A free alternative to Brick
Brick costs $59 once, with no subscription, and it is the most honest mechanism on this list: unblocking means physically walking to a magnet you left in another room. You cannot uninstall your way past geography. You can uninstall your way past Otto.
| Brick | Otto | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $59 device, no subscription | Free, all of it |
| Needs hardware | Yes | No |
| Ongoing cost | None | None |
| Daily time limit per app | Not its model | Yes |
| Scheduled hard block | Yes | Yes |
| Greyscale | No, a Shortcuts workaround | Yes, built in |
| Blocking data stays on the phone | Yes | Yes |
| Can be bypassed by deleting the app | Yes | Yes |
Where Brick is the better buy
The friction is real in a way software friction is not. A ten-day lock in Otto is still a setting on the device in your hand; a brick left on the kitchen bench is a walk. If you have already defeated every app-based blocker you have tried, that is not a character flaw, it is a sign you need a physical one, and $59 once is cheaper than two years of any subscription here.
Where Otto is the better fit
If you have not tried a software blocker yet, find out whether one works before spending $59. Otto costs nothing to test, does the daily budget and greyscale Brick does not, and if you defeat it in a fortnight you will have learned something worth knowing about yourself.
Otto is free, on both stores
No paid tier, no trial that expires, no account. There is a tip jar in the settings and that is the whole business model.
