you don't pick are never blocked. • Set a daily limit of 15, 30, or 45 minutes, 1 hour, or your own number. Under its limit, the app opens as usual. Kept asks "Keep going?" after every 5, 10, or 15 minutes of use (you pick), and it can ask more often after your 3rd Keep going of the day. • When the limit is used up, the app stays blocked until midnight. You can get more time inside Kept. It costs a freeze if you have one. If you don't, it costs your streak and a wait that gets longer each time that day. • Protected time. Set hours when your limited apps are blocked, like Evenings from 5 to 9 PM or Bedtime from 10 PM to 7 AM. An emergency of 5 or 15 minutes is the only way through. You can turn one off for today, and it comes back on at midnight. • Protect now blocks your limited apps from this minute for 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, or until 9 PM. Start it from Home, Shortcuts, or Siri, or from Control Center on iOS 18 or later. A countdown shows on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. • Your week shows the days and evenings you kept, how often you said I'm done, your hardest hour, and one suggestion. A Lock Screen widget shows whether Kept is on, when protected time ends, and how many apps are done for today. • Every day you stay within your limits adds a day to your streak. Every 7 days you earn a freeze, which gives one app another round of today's limit. KEPT FREE AND KEPT PRO Every new install gets all of Kept Pro free for 14 days. The trial runs inside the app. You don't add a payment method or sign up, and nothing is charged when it ends. After 14 days Kept keeps working as Kept Free, with 3 limited apps, 1 protected time, 1 freeze, and Your week for this week and last. If you set up more than that, you choose what stays, and the rest is saved for later. Kept Pro adds a weekday and a weekend limit for each app and every past week in Your week. It also limits up to 5 apps, sets up to 5 protected times, and holds up to 3 freezes. • Kept Pro Monthly: $2.99 per month • Kept Pro Yearly: $19.99 per year • Kept Pro Lifetime: $49.99, a one-time purchase Protect now, the widget, emergencies (3 a month), and turning Kept off are free on every plan. PRIVACY AND WAYS OUT There's no account, sign-in, analytics, or tracking. Your Screen Time data stays on your iPhone, and Kept never sees your apps' names as text. Kept sends one notification at most, an optional 5-minute warning, and it's off until you turn it on. Turn Kept off in Settings and everything unblocks right away. Kept turns itself back on at 6 AM, unless you choose I turn it back on. SUBSCRIPTION TERMS Prices are in US dollars and may vary by country. Monthly and Yearly are auto-renewing subscriptions. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for the renewal within the 24 hours before the period ends. You can manage or cancel any time in iOS Settings → your name → Subscriptions, or in Kept under Settings → Kept Pro → Manage subscription. Lifetime is paid once and never renews. Family Sharing is on for all three. Kept uses Apple's Screen Time and needs iOS 17 or later. It's made by one person. Questions and bug reports go to kept@brucelabs.io. Terms of Use: https://kept.brucelabs.io/terms Privacy Policy: https://kept.brucelabs.io/privacy Support: https://kept.brucelabs.io/support
Screenshots
Verdict
BlockMate and Kept are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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. BlockMate sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Kept sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | BlockMate | Kept |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 4 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Oleh Hykavyy | Wade Bruce |
In-app purchases
BlockMate
- BlockMate Pro (Monthly)$6.991 Month
- BlockMate Pro (Annual)7 Days trial$59.991 Year
Kept
- Kept Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Kept Pro Yearly$19.991 Year
- Kept Pro Lifetime$49.99






