A free alternative to Opal
Opal's App Store listing shows plans from $4.99 a week up to $99.99 a year. If what you actually want is a daily limit on a few apps and a schedule that shuts them off, Otto does that and costs nothing.
| Opal | Otto | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free tier, then $4.99/wk to $99.99/yr | Free, all of it |
| Account required | Yes | No |
| Daily time limit per app | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled hard block | Yes | Yes |
| Greyscale | No | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Usage data leaves your phone | Yes, it syncs | No |
Where Opal is the better buy
Opal is a polished product with a real team behind it. It has focus sessions, streaks, a leaderboard, whitelisting, deep usage analytics and a Mac app. If you want to be coached, or you want the same rules following you between a laptop and a phone, that is worth paying for and Otto will disappoint you.
Where Otto is the better fit
If you have looked at the yearly price and thought "for a timer?", that is the gap Otto fills. Two rule types, a colour switch, no sign in, and nothing about your usage leaving the device. It is a smaller idea, deliberately.
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.
