Comparison

App Usage Limiter vs Strict App Blocker

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

Head to head
About

App Usage Limiter

Features
Read full description

You already know how much time you want to give an app. Free Full Usage Limiter is what makes that decision stick. Pick an app, give it a daily budget, and when the budget runs out the app stops opening. That's it. No streaks, no coaching, no account to create. SET LIMITS THE WAY YOU ACTUALLY THINK • Per app — give one app its own daily budget. • Per folder — group several apps together and give them a single shared budget. Twenty minutes across all your social apps, however you split it. When the budget is gone, they all lock at once. TWO WAYS TO BE STOPPED Friction mode leaves a door, but makes you work for it. To buy back a few minutes you type out a full sentence by hand — pasting is rejected — and then sit through a countdown that restarts if you leave the app. Most of the time you'll close it instead. That's the point. Absolute mode has no door. When the time is gone, it's gone until midnight. An absolute limit also can't be loosened or deleted afterwards; you can only make it stricter. Choose it when you already know you'll negotiate with yourself later. IT NOTICES WHEN YOU KEEP TRYING Every time you hit the lock screen, the message changes. The first one is a gentle nudge. By the tenth it isn't gentle, and it tells you how many times you've tried today. Seeing that number is usually what breaks the loop. SEE WHAT YOU GOT BACK A weekly report shows how much less you used your phone compared to the same point last week — overall and app by app. Not a guilt chart. Just the hours you took back. BUILT TO BE BORING ABOUT YOUR DATA No account. No sign-up. No subscription. No ads. No analytics. No third-party code of any kind. There is no server, because there is nothing to send anywhere. Your limits live on your iPhone and nowhere else. Your usage numbers are read inside an isolated system extension that Apple does not let apps read from — which means even this app cannot see them. That's also why the main screen shows a progress bar rather than a live countdown: iOS genuinely does not allow it. HONEST LIMITATIONS • Requires Screen Time permission. It's what makes blocking possible. • Blocks can take up to a minute to appear after your time runs out. That's how iOS reports usage. • Deleting this app removes every block, including absolute ones. Apple does not allow that door to be closed, and we'd rather tell you than pretend otherwise. Free, completely. There is no paid tier to upsell you to.

About

Strict App Blocker

This app helps you regain control of your screen time by setting daily limits or blocking specific applications during designated hours. Features include a countdown timer, a strict "hard mode" for complete blocking, and a grayscale option to discourage usage. It offers a ten-day training period to build new habits.

Highlights
  • Daily time limits for apps
  • Scheduled app blocking (Hard Mode)
  • Grayscale mode for usage deterrence
  • Strict training mode to lock settings
  • Sixty-day usage history
  • No account required, data stays on device
Features
Read full description

Set a daily time limit on the apps that eat your day, or shut them off completely between the hours you choose. When the time is gone, it's gone. Free. No account, no subscription, no trial that runs out. DAILY BUDGET Pick your worst apps and give them a limit. The timer counts down while you use them and resets each morning. Open a blocked app and you see how long is left, not a wall with no explanation. HARD MODE Schedule a window and the apps simply don't open. 9 to 5. 11pm to 7am. Whatever you need. No countdown, no bargaining. GREYSCALE Turn the screen black and white the moment you open something you're trying to cut down on. It sounds like a gimmick. It works better than it should. STRICT TRAINING Ten days to get used to it, then you can lock the settings so the version of you at 1am can't undo what you decided at 10am. WHY IT'S FREE Every other blocker wants forty dollars a year to help you use your phone less. This one doesn't. There's a tip jar in Settings if you want to, and that's the whole business model. No account means there's nothing to leak, and your data never leaves your phone. Dark mode, a sixty day history of the days you left your rules alone, and Otto, who tells you where you're at without nagging.

Screenshots

App Usage Limiter4 screens
Strict App Blocker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: App Usage Limiter at none against Strict App Blocker's 4. Strict App Blocker's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 9 days). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Strict App Blocker sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. App Usage Limiter asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

App Usage Limiter ships an update every 9 days, Strict App Blocker every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
App Usage Limiter versus Strict App Blocker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterApp Usage LimiterStrict App Blocker
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.416.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJAIME MANUEL SERRANO GONZALEZCasebuddy Pty Ltd

In-app purchases

None

App Usage Limiter

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Strict App Blocker

One-time4
  • A small tip$1.99
  • A good tip$4.99
  • A generous tip$9.99
Show 1 more
  • A very generous tip$19.99

Questions

Is App Usage Limiter free?
App Usage Limiter is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Strict App Blocker free?
Strict App Blocker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do App Usage Limiter or Strict App Blocker have ads?
Neither App Usage Limiter nor Strict App Blocker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, App Usage Limiter or Strict App Blocker?
App Usage Limiter ships an update every 9 days, and Strict App Blocker every 3 days. Most recently, App Usage Limiter was updated on October 25, 2026 and Strict App Blocker on October 10, 2026.

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