Spark vs Cold Turkey
These two barely compete: Cold Turkey is Windows and macOS only and does nothing about a phone, while Spark is phone only. If your distraction happens on a computer, Cold Turkey has the strongest locks anyone sells and it is a one-time purchase. If it happens on a phone, Cold Turkey cannot help you at all, and the vendor says so.
Every figure below was read from Cold Turkey’s own site or store listing on 2 Sept 2026. The one exception is the Blocker Pro price, which is our 24 Jul 2026 reading: the pricing page shows it per country and does not serve it as text, so it could not be re-checked. Prices change — check the source links before deciding. What this page says about Spark was last corrected on 13 Sept 2026.
A timer, a delay or a password, on the desktop
A key left in another room, held to the phone to unlock
At a glance
Side by side
| Dimension | Cold Turkey | Spark |
|---|---|---|
| Devices | Windows and macOS only | iOS 17+ and Android 12+ only — not in the app stores yet |
| Phone blocking | None | Yes |
| Price | ~$45 one-time, localised | Free app; the key is a one-time purchase |
| Subscription | None | None |
| Hardest lock | Restart, 40-day delay, 5,000-character retype | Walking to the key and holding the phone against it |
| Escape hatch | None in locked modes, once the 10-minute charity break is disabled | 5 emergency unlocks for life; hidden in Strict mode |
| Data storage | Local | Account needed to pair; sessions and settings sync to Spark's servers |
Cold Turkey
How Cold Turkey works
Cold Turkey is a Windows and macOS website and application blocker sold as a one-time purchase with no subscription.
A native desktop app plus browser extensions. You build blocklists and app blocks, then optionally lock them with mechanisms that can be combined: a timer, retyping up to 5,000 random characters, a delay countdown of up to 40 days, a required restart, or a password held by someone else. Block Strictness closes known workarounds — blocking the task manager, the system clock, and macOS Screen Time settings.
Platforms
Windows and macOS only. The vendor states plainly that Linux, ChromeOS, Android and iOS are not supported, and that mobile devices are not supported because of OS limitations.
Pricing
One-time purchase, no subscription, with free lifetime updates. Around $45 USD for Blocker Pro, though the price is localised by country. A free tier covers website blocking, exceptions, timed blocks and statistics; a 7-day trial of Pro features is available in-app. 30-day refund guarantee.
How hard it is to get around
The hardest of anything here on desktop. A locked block cannot be ended early — no emergency pass, no support override. The residual weaknesses are structural: website blocking relies on browser extensions, and a determined user with a second device is unconstrained. There is a 10-minute break available in exchange for a charity donation, which can be disabled.
The difference that matters
Different screens, same principle
Cold Turkey is the clearest proof in this whole category that the principle works. Its strongest locks — reboot the machine, wait out a 40-day countdown, retype 5,000 random characters — are effective precisely because they cost something the impatient version of you cannot spend. That is the same idea as leaving a key in another room, implemented in software on a machine where the OS permits it.
The limitation is not the design, it is the platform. Phones do not let an app impose a reboot requirement or block the settings screen the way a desktop does, and Cold Turkey does not try — they state outright that mobile is unsupported.
So the honest answer is that these are complements, not competitors. If both your laptop and your phone are problems, Cold Turkey on the laptop and a key for the phone is a better combination than either alone. Both are bought once: Cold Turkey's licence is a one-time payment, and Spark's app is free with the key sold on its own, in rupees quoted ex-GST, no subscription on either side.
To be fair
When Cold Turkey is the better choice
Cold Turkey has the strongest and most creative lock mechanics of any consumer blocker, it charges once and never again with free lifetime updates, it stores data locally rather than in a vendor cloud, and its Block Strictness panel explicitly hunts down the classic workarounds — task manager, system clock, macOS Screen Time settings, inactive tabs and embedded video.
Choose Cold Turkey if
- Your distraction happens on a computer. Nothing here competes with it there.
- You want the hardest possible lock for a single one-time payment.
- You are done with subscriptions and want usage statistics stored locally.
- You need granular desktop control — a specific subreddit, a YouTube channel, a search keyword, a folder of games.
Documented limitations
- Desktop only — no iOS, Android, Linux or ChromeOS support at all, so it does nothing about phone use.
- Website blocking depends on browser extensions being present in each browser.
- No cross-device syncing; each computer is configured separately.
- The free version is limited to website blocking, exceptions, timed blocks and statistics.
Sources
Questions
Cold Turkey, answered
Does Cold Turkey work on iPhone or Android?
No. The vendor states that mobile devices are not supported because of operating-system limitations, and that a licence covers Windows and macOS only.
What is the strongest app blocker?
It depends on the screen. On a desktop, Cold Turkey's locked modes are the hardest thing sold to consumers. On a phone, no software lock is absolute, so the strongest available approach is to make the unlock depend on a physical object you can leave elsewhere.
Read next
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Read the comparisonFacts checked 2 Sept 2026 · Spark’s side corrected 13 Sept 2026
Locking is one tap. Unlocking costs you a walk.
No subscription. Buy a Spark once and sign in to pair it; after that, locking is one tap, even offline. Unlocking means fetching the key and holding your phone against it — which turns a bad moment into a walk.