BeforeTheSpill vs Pull‑Free
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BeforeTheSpill
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Some days, stress does not arrive all at once. It builds slowly. A difficult conversation. A poor night’s sleep. Too many tasks. Money worries. Family pressure. That feeling of being close to spilling, even if you cannot quite explain why. Before the Spill helps you notice stress before it overflows. The app uses a simple stress bucket model. You log what fills your bucket, what helps empty it, and how your bucket changes over time. This helps you build a clearer picture of your stress patterns, without needing to write long journal entries or analyse everything in the moment. Before the Spill can help you: • Notice when stress is starting to build • Understand your common stressors • Track coping actions that actually help • Look back at your recent history • Reflect on symptoms separately • Spot patterns in your stress and self-care over time Stressors fill your bucket. Coping actions empty it. Symptoms are tracked separately and do not change your bucket level. Before the Spill is designed to be calm, simple, and easy to use. It is not about judging how you feel. It is about helping you understand what is going on, one small check-in at a time. Before the Spill Premium unlocks fuller history and deeper insights, helping you understand your bucket patterns over time. Before the Spill is a self-tracking and wellbeing tool, it is not therapy, diagnosis, medical advice, crisis support, or a replacement for professional care. Terms of Use: https://sites.google.com/d5l.co.uk/before-the-spill-legal/terms-disclaimer Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/d5l.co.uk/before-the-spill-legal/privacy-policy
Pull‑Free
This app uses your iPhone's camera to detect when your hands approach your face or hair, providing real-time alerts to help break habits like hair-pulling, skin-picking, and nail-biting. It focuses on building awareness and tracking progress privately on your device.
- Real-time hand-to-face detection
- Customizable alerts (haptic, sound, flash)
- On-device private processing
- Adjustable sensitivity and cooldown
- Progress tracking and streaks
- Support for trichotillomania, dermatillomania, nail-biting
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You touch your face dozens of times an hour without noticing. FaceFence helps you break the habit. Prop up your iPhone, and its front camera watches for the moment your hand drifts toward your face or hair — then gives you an instant buzz so you can catch yourself in real time. Whether you're working through hair-pulling (trichotillomania), skin-picking (dermatillomania), nail-biting, or any body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB), awareness is the first step to change. REAL-TIME DETECTION Powered by Apple's on-device Vision framework, FaceFence tracks your hands and face and alerts you the instant they get too close — a gentle haptic buzz, a sound, and an on-screen flash. 100% PRIVATE All processing happens on your iPhone. Your camera feed is never recorded, stored, or uploaded. Ever. BUILT FOR REAL USE - Prop your phone up facing you while you work, study, scroll, or relax - Adjustable sensitivity to match how close is "too close" - Cooldown control so you're nudged, not nagged - Pause anytime, plus a quick Test button to feel how it works TRACK YOUR PROGRESS - Daily detection counts and trends - Detections-per-hour and total monitoring time - Pull-free streaks and achievements to keep you motivated MADE FOR THE BFRB COMMUNITY - Hair-pulling (trichotillomania) - Skin-picking (dermatillomania) - Nail-biting and cheek-biting - Building awareness of unconscious face-touching and fidgeting A note: FaceFence watches while the app is open with the screen on — prop your phone up facing you and let it keep an eye out. It's a gentle awareness tool, not a medical device. Hands off. Pull-free. FaceFence is your gentle reminder.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pull‑Free at none against BeforeTheSpill's 3. BeforeTheSpill's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (14.0.0 vs 17.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. BeforeTheSpill sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Pull‑Free asks for nothing beyond the download.
BeforeTheSpill ships an update fortnightly, Pull‑Free every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BeforeTheSpill | Pull‑Free |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.5 (4 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 47 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Aimee Lewis | Derinbogaz Ventures |
In-app purchases
BeforeTheSpill
- Before the Spill Premium$1.991 Month
- Before the Spill Premium$7.991 Year
- Before the Spill Premium7 Days trial$14.991 Year
Pull‑Free
No in-app purchases









