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You have probably tried four of these already.
Here are the seven products people weigh Spark against: what each one actually does, the specific mechanism by which it stops working, and — for every one of them — an honest account of who should buy theirs instead.
Prices and limits last checked against each vendor’s own site on 24 Jul 2026.
At a glance
Seven products, one axis each
Every one of these is a real answer for somebody. The third column is the single dimension on which it and Spark genuinely differ — not a feature score, which is how comparison tables get written to a conclusion.
| Product | Platforms | The difference that matters |
|---|---|---|
| Brick | iOS 17.0 or later and Android 12.0 or later. | The difference is when you pay, not how it works |
| Unpluq | iPhone 8 and later, and Android devices with NFC. | A barrier you can pass versus a key you must fetch |
| Foqos | iPhone only, requiring iOS 17.6 or later. | A credential you can copy versus one you cannot |
| Opal | iPhone (iOS 18.0+), macOS 13+, and Android. | Opal's own advice is the argument for a physical key |
| Freedom | macOS 11+, Windows 7+, iOS 16.1+, Android 5.1+, Chromebook and Linux via browser extension, plus extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera. | Breadth versus depth, and they are not competing for the same job |
| Apple Screen Time | Built into iOS, iPadOS and macOS. | Try this first. Genuinely. |
| Cold Turkey | Windows and macOS only. | Different screens, same principle |
Head to head
Read the full comparison
Spark vs Brick
Brick is a $59 NFC device that blocks distracting apps. Spark is a free app plus a Bluetooth key. The real differences, and when Brick is better.
Read the comparisonunpluq alternativeSpark vs Unpluq
Unpluq's Tag needs a Premium subscription to work at all. Spark's app is free and the key is bought once. What each enforces, and when Unpluq fits better.
Read the comparisonfoqos alternativeSpark vs Foqos
Foqos is a free open-source iPhone blocker that works with any NFC tag. Where it genuinely wins, where a Bluetooth key differs, and who should pick which.
Read the comparisonopal alternativeSpark vs Opal
Opal is a polished screen-time app for iPhone at $99.99 a year. Where its hard block is hard, where it is soft, and when it is the better choice.
Read the comparisonfreedom app alternativeSpark vs Freedom
Freedom blocks across Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android in one session. If your problem is a laptop, it wins. If it is a phone, the comparison changes.
Read the comparisonscreen time not workingSpark vs Apple Screen Time
Screen Time is free, built in, and enough for a lot of people. Here is exactly why it fails when you administer it yourself, and the two ways to fix that.
Read the comparisoncold turkey alternativeSpark vs Cold Turkey
Cold Turkey has the hardest locks in the category — reboot to unlock, 40-day delays — but it is desktop only. Where each one belongs.
Read the comparisonThe things you tried first
Not products — habits
Before anyone buys anything they try these, usually in this order. Each works for a while, and each fails for its own specific reason.
Screen Time / Digital Wellbeing
Why it stops workingYou set the passcode, so you can remove it. The limit becomes a dialog you dismiss without reading.
What Spark does insteadThe unlock needs something you cannot summon from the couch: the key, physically nearby.
Deleting the app
Why it stops workingReinstalling takes forty seconds, and the account is still there waiting for you.
What Spark does insteadNothing to reinstall and nothing to delete — the block lives outside the app you are avoiding.
Greyscale / minimalist launchers
Why it stops workingGenuinely helps for about a week, then your brain stops noticing and you scroll in black and white.
What Spark does insteadDistance does not habituate. The next room is the same distance in month six as on day one.
Rigid timers and lockout apps
Why it stops workingUnbreakable when you need it broken. A locked-out phone in an emergency is a liability, not discipline.
What Spark does insteadThe cost is real but always payable. Walk to the key, or spend an emergency unlock.
Willpower
Why it stops workingWorks when you are rested and fails exactly when it matters. It is a plan that assumes you are always at your best.
What Spark does insteadNothing to sustain. The decision was made earlier, by a version of you who was thinking clearly.
Method
How these comparisons are written
Every price, platform requirement and limit on these pages was read from the vendor’s own site or store listing, and each page links its sources so you can check them yourself. Where something could not be verified, the page says so instead of guessing.
Every comparison names the readers who should buy the other product. That is not modesty — several of these are genuinely better than us at specific jobs, and a comparison that never concedes anything is an advertisement wearing a table.
Spark’s own column never carries a rupee figure. The price of the Bluetooth key is admin-editable and lives in the catalogue, so a number typed into a static comparison page would eventually disagree with the checkout — and a comparison whose own price is wrong has lost the argument before it starts. What the column does state is the shape of the deal, which does not move: the app is free with no subscription, the key is bought once, and the current price is on the buy page with GST shown separately.
We have not shipped yet, so we have no reviews, no ratings and no press to quote, and we are not going to imply otherwise. Where a competitor’s track record is a real reason to choose them today, the page says so in as many words.
“I have tried three other blockers. This is the only one where the phone actually stayed in the other room.”Sample Owner
To be fair
When you don’t need us
If Screen Time or Digital Wellbeing already works for you, keep using it — it is free, it is built in, and it needs no third-party app to be granted permissions. A physical key is worth paying for only if you have watched yourself dismiss that dialog enough times to stop believing your own promises. Start with the Screen Time page, which explains exactly why the built-in tools fail when you administer them yourself.
Spark also runs happily alongside the built-in tools, and alongside a desktop blocker if your laptop is the real problem. They are not mutually exclusive, and layered friction beats one wall. If you want the mechanism before the shopping, read how it works or the guides.
Locking is free. Unlocking costs you a walk.
The Spark app blocks apps with one tap, offline, with no account and no subscription. The Bluetooth key is the only thing you ever buy, and you buy it once — leave it in another room and a willpower problem becomes a walking problem.