Comparison

Autoscripts vs Cairn

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

Head to head
About

Autoscripts

Features
Read full description

Autoscripts is a local-first userscript manager for supported mobile, tablet, and desktop devices. Create or import .user.js scripts, review permissions before enabling them, run scripts only on matching websites, block sensitive sites, inspect source, manage updates, and back up your library as ZIP files. Scripts, settings, storage values, blacklist rules, and backups stay under your control. Autoscripts does not provide developer-operated script hosting, analytics, ads, accounts, subscriptions, or tracking.

About

Cairn

Features
Read full description

You make the promise. Cairn helps you keep it. Cairn blocks the apps that pull you away, and you decide in advance how hard it is to get back in. Not a dashboard, not a report on how bad last week was. A commitment device. THE UNLOCK LADDER Every block has a price you set when you're clear-headed, and pay when you're not: • Confirm: one tap to say you mean it. • Cooldown: wait it out, then a short window. • Effort: a puzzle, a long passphrase, or ten pushups. • In stone: no way through. It opens when it was always going to open. The top rung is only offered where a block ends on its own: a schedule that closes, a daily limit that resets, a place you can walk out of. A hard block that never lifts isn't a commitment, it's a trap with app deletion as the only key, so Cairn won't offer it. The same price applies to every way out. Turning a block off, deleting it, and editing it all cost what opening it costs. A lock you can undo by flipping a switch isn't a lock. FOUR WAYS TO BLOCK • Hard block: on until you turn it off. • Scheduled: a window on the days you choose. • Daily limit: after 30, 60, or 120 minutes, it closes for the day. • At a place: holds while you're at the gym, the office, or any set location. Plus Focus sessions and a Vacation mode that stands everything down. THE TRAIL One stone for each day you keep every block. Seven stones make a week. Cairn counts the day you resisted, not just the day you slipped, and a day it can't be sure about stays blank rather than being awarded to you. A quiet day under your limit earns its stone like any other. WE CAN'T SEE A THING Cairn has no account, no servers, and no analytics. Not "we don't sell your data"; there is no data. You pick apps in Apple's own Screen Time picker, and Cairn only ever receives an anonymous token. It can't read which apps you chose. Neither can we. If you set a daily limit, iOS counts the minutes on your device and tells Cairn only that a limit was crossed. Never how long, never which app. PAY ONCE One payment. No subscription, no ads, no upsell. Free for a month first, and when the month ends nothing is held hostage: every block you made is still there, and nothing on your phone stays blocked because you didn't pay. WHAT CAIRN WON'T DO It won't stop you deleting it. That's deliberate. iOS lets you remove any app, and a blocker that pretended otherwise would be lying. Cairn is a commitment device, not a cage. Pair it with iOS Screen Time restrictions if you want that door closed too. Be where you are.

Screenshots

Autoscripts3 screens
Cairn4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Cairn at Free against Autoscripts's $0.29. Cairn also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). Autoscripts's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Cairn is free to download; Autoscripts costs $0.29 up front. Cairn sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Autoscripts asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Autoscripts ships an update every 2 months, Cairn every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences Ā· 1 level
Autoscripts versus Cairn: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAutoscriptsCairn
Price$0.29Free — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.018.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB22 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLim SangjinDennis Hodgson

In-app purchases

None

Autoscripts

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Cairn

One-time1
  • Cairn Unlock$19.99

Questions

Is Autoscripts free?
Autoscripts costs $0.29, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cairn free?
Cairn is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Autoscripts or Cairn have ads?
Neither Autoscripts nor Cairn shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Autoscripts or Cairn?
Autoscripts ships an update every 2 months, and Cairn every 2 weeks. Most recently, Autoscripts was updated on October 8, 2026 and Cairn on October 1, 2026.

Other comparisons