Freedom vs Cold Turkey vs Free App Blockers (2026)

Cold Turkey is the stronger blocker on a Windows or Mac computer, and it doesn't run on phones. Freedom is weaker on any one device but covers phones and computers together. If you only need one browser tamed, a free blocker may be enough.

The short version:

• Cold Turkey: Windows and macOS only. Pro is a one-off purchase with locks that are hard to undo.
• Freedom: Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android, Chromebook and Linux, synced. Free plan, but Locked Mode and schedules are Premium.
• Free first: Screen Time (iPhone and Mac), Digital Wellbeing (Android) and LeechBlock NG (browsers) cost nothing.
• Every option can be undone by a determined person. You are buying friction, not a vault.

Freedom vs Cold Turkey at a glance

Everything below comes from each maker's own website at the time of writing, 23 October 2026. Prices and plans change, so check the pricing page before you pay.

Cold Turkey: the hard lock for your computer

Cold Turkey Blocker is a desktop program. Its pricing page says the product key works on Windows and macOS, and that "Linux, ChromeOS, Android, iOS or other operating systems are not supported". It installs extensions in your browsers to do the website blocking.

The free version blocks websites, with exceptions, for a set time, and shows statistics. It includes a seven-day trial of Pro.

Pro adds blocking apps and games, scheduled blocks, all the locking features, breaks and allowances, and an application password. Its homepage also lists keyword blocking, blocking the whole internet or the computer, and uninstall prevention. It is sold as lifetime access — "Pay once, own forever" — and one purchase covers all the computers you personally use.

The price wasn't in the page text when we checked; it loads at checkout. There is a full refund within 30 days.

Pick it if the distraction lives on your computer and you have talked yourself out of every softer blocker. Skip it if your phone is the problem: it does nothing there.

Freedom: one session across every device

Freedom started on desktop and now runs on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Chromebook and Linux. Its central idea is sync: start one session and the same blocklist applies on your laptop and your phone at once.

The Premium page splits the plans like this at the time of writing:

• Free: block apps, websites or the whole internet, sync across devices, custom blocklists, focus sounds. It describes the free plan as having limited sessions.
• Premium: scheduling, recurring and advance sessions, Locked Mode — which "prevents quitting" a session — and unlimited sessions.

Premium was listed at $8.99 a month or $39.99 a year, with a seven-day free trial on the yearly plan. There is also a one-off Forever plan, listed at $199 before any discount.

Pick it if you lose time on both phone and laptop and want one switch for both. Skip it if you only need one device covered, or you want a hard lock without a subscription: Locked Mode is Premium.

Where each is weak

Neither product hides these, but neither puts them on the homepage.

Cold Turkey:

• No phone version. If your hours go to Instagram on the sofa, it can't help.
• The free version only does timed website blocks. Apps, schedules and locks are all Pro.

Freedom:

• Locked Mode and schedules are Premium, so the free plan is easy to quit.
• On a phone, it works inside the same rules as every other phone blocker. On iPhone that means Apple's Screen Time; on either phone, the system Settings app is the way out for someone determined.

Both: a computer blocker relies on its browser extensions and background program. Cold Turkey's uninstall prevention is there for exactly that reason, and it is a Pro feature.

The free blockers worth trying first

Before paying for either, try what you already have. It tells you whether the problem needs a lock or just a reminder.

LeechBlock NG describes itself as "a simple free productivity tool". It can block sites in fixed windows, allow a set amount of browsing per hour, or lock a set immediately for a fixed time.

The weak spot of every free option is the same: the person locked out holds the key. That is why Screen Time limits stop working for so many people after a week, and the one free fix is to let someone else set the passcode.

Which one to choose

Answer two questions.

1. Where do you lose the time?

• Mostly on a computer: Cold Turkey, or LeechBlock NG if a browser is the whole problem.
• Mostly on your phone: a phone blocker. Cold Turkey is out. Freedom works, but so do cheaper phone-only options; our comparison of Android app blockers goes through them.
• Both, and it jumps between them: Freedom. This is the one thing it does that nothing else here does.

2. Will you quit a soft block? If you know you will, the free versions of both are a trial run, not the answer. The locks are where the paid tiers earn their money.

What we found building a blocker

We built app blocking into our own alarm app, so one point here comes from code rather than marketing pages: on a phone, no blocker is truly locked. On Android, every blocker depends on a permission you can switch off in Settings. On iPhone, every blocker runs on Screen Time, and Beyond Alarm's own blocks end if you turn off its Screen Time access.

That isn't a reason to skip one. It is a reason to judge a blocker by what stopping early costs you, not by the word "unbreakable" on its homepage.

Before you pay for anything

• Block fewer things than you want to. A blocklist of twenty sites gets switched off by Friday. The three you actually lose hours to survives.
• Use the trial on a real week. Both offer seven days of the paid features. Run them on a week with a deadline, not a quiet one.
• For the phone alone, try a timer first. If one focused hour is the goal, locking your phone for an hour covers the free and built-in ways to do it.

Sources

Product details are from each maker's own site at the time of writing, 23 October 2026, and will change. Beyond Alarm's details are checked against its own code as of October 2026.

• Freedom and Freedom Premium — platforms, plans, prices, trial.
• Cold Turkey Blocker and its pricing page — platforms, Free vs Pro, licence, refund.
• LeechBlock NG — browsers and features.