Think First vs HourLimit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Think First
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You reach for your phone β and 40 minutes later you no longer know why. Think First puts a short, deliberate moment right before that. No lecturing, no permanent lockout. The app stays closed until you have taken a moment β then the decision is yours. SETUP IN THREE STEPS β’ Pick your app from the list β around 70 well-known apps are built in β’ Link it in the system dialog so iOS knows which app you mean β’ Allow notifications β they take you from the blocked app to your countdown HOW YOUR MOMENT WORKS β’ You tap the app β it is blocked and shows its name β’ "Start my moment" sends you a notification β’ You tap it, the countdown runs, then you decide β’ Finally you set how long you need: 5, 15 or 30 minutes β’ The app then opens by itself β and locks again once your time is used HOW LONG DO YOU NEED? After the countdown you set yourself a time budget. Real usage counts, not the clock: if the phone sits on the table in between, your budget doesn't run down. Once it's used up the app locks itself again. YOUR APPS, BY NAME AND ICON Every protected app appears the way you know it: in statistics, in notifications and on the lock screen. So you see which app calls you how often β not just an anonymous total. WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU NEED IT FOR β’ Before the app opens you type, in one sentence, what you actually intend to do β’ Apple Intelligence reads along directly on your iPhone and checks that you really answered β not whether your reason is good enough β’ Later you see which sentence you tell yourself most often β’ Your text never leaves your device. Requires iPhone 15 Pro or newer with iOS 26 STAYING WITH IT, MADE REWARDING β’ Levels, XP and streaks for every impulse you win, 12 badges β’ Streak protection: once a week a day may drop out β’ Add friends and compare the week β free, up to 50 β’ Share your wins as an image: your numbers, your streak, your badges AT A GLANCE A home screen widget with your numbers per app β and one for the lock screen, right where you reach for the phone. EMERGENCY? SOS Press and hold the app icon, confirm three times: everything is open for 5 minutes. Then everything locks itself again β even if you never open Think First. PRIVACY β’ Your statistics stay on your iPhone. No account, no tracking, no ads β’ Think First never learns which apps you pick β Apple does not reveal that β’ The friends feature is optional and data-minimal FREE AND PREMIUM Free, no account, no ads: β’ Three protected apps with the deliberate moment β’ State your intention (iPhone 15 Pro or newer) β’ Instant βFocus nowβ sessions β’ Your numbers for today β’ Levels, XP, streaks and badges β’ Friends and leaderboard, up to 50 With Premium: β’ Hard Mode β the lock can't be clicked away while it runs β’ Daily limits: β30 minutes of socialβ, then it's done β’ Focus schedules: βStudy 8β15, MonβFriβ β’ As many apps as you like β’ Growing wait: every further reach costs more time today β’ Impulse quota: βInstagram three times a day, no moreβ β’ Time profiles, your own wait and question per app β’ Advanced statistics including CSV export β’ 11 themes, 10 app icons, widgets Both subscriptions start with 7 days free: β¬49.99 a year or β¬6.99 a month. Or β¬89.99 once, with no subscription at all. Already subscribed to Premium? Your current price stays. Think First Premium is available as a yearly (β¬49.99) or monthly (β¬6.99) subscription β both with the first 7 days free β or as a one-time purchase (β¬89.99, no subscription). Payment is charged to your Apple Account on confirmation. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://hbj-solutions.com/thinkfirst/privacy
HourLimit
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Daily screen time limits are easy to break. You burn the whole allowance before lunch, and the rest of the day has no guardrails at all. HourLimit works in hours instead. Give an app 15 minutes per hour, and when those 15 minutes are gone the app is blocked β until the top of the next hour, when the limit resets and you get a clean slate. Every hour, all day. It turns "I've blown it for today" into "I'll get another shot in 20 minutes." HOW IT WORKS β’ Pick the apps that pull you in β’ Give each one a limit between 1 and 60 minutes per hour β’ HourLimit blocks the app the moment its limit is spent β’ At the top of the hour, every limit resets automatically WHAT YOU GET β’ Hourly limits, not daily ones β a fresh start every 60 minutes β’ Real blocking through Apple's Screen Time, so it works even when HourLimit is closed β’ A calm dashboard showing what's left this hour for each app β’ A heads-up notification when a limit is reached β’ An optional reminder at the start of each new hour β’ Quiet hours, so nothing buzzes while you sleep β’ Adjust or remove any limit at any time β changes apply immediately BUILT TO BE CALM No streaks, no scores, no shaming graphs. HourLimit blocks an app and tells you when it's coming back. That's the whole product. PRIVACY Your limits and Screen Time usage stay on your iPhone. There is no account and no analytics. HourLimit uses Apple's Screen Time framework, which never reveals which apps you limit or how you use them. Purchases are processed by Apple and managed through RevenueCat. FREE AND PRO Free covers up to 3 apps. Pro removes the cap so you can limit as many apps as you like, as a monthly subscription or a one-time purchase. REQUIREMENTS HourLimit needs Screen Time (Family Controls) permission to block apps. iPhone, iOS 17 or later. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
Think First and HourLimit are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters β price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them β neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Think First sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and HourLimit sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Think First | HourLimit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | β |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HBJ Solutions | Sercan PASPAL |
In-app purchases
Think First
- Think First Premium$2.991 Month
- Think First Premium$3.99
HourLimit
- HourLimit Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- HourLimit Pro Lifetime$14.99









