Comparison

Tonic vs NoRot

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, workouts and brisk minutes, 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

NoRot

This app helps you reduce screen time and break phone addiction. It offers powerful app blocking, focus sessions, and gamified tools to build healthier digital habits. Take back control of your attention and live more.

Highlights
  • Screen Time Control
  • Powerful App Blocker
  • Focus Score
  • Focus Sessions
  • 7-Second Pause
  • Daily Streaks
  • Detailed Insights
Features
Read full description

Reduce your screen time, block distracting apps, and take back control of your phone. NoRot helps you beat phone addiction with a powerful app blocker, Focus Score, focus sessions, and smart screen time controls that make building healthy habits easier than ever. A thousand engineers built social media to keep you scrolling. Fighting them with willpower alone isn't a fair fight. NoRot fights back for you. It blocks the apps stealing your attention, helps you stay focused, and turns reducing screen time into a game you'll actually enjoy. Instead of simply showing screen time statistics, NoRot helps you build healthier habits that last. WHY NOROT? Unlike traditional screen time apps that only show usage reports, NoRot combines powerful app blocking, screen time control, productivity tools, and gamification to help you spend less time on your phone and more time living your life. FEATURES • Screen Time Control Reduce screen time with smart app limits, schedules, and customizable blocking rules. • Powerful App Blocker Block distracting apps completely, on a schedule, or after reaching your daily usage limit. • Focus Score Track your daily focus with a unique 0–100 score based on your actual screen time and app usage. • Focus Sessions Stay productive with distraction-free focus sessions that keep distracting apps locked until you're done. • 7-Second Pause Stop mindless scrolling with a short pause before opening distracting apps, giving you time to make a better choice. • Daily Streaks Build consistency and stay motivated by maintaining focus streaks every day. • Detailed Insights Understand your habits with screen time reports, usage trends, and productivity insights. • Home Screen Widget See your Focus Score, daily progress, and mascot directly from your home screen. PERFECT FOR • Reducing screen time • Breaking phone addiction • Stopping doom scrolling • Blocking social media apps • Improving productivity • Staying focused while studying • Building healthier digital habits • Completing a digital detox 100% PRIVATE Your Screen Time data never leaves your device. No accounts, no sign-ups, and no personal data collection. Everything stays private on your iPhone. Take back your attention. Reduce screen time, stay focused, and build healthier habits with NoRot. SUBSCRIPTION NoRot Premium unlocks all features with Monthly, Yearly, and Lifetime purchase options. Subscriptions automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. Manage or cancel your subscription anytime from your App Store account settings. Terms of Service: https://getnorot.com/terms-of-service/ Privacy Policy: https://getnorot.com/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

Tonic4 screens
NoRot4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Tonic at every 4 days against NoRot's every 2 months. Tonic also leads on ratings volume (44 vs 7) and iOS requirement (17.4 vs 26.2). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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 NoRot sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Tonic against 4.9 for NoRot. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tonic has 44 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 96% of Tonic's written reviews are positive against 100% of NoRot's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tonic ships an update every 4 days, NoRot every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Tonic versus NoRot: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTonicNoRot
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (44 ratings) — better4.9 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews95.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings44 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.4 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB50 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSets Studio LLCHarshavardhan Arimanda

Customer experience

Tonic

All ratings44 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive95.8%
Neutral4.2%
Negative0.0%

NoRot

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Tonic

Subscriptions2
  • Tonic Unlimited7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Tonic Unlimited7 Days trial$39.991 Year
6 purchases

NoRot

Subscriptions4
  • NoRot Premium (Monthly)3 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • NoRot Premium (Monthly)$11.991 Month
  • NoRot Premium (Yearly)3 Days trial$38.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • NoRot Premium (Yearly)$48.991 Year
One-time2
  • NoRot Lifetime Offer$98.99
  • NoRot Lifetime$128.99

Questions

Is Tonic free?
Tonic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is NoRot free?
NoRot is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Tonic or NoRot?
Tonic is rated higher. Tonic averages 5.0 out of 5 from 44 ratings, while NoRot averages 4.9 from 7 ratings.
Do Tonic or NoRot have ads?
Neither Tonic nor NoRot shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tonic or NoRot?
Tonic ships an update every 4 days, and NoRot every 2 months. Most recently, Tonic was updated on November 5, 2026 and NoRot on October 31, 2026.

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