An honest comparison
Added Time vs Opal
Two iPhone apps that help you focus by letting apps step aside (Opal also runs on Android and Mac). We make Added Time, so read this as what it is: the interested party's comparison. Which is exactly why every claim below is dated and checkable — and why Opal's strengths come first.
Facts checked against Opal's US App Store listing and its pricing page · September 24, 2026
Where the two agree
More than you'd think. Both apps are free to download with a paid tier. Both use Apple's Screen Time framework, so blocking is enforced by iOS itself, on the device. And both make the privacy point about your data — Opal's own listing says “personal browsing data never leaves your device,” and that deserves saying plainly rather than being spun into a difference.
What Opal does that we don't
Opal is one of the best-known apps in this category, with an Editors' Choice badge on its App Store listing, and it isn't famous by accident. Three honest reasons to pick it over us:
- A harder lock. Opal offers uninstall protection — in its own words, “Stop yourself from deleting Opal while you're in a block.” Added Time deliberately doesn't fight you that way: our whole design is a commitment you can always walk out of, doors with handles. If you know yourself and you want the door welded, Opal takes that job more seriously than we ever will.
- More game in it. Scores, milestones, streak mechanics — a bigger, busier system that genuinely motivates some people. Added Time is quieter on purpose: tallies in ink, counts of what you kept, and no theater when you stop.
- More ways to pay. In the App Store, Opal sells weekly ($4.99 and $9.99), monthly ($19.99) and yearly ($99.99) plans and a student weekly plan; on its website the yearly plan starts with a free week, and it also sells a $399 lifetime and says students can get up to 50% off. We sell three: monthly, yearly and lifetime.
The numbers, side by side
| What | Added Time | Opal |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | The whole record, plus one standing window, forever | Free forever: rules, schedules, time limits and app blocking, per its website |
| Yearly | $29.99 · 7-day free trial | $99.99 · free week, per its website |
| Monthly | $4.99 | $19.99 · 3 free days, per its website |
| Weekly | — | $4.99 · $9.99 |
| Lifetime | $79.99 — one payment, never renews | $399, one payment, on its website (not in its App Store list) |
| Students | — | Student Weekly $9.99; up to 50% off Opal Pro, per its website |
| Account | None. No sign-up exists. | Sign-in |
| Blocking | Apple Screen Time, enforced by iOS | Apple Screen Time, enforced by iOS |
| Also on | iPhone only (iOS 18 or later) | Android and Mac, per its website (iPhone: iOS 18 or later) |
| App Privacy label (as shown on each listing) | Data Not Collected | Identifiers may be used to track you; purchases, contact info, user content, identifiers and usage data linked to you |
Opal's figures are from its US App Store listing and opalapp.com/pricing as of September 24, 2026. The App Store also lists an “Opal Pro Subscription” at $49.99 without saying how often it bills, so it isn't in the table. Prices change, so check theirs for today's numbers — and tell us if this table has gone stale, and we'll fix it.
What Added Time does differently, on purpose
- The pause is priced, never punished. Our clock is a match clock: hit the whistle and the minutes are added on — +7′ means the match ran seven minutes longer, and that's all it means. We haven't found another focus app that adds the interruption back rather than letting it quietly eat the session; if you know one, tell us and we'll name it here.
- Counts are of what you kept. There is no tally of times you were stopped, and no count of how often you reached for an app. Your record states what held and what you did — it never keeps score against you.
- The record is free, forever. Subjects, goals, habits, history, streaks — uncapped, permanently, plus the focus shield and one standing window. What costs money is the doorman: enforcement that runs on days you never open the app.
- Stop for a month and nothing breaks. We can only speak for ourselves here: if your subscription lapses, nothing is deleted. Extra windows and limits rest in place, visibly, and resubscribing re-arms them exactly as they were. Leaving is safe by design, which is precisely what makes staying an honest choice.
- No account, structurally. Not "sign-in optional" — there is nothing to sign in to. Purchases live with your Apple ID; your data lives on your phone (and, from version 1.0.1, when iCloud is on, in a copy in your own iCloud that we can't see); we run no servers at all.
Is there a cheaper Opal alternative?
Yes, including a free one: your iPhone's own Screen Time settings can limit apps on a schedule at no cost. Opal has a free tier of its own, too: its pricing page lists a free-forever plan with scheduled app blocking and time limits. Added Time is free to download, with one standing window free forever; Plus is $4.99 a month, $29.99 a year after a 7-day free trial, or $79.99 once. Opal's own prices are in the table above.
Which should you pick?
Pick Opal if you want the hardest available lock, you're motivated by scores and streaks, and the price reads as fair for that. It's a capable, well-made app, and plenty of people should choose it.
Pick Added Time if you have hours you owe yourself — an exam, a degree, a craft — and you want them recorded as much as protected. If you'd rather count what you kept than be kept score against, don't want an account, and would like the yearly price to cost less than a textbook, or a one-time price about a fifth of Opal's lifetime — that's who this was built for. Screen time going down is a side effect; the hours going somewhere is the product.
Not sure yet? Try the free focus & study timer in your browser first.
Free to download · no account · the record is free forever
Opal is a trademark of its owner. Added Time is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Opal in any way. This page exists because people comparison-shop, and we'd rather the comparison be accurate than flattering.