Alternatives
How Ficus compares to Brick, Opal, foqos, and Burnout Buddy
Screen time blockers aren't short on options. Here's exactly how Ficus stacks up against the ones people ask about most, on price, what it actually takes to unlock, and what happens to your data.
Side by side
| Ficus | Brick | Opal | foqos | Burnout Buddy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, forever | $59 one-time, plus you have to buy the device | Free tier is a trial in disguise. Real blocking needs Pro: $99.99/yr, $19.99/mo, or $399 lifetime | Free, open source, no IAPs | Generous free tier. Pro removes config limits for a one-time $9.99 |
| Unlock methods | Six: wait, tap, type, puzzle, shake, physical scan, combined however you want | Physical tap to the Brick hardware. No digital bypass, five lifetime emergency unbricks | Timers and difficulty levels, software only | Manual, NFC, QR or barcode, timer, iOS Shortcuts | Schedule, usage limits, location, and Siri triggers. Strict Mode locks the setup while active |
| Cost of a pause | Your call: fixed, random, or escalating, set per profile | Fixed. The tap is the tap | Harder difficulty is Pro-only, not a true escalation model | None | No published early-exit system, blocks lift when the condition does |
| Data collected | None. No account, no analytics, no network code | Not a stated focus | Streaks and a leaderboard imply accounts and sync | Local only, no account, no analytics | Local only, app identifiers anonymized on-device |
Ficus vs. Brick
Brick sells you a $59 device: tap your phone to it to block, tap again to unblock, five lifetime "emergency unbricks" aside. Ficus's physical scan step reads standard NFC tags, including Brick's own, so that exact tap-to-unlock mechanic works in Ficus for free. No device to buy. And a physical tap doesn't have to be the whole requirement, stack it with a typed passphrase, a puzzle, or escalating cost, or skip it entirely and use one of the other five steps instead.
Ficus vs. Opal
Opal's free tier gives you one rule and basic timers, not much stands between you and a blocked app. The features that actually add friction, like locked "Deep Focus" sessions, sit behind Opal Pro at $99.99 a year or $399 for life. Ficus's escalating and randomized cost modes are free from the start, and there's no leaderboard, streak, or score syncing your habits anywhere.
Ficus vs. foqos
foqos is the closest relative here: free, open source, no account, no analytics. Where they differ is the unlock toolkit. foqos starts and stops sessions manually, or with NFC, a QR code, a timer, or an iOS Shortcut. Ficus adds a typed passphrase, a math puzzle, and a shake, and lets you chain several of those into one required sequence instead of picking just one. Ficus also gives you three ways to price a repeated pause, fixed, random, or escalating, where foqos charges the same either way.
Ficus vs. Burnout Buddy
Burnout Buddy's free tier is genuinely generous: schedules, usage thresholds, location and Siri triggers, and a Strict Mode that locks your setup while a block is active, all before you pay anything. Pro removes config limits for a one-time $9.99. The two apps are solving a different problem, though. Burnout Buddy decides when a block should apply and locks the configuration behind it, but doesn't publish a way to price getting back in early, blocks seem to lift when the condition does. Ficus is built around exactly that: six unblock steps and three ways to price a pause, for whenever you want out before the timer says so.
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