Recovo vs Pawl
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Recovo
This app provides a system-level block for gambling websites and apps using Apple Screen Time technology. It offers features like an accountability partner, lockdown mode, and streak tracking to support recovery from gambling. Users can also journal urges and access helpful resources.
- System-level blocking of gambling sites/apps
- Accountability partner feature
- Lockdown mode for unbreakable blocks
- Bet-free streak tracking
- Money saved tracking
- Urge journaling and pattern spotting
- Built-in recovery resources
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Willpower fails at 2am. A system-level block doesn't. Recovo uses Apple Screen Time — the same technology Apple built for parental controls — to lock 430+ gambling sites, every .casino, .bet and .poker domain, and 115 betting apps off your phone. Not a reminder. Not a nag screen. A block you can't click past. BLOCK IT AT THE SYSTEM LEVEL Sportsbooks, casino apps, poker rooms, slots, sweepstakes sites. Blocked in Safari system-wide, even when Recovo is closed. Big operators are blocked under every country's domain, not just .com — pokerstars.se, bet365.es and betano.com.br included. Choose a session from 1 hour to 1 year. TWO WAYS TO MAKE IT STICK Accountability Partner — a friend or family member holds your unlock code by SMS. You never see it. Ending a session early means asking someone you love to help you gamble. Lockdown Mode — nobody can unlock it. Not your partner. Not you. It ends when the timer ends. That friction is the point. TRACK YOUR BET-FREE STREAK Watch the days add up on a calendar of every bet-free day, with milestones at 30, 60, 90 and 365, each one celebrated when you reach it. A recovery timeline shows what people often notice along the way. Already have time clean? Enter the date you started and your streak carries over — you don't go back to day 1 just for installing an app. Your best streak is preserved even after a setback: relapse isn't failure, it's information. ON YOUR HOME SCREEN AND LOCK SCREEN Widgets keep your day count in sight without opening the app, and a running block counts down on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. They say "days free", never what from. SHARE IT ON YOUR TERMS Share your streak as a story-sized image. It says "days free" and nothing more, unless you choose to say it's bet-free or add the money you've kept. SEE WHAT YOU'VE SAVED Every bet-free day, Recovo adds up the money you didn't lose. Watch the number compound. It's the clearest proof of what recovery is actually worth. JOURNAL THE URGES Log cravings, wins, and moods. Spot the patterns that set you off — the time of day, the feeling, the trigger. Writing through a hard moment gives you something to read the next time one hits. HELP AT 2AM When an urge hits, Recovo gives you a 90-second delay timer and quick tools to ride it out: ground yourself through your five senses, play the bet forward to tomorrow morning, or name what's behind it. 1-800-GAMBLER and other recovery resources are built in, a tap away from the urge screen, in Settings and whenever a block is running. Cravings don't keep business hours. WHAT PEOPLE SAY "Recovo helped me fully block the apps so I am no longer tempted or even have access to them." — GPPRx, App Store review "This app has really helped me control how much I was gambling." — Captainaman, App Store review START WITH 7 DAYS FREE Recovo Pro is a subscription that unlocks everything above: Screen Time blocking, the accountability partner, streak and money tracking, and the journal. New subscribers get a 7-day free trial; the price for your country is shown in the app before you subscribe. Payment is charged to your Apple ID when the trial ends, and the subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Cancel anytime in your Apple ID settings. Your recovery starts with one decision. This one. — Recovo is a support tool, not a substitute for professional treatment. If your gambling is severe, please reach out to a licensed therapist or counselor who specializes in addiction. Terms: https://recovoapp.com/terms Privacy: https://recovoapp.com/privacy
Pawl
This app acts as a commitment device to help users break unwanted habits by blocking distracting apps and websites. It utilizes physical friction, like a security key, and a mandatory cool-off period to make unblocking difficult, turning impulsive choices into deliberate ones.
- Block distracting apps and websites
- Requires physical security key to unlock
- 15-minute cool-off period before unblocking
- Clean-day streak tracking
- Optional sponsor for accountability
- Relapse log for pattern analysis
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Most blockers can be turned off by the same person who set them up, in about thirty seconds, at the exact moment they most want to. Pawl is built for that moment. Pawl blocks the apps and websites you choose. Social feeds, games, shopping, news, adult sites, betting, anything. It uses Apple's Screen Time. The block screen has no unlock button. To open anything, you need your key. HOW IT WORKS - Pick what to block. Choose apps in Apple's own Screen Time picker, type in websites, or turn on a website category. - Pair a security key. Plug in a physical FIDO2 security key once. Then put it somewhere hard to reach. - To unblock, you need the key. Then you wait 15 minutes before anything opens. After that, the block comes back on by itself. - You can make the wait longer at any time. Making it shorter is delayed too. YOUR KEY IS YOUR ACCOUNTABILITY Whoever holds your key decides when Pawl can open. Give it to a sister or friend across town, put it in a time lock box, a bank safe deposit box, or your desk at work. They don't need to install anything. A real example: it is 1am and you open the app you told yourself you were done with. You see Pawl's block screen. Your key is at your sister's place across town. By the time you could get it and wait out the 15 minutes, the urge has usually passed. That is the whole idea. FOR THE HARD MOMENTS - An "I'm tempted" button: a ten-minute wait, your own notes from past moments, how many times you have resisted, and a one-tap call to someone you trust. It never leads to an unblock. - A streak that survives deleting the app. It lives in your iCloud. - A private log. Slips are part of changing a habit, and nothing in Pawl scolds you for one. WHILE PAWL IS PROTECTING YOU - Pawl turns on Screen Time's block on deleting apps, so deleting Pawl is not a quick way out. - Pawl asks Screen Time to require automatic date and time, which is meant to stop you from moving the clock ahead to skip the wait. PAWL PRO - Scheduled sets: a Work set that blocks social apps 9 to 5 on weekdays, or an Evenings set for after 8pm. When a set's hours end, its apps open on their own. Up to ten sets. Making a set block less needs your key and the wait. - The weekly report: the days Pawl was on, hours back, blocked attempts, urges resisted, the time of day that was hardest, and your own words from the week. It never scores or grades you. HONEST ABOUT THE LIMITS Pawl adds friction. It is not a cage. - iOS lets the owner of a phone turn Screen Time off. No app can stop that. Pawl notices the next time it runs and says so. For a firmer lock, ask someone you trust to set your Screen Time passcode in person and keep it. - No blocklist is complete. The optional gambling list has 167 sites, and new ones appear all the time. - Someone set on it can still use another phone or a computer. Pawl makes the 1am version slow, not impossible. PRIVACY Pawl collects no data. There is no account and no Pawl server. Screen Time gives Pawl only anonymous tokens, so Pawl never learns which apps you picked. Your streak, your sets, your typed sites and your logs stay on your phone and in your own iCloud. No ads. No tracking. OPEN SOURCE Pawl's code is public under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, so anyone can read how the key check and the block work: github.com/jasonepage/Pawl. No independent security audit has been done yet. FREE CORE, OPTIONAL PRO Blocking, the key unlock, the 15-minute wait, your streak, the "I'm tempted" tools and the private log are all free. Pawl Pro adds new scheduled sets and the weekly report. Sets you made before Pro keep working for free. Pro costs $29.99 a year with a 7-day free trial, or $3.99 a month, and renews until you cancel. WHAT YOU NEED An iPhone or iPad on iOS 18 or later, and a FIDO2 security key. Any standard security key with a USB-C plug works. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://getpawl.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Recovo at 7 against Pawl's 2. Recovo also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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
Both are free to download. Recovo sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Pawl sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Recovo against 5.0 for Pawl. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Recovo ships an update weekly, Pawl every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Recovo | Pawl |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (7 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 48 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | AUSTIN SLOAN BOTH | JASON EVAN PAGE |
Customer experience
Recovo
Pawl
In-app purchases
Recovo
- Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Weekly7 Days trial$5.007 Days
- Yearly Special Offer$19.991 Year
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- Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Yearly B7 Days trial$35.001 Year
Pawl
- Pawl Pro (Monthly)$3.991 Month
- Pawl Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$29.991 Year









