Comparison

ScreenHalt vs App Usage Limiter

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

Head to head
About

ScreenHalt

This app helps you regain control of your digital habits by setting strict limits on app usage and opens. It enforces these boundaries to prevent mindless scrolling and encourage discipline. Take back your time and build healthier routines with its simple, distraction-free interface.

Highlights
  • Limit daily app opens
  • Set time limits for specific apps
  • Enforce strict usage boundaries
  • Simple and distraction-free interface
  • Build healthier digital habits
Features
Read full description

Hard Stop helps you focus and reduce mindless scrolling by putting firm limits on how much time you spend on apps each day. Set daily limits for app opens and screen time, then let Hard Stop enforce them. When you reach your limit, access is blocked — no extra scrolling, no exceptions. Designed for people who want real control over their digital habits, Hard Stop encourages discipline without guilt. Features: • Limit daily app opens • Limit time spent in specific apps • Enforce strict usage boundaries • Simple and distraction-free experience Take back your time and build healthier habits with Hard Stop. Hard Stop offers premium features through auto-renewable subscriptions. • Payment will be charged to your App Store account at confirmation of purchase • Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period • Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period • You can manage and cancel your subscriptions in your App Store account settings Terms of Service: https://ScreenHalt.app/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://ScreenHalt.app/privacy-policy

About

App Usage Limiter

Features
Read full description

You already know how much time you want to give an app. Free Full Usage Limiter is what makes that decision stick. Pick an app, give it a daily budget, and when the budget runs out the app stops opening. That's it. No streaks, no coaching, no account to create. SET LIMITS THE WAY YOU ACTUALLY THINK • Per app — give one app its own daily budget. • Per folder — group several apps together and give them a single shared budget. Twenty minutes across all your social apps, however you split it. When the budget is gone, they all lock at once. TWO WAYS TO BE STOPPED Friction mode leaves a door, but makes you work for it. To buy back a few minutes you type out a full sentence by hand — pasting is rejected — and then sit through a countdown that restarts if you leave the app. Most of the time you'll close it instead. That's the point. Absolute mode has no door. When the time is gone, it's gone until midnight. An absolute limit also can't be loosened or deleted afterwards; you can only make it stricter. Choose it when you already know you'll negotiate with yourself later. IT NOTICES WHEN YOU KEEP TRYING Every time you hit the lock screen, the message changes. The first one is a gentle nudge. By the tenth it isn't gentle, and it tells you how many times you've tried today. Seeing that number is usually what breaks the loop. SEE WHAT YOU GOT BACK A weekly report shows how much less you used your phone compared to the same point last week — overall and app by app. Not a guilt chart. Just the hours you took back. BUILT TO BE BORING ABOUT YOUR DATA No account. No sign-up. No subscription. No ads. No analytics. No third-party code of any kind. There is no server, because there is nothing to send anywhere. Your limits live on your iPhone and nowhere else. Your usage numbers are read inside an isolated system extension that Apple does not let apps read from — which means even this app cannot see them. That's also why the main screen shows a progress bar rather than a live countdown: iOS genuinely does not allow it. HONEST LIMITATIONS • Requires Screen Time permission. It's what makes blocking possible. • Blocks can take up to a minute to appear after your time runs out. That's how iOS reports usage. • Deleting this app removes every block, including absolute ones. Apple does not allow that door to be closed, and we'd rather tell you than pretend otherwise. Free, completely. There is no paid tier to upsell you to.

Screenshots

ScreenHalt4 screens
App Usage Limiter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: App Usage Limiter at none against ScreenHalt's 3. App Usage Limiter also leads on iOS requirement (17.4 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. ScreenHalt sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. App Usage Limiter asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ScreenHalt ships an update every 2 weeks, App Usage Limiter every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
ScreenHalt versus App Usage Limiter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScreenHaltApp Usage Limiter
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (7 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings7 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.017.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size40 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperScreenHalt LLCJAIME MANUEL SERRANO GONZALEZ

In-app purchases

3 purchases

ScreenHalt

Subscriptions2
  • One Month Premium$8.991 Month
  • Annual Premium$59.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$149.99
None

App Usage Limiter

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ScreenHalt free?
ScreenHalt is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is App Usage Limiter free?
App Usage Limiter is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ScreenHalt or App Usage Limiter have ads?
Neither ScreenHalt nor App Usage Limiter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ScreenHalt or App Usage Limiter?
ScreenHalt ships an update every 2 weeks, and App Usage Limiter every 9 days. Most recently, ScreenHalt was updated on October 1, 2026 and App Usage Limiter on October 6, 2026.

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