What "free" Reels blockers and screen-time apps really cost

Updated 4 November 2026 · By the StillTabs team

Most "free" Reels blockers and screen-time apps are free to download only: the product is a subscription, often with tracking and a no-refund clause. Of the 14 apps we checked, 11 sell subscriptions and 7 have Apple's "Data Used to Track You" label. StillTabs has neither: no in-app purchases, and no tracking.

The numbers

From each app's US App Store listing, terms and privacy policy, checked 4 November 2026. Links under Sources.
App	Most expensive plan listed	Tracking label	From its own terms
StillTabs	Free, nothing to buy	None	No account, no subscription
SocialLite	$17.99 a month / $47.90 a year	Yes: User ID	Phone number required; arbitration; "We generally do not provide refunds"
Dull	$79.99 lifetime	Yes: Purchases, Device ID	"dull is a paid app"; trial waives EU withdrawal right
Opal	$99.99 a year, or weekly from $4.99	Yes: Identifiers	"we are unable to provide refunds" (App Store)
Clearspace	$59.99 a year	Yes: Contact Info, Usage Data	Label lists Health & Fitness and Contacts as linked to you
Jomo	$99.99 lifetime	Yes: User Content	Account can be ended "for any reason whatsoever"
Freedom	$199 "Forever"	Yes: Identifiers	Terms can change "without notice"; uses the Meta Pixel
AppBlock	$59.99 a year	Yes: Identifiers	Shares refund-request usage data with Apple; Meta SDK
Stillfeed	$2.99 a week (about $155 a year)	Linked: Browsing History, Coarse Location	"We may show different subscription prices to different users"
minulo	$9.99 a month (Pro)	No	Privacy policy only in Japanese; no terms of its own
SocialFocus	$4.99 upfront, plus up to $79.99 lifetime	No	May "charge for its services, at any time and for any reason"
one sec	$99.99 lifetime	No	Paid features; Screen Time lock only from iOS 26.4
Brick	$129 device (Brick Night)	No (app)	Fees can change "at any time"; arbitration in Madison, Wisconsin
SHIFT	$399 once (Family); $149 once (Solo)	No (label: Data Not Collected)	Needs a Mac or PC; can end a lifetime licence "with or without cause"; arbitration in Florida

Free to download is not free

The App Store shows "Get" for all of these apps, but 11 of the 14 sell the real product as a subscription, and one more costs $149 to $399 upfront. Some say so plainly: Dull's terms open with "dull is a paid app". Others bill weekly: Opal lists weekly plans from $4.99, and Stillfeed's $2.99 a week adds up to about $155 a year. SocialFocus charges $4.99 to download and then sells a subscription on top.

StillTabs has no in-app purchases at all. There is no trial, so nothing converts into a charge.

Tracking, in their own labels

Apple requires every app to declare "Data Used to Track You": data linked with other companies' data for advertising or measurement. Seven of these apps declare it. Some go further: Clearspace's label lists Health & Fitness and Contacts as data linked to you, and Stillfeed's lists Browsing History and Coarse Location.

Their websites too: on 8 November 2026, SocialLite's and Opal's websites loaded Meta's advertising pixel for a visitor from the Netherlands with no cookie banner; stilltabs.com loads no trackers at all. Full results for 17 sites.

Several also send data to advertising platforms, by their own account: Dull to Meta and Mixpanel, AppBlock to the Meta SDK and the ad-measurement firm Singular, Freedom through the Meta Pixel, Jomo to Facebook and OpenAI among others.

StillTabs does not track you. Its App Store privacy label is "Data Not Linked to You", with nothing under "Data Used to Track You" or "Data Linked to You". Usage analytics are off by default and only start if you switch them on; even then they are tied to a random ID on your phone, never to your name or accounts, and never include what you watch, search or write. There are no ads and nothing is sold. Pages load straight from each platform: StillTabs runs no proxy, so it never sees your passwords, messages or what you browse. The privacy policy lists every event in full.

What the small print says

Refunds: SocialLite "generally" gives none; Opal is "unable to provide refunds" for App Store purchases; BlockSite says fees "are non-refundable".
Arbitration: SocialLite, Brick and BlockSite send disputes to arbitration, and SocialLite and BlockSite waive class actions.
Changes at will: Freedom's terms "may be updated by us from time to time without notice"; Brick can "change Fees at any time"; SocialFocus may "charge for its services, at any time and for any reason".
Price testing: Stillfeed "may show different subscription prices to different users".

StillTabs has no subscription to dispute, renew or refund.

What reviewers complain about most

Review counts: the most recent written reviews in Apple's public US review feed (up to 500 per app), 1–2 star reviews sorted by topic on 4 November 2026. They are what users wrote, not verified facts.
App	Recent 1–2 star reviews	Of those, about payment
SocialLite	35 of 500 (28 Oct – 3 Nov 2026)	23
Opal	281 of 500 (13 Jul – 2 Nov 2026)	64
Freedom	126 of 500 (Sep 2024 – Oct 2026)	67
AppBlock	122 of 350 (Sep 2024 – Nov 2026)	58
one sec	123 of 500 (Mar 2024 – Nov 2026)	60
BlockSite	121 of 500 (Mar 2024 – Nov 2026)	60

StillTabs is free on the App Store, for iPhone. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no account. iOS 16 or later.

Get StillTabs on the App Store

Sources

Facts about other apps and platforms come from their App Store listings, help pages and own websites, checked on 4 November 2026. Prices and labels change; the links show the current version.

StillTabs on the App Store (price, privacy label): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stilltabs-block-reels-shorts/id6761367777
StillTabs privacy policy: https://stilltabs.com/privacy
SHIFT pricing: https://shiftyourphone.com/pricing/
SHIFT terms and conditions: https://shiftyourphone.com/terms-and-conditions/
SocialLite on the App Store (in-app purchases, privacy label): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6757661674
SocialLite terms (renewal, refunds): https://sociallite.app/terms/
Dull on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6759723829
Dull terms: https://getdull.app/terms
Dull privacy policy: https://getdull.app/privacy
Opal on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1497465230
Opal terms, privacy and refund page: https://opalapp.com/terms
Clearspace on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1572515807
Clearspace privacy policy: https://getclearspace.notion.site/Privacy-Policy-1d2959a3b6a14791aff5874704623820
Jomo on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1609960918
Jomo terms of use: https://getjomo.notion.site/Terms-of-Use-fb74fe39233b468f937707aeb2020bc2
Jomo privacy policy: https://getjomo.notion.site/Privacy-Policy-7265a825c9fe4b289229cec614a169fd
Freedom on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1269788228
Freedom terms: https://freedom.to/terms
Freedom privacy policy: https://freedom.to/privacy
AppBlock on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1515753232
AppBlock privacy policy (App Store): https://appblock.app/privacy-policy-app-store/
Stillfeed on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6792934511
Stillfeed privacy policy: https://stillfeed.pro/privacy/
minulo on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6809352229
minulo privacy policy: https://minulo.app/privacy.html
SocialFocus on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1661093205
SocialFocus terms: https://socialfocus.app/tos/
one sec on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1532875441
Brick: https://getbrick.com/
Brick terms of service: https://getbrick.com/policies/terms-of-service
BlockSite terms: https://blocksite.co/terms/