Comparison

Tonic vs Rewire

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

Head to head
About

Tonic

This app helps you build good habits by making them unlock your other apps. It allows you to set limits on distracting apps and rewards productive behavior. You can customize rules to integrate with your existing life and achieve your goals.

Highlights
  • Habit-based app unlocking
  • Customizable screen time limits
  • Integration with Apple Health
  • Flexible rule setting
  • Productive minute banking
  • Escalating pause feature
Features
Read full description

Your phone works in the wrong order. Tonic isn't just another app blocker: your good habits unlock your apps, and the ones that only need boundaries get limits that fit. You bought the books. You downloaded Duolingo. You signed up for the meditation app. Tonic puts those things first, and lets your phone cooperate with the life you're already building. HOW IT WORKS Set any app as a reward for your good habits. Tonic tracks what would be too hard to log yourself: your progress in apps like Kindle or Duolingo, calories burned, whether you meditated this morning, even whether you've gotten outside. Require your habits each day, or bank productive minutes to spend later. For apps that only need boundaries, Tonic adapts to the problem: screen time limits by hours or by visits, cooldowns between sessions, or moments of pause that escalate the more you reach for it. You choose what locked looks like: a gentle nudge toward the good thing, a strict wall, or a pause that grows each time you haven't earned it. WORKS WITH THE APPS YOU ALREADY LOVE Reading, workouts, meditation, steps, sunlight, and sleep come straight from Apple Health and your Apple Watch, or from time spent in the productive apps you choose. No logging, no proof photos, no check-ins. And the unlock is real: when your habit counts, the shield lifts on its own. You don't open Tonic to prove anything or unlock anything by hand. Finish your reading, and your apps are simply open when you reach for them. WHAT YOU CAN SET UP Every app is a different problem. Rules can look like: "Don't let me into social media for longer than five minutes at a time until my watch has registered 20 minutes of sunlight." "Make it harder each time I reach for Instagram if I've used it more than Duolingo today." "After 5 visits on the weekend, make me pause when I reach for Slack or Teams." "When I reach for social media in the morning, redirect my phone to my journaling app." "Hard block mobile games until I've worked out three times in the last week, then give me an hour each earned day." YOURS TO CONTROL Tonic is self-directed and built for adults. You pick the apps, you set the rules, and you can change them whenever you want. No account. No parent. No lock you can't open. Your habits stay on your device. Tonic never sees which apps you chose, and your rules never leave your phone. Pick one app that gets in your way and one habit you keep meaning to do. Start there. A tonic for your habits. Break the bad, build the good. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://tonichabits.com/privacy

About

Rewire

Features
Read full description

Rewire is an intentional screen time control app, vision board, app blocker, and focus tool designed to help you break phone addiction and stay aligned with your goals. Unlike traditional app blockers that rely on guilt, timers, or extreme restrictions, Rewire interrupts impulsive scrolling with what actually matters to you: your goals, habits, reminders, motivation, and future vision. Every time you try to open distracting apps or social media, Rewire creates a moment of awareness before the distraction takes over. Instead of mindless scrolling, you reconnect with your future self. Whether you want to reduce screen time, stop doomscrolling, study better, improve focus, build discipline, or create healthier digital habits, Rewire helps you use your phone more intentionally. FEATURES • Vision board that keeps your goals visible • Intentional app blocking for social media and distractions • Screen time control designed around mindfulness and behavior change • Personalized reminders and motivational prompts • Focus tools for studying, productivity, and deep work • Dopamine detox support without harsh restrictions • Goal-focused interventions before opening distracting apps • Minimal and calming design built for intentional use WHY REWIRE? Most productivity apps and screen time blockers are easy to ignore because they only try to stop behavior. Rewire is different. Built around psychology, neuroplasticity, mindful technology use, and behavior design, Rewire helps reshape your attention by connecting your daily actions to the future you want to create. Perfect for: • Screen time reduction • Social media detox • Productivity and focus • ADHD-friendly intentional browsing • Studying and deep work • Self improvement and discipline • Manifestation and goal visualization • Digital wellness and mindful phone use Your attention shapes your life. Rewire helps you take it back. Rewire: Break Distractions. Build Focus. You don’t need more discipline.
You need a better loop. Rewire is a behavior-shifting app designed to catch you at the exact moment you’re about to get distracted—and gently redirect you back to what actually matters. Instead of blocking apps or using guilt, Rewire rewires your brain using proven neuroscience principles like habit loops, dopamine conditioning, and pattern interruption. how it works
 • interrupts distraction in real-time
 • replaces impulses with your personal vision cues
 • builds stronger focus pathways over time
 • trains your brain to choose better—automatically Think of it as a mental circuit breaker for distractions. Why Rewire works
Most apps use restriction, friction, or shame.
Rewire uses awareness, redirection, and reinforcement. In just a few seconds, you go from: 
Mindless scrolling → Intentional action BUILT ON REAL SCIENCE Rewire draws from peer-reviewed research in habit neuroscience — including work from Harvard, MIT, and Columbia — on how cue-routine-reward loops form, and how implementation intentions can interrupt them. This isn't wellness fluff. It's behavioral architecture. What you'll set up • Your personal vision board — photos, affirmations, goals • The apps you want to rewire around • Your flash duration and frequency That's it. Rewire runs quietly in the background and does the rest. This isn't a blocker. It's a builder. Rewire was built by a senior software engineer who kept losing time to mindless scrolling despite having real goals. No wellness startup. No VC playbook. Just someone who got tired of the drift and built the tool she wished existed. Start your first rewire today. Your future self is already waiting on the other side of that unlock. Built by someone who needed it. Terms of Use: https://rewire.storepage.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://rewire.storepage.app/privacy

Screenshots

Tonic4 screens
Rewire4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Tonic at every 4 days against Rewire's every 5 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Tonic sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Rewire sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tonic ships an update every 4 days, Rewire every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Tonic versus Rewire: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTonicRewire
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (43 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews95.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings43 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.416.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSets Studio LLCSanjana Mundhra

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Tonic

Subscriptions2
  • Tonic Unlimited7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Tonic Unlimited7 Days trial$29.991 Year
2 purchases

Rewire

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Annual7 Days trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Tonic free?
Tonic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Rewire free?
Rewire is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Tonic or Rewire have ads?
Neither Tonic nor Rewire shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tonic or Rewire?
Tonic ships an update every 4 days, and Rewire every 5 weeks. Most recently, Tonic was updated on October 17, 2026 and Rewire on October 14, 2026.

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