Movement-based · No account · On-device
Looking for a
Forest alternative?
Forest made focus feel good: a tree grows while you stay off your phone, and it can block apps for a session or on a schedule. EarnLock ties the unlock to movement instead. It locks the apps you pick with Apple's Screen Time controls until Apple Health shows you've moved. Halfway to your goal they open for an hour, and the full goal opens them until midnight. Locking one app is free for good.
How does EarnLock compare to Forest?
Forest details come from its public App Store page and pricing. The two apps solve different problems, and plenty of people could use both.
| Feature | EarnLock | Forest |
|---|---|---|
| Core mechanic | Apps stay locked until a daily activity goal from Apple Health is met | A focus timer: a virtual tree grows while you stay off the phone and withers if you leave early |
| Blocks apps across the phone | Yes, with Apple's Screen Time controls | Yes, during focus sessions with an Allow List (iOS 16 or later), and on a schedule with Time Guard |
| What opens a blocked app | Moving: halfway to your goal opens apps for an hour, the full goal until midnight. A locked app shows what's left, such as "2,026 steps until unlock" | The focus session ending, giving up early (the tree withers), or the Time Guard window closing |
| A trial week before blocking | Shadow Week: seven days that block nothing and count how often you would have been blocked | Not listed |
| Plants real trees | No | Yes, virtual coins fund real tree planting through a partner |
| Price | Free for one app or category. Premium $1.99/month or $9.99/year, each with a 7-day free trial, or $19.99 once | Free. Forest Plus: $5.99/month or $32.49 to $35.99/year in the US App Store; coins also sold in-app |
| Apple Watch app | Yes, with Premium: the watch reads its own Health data and has complications. The iPhone does the locking | None listed. The US App Store lists iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision |
| Account | No account | Sign-in for sync, Forest Plus across platforms, and focus with friends |
| Third-party SDKs | None. The app makes no network connections of its own | See Forest's App Privacy label |
| Platforms | iPhone (iOS 17 or later), plus the Apple Watch app with Premium | iPhone, iPad, Android, and browser extensions |
Forest details checked 29 October 2026 against its US App Store listing and in-app purchase list. Descriptions of how each app works come from its own published documentation; check again before switching.
When should I pick Forest instead?
Pick Forest if any of these matter more to you than a lock tied to movement:
- Growing trees, unlocking species, and building a forest keep you going.
- You want your focus time to fund real tree planting. Forest's partner program does that; EarnLock does nothing like it.
- You need more than one platform. Forest runs on iOS, Android, and as a browser extension; EarnLock is an iPhone app.
- You want group focus sessions with friends, and an account is fine with you.
- You want apps blocked for set focus sessions or on a schedule, without tying the unlock to exercise.
EarnLock suits someone who wants the unlock to cost a walk. The lock stays on until you've moved, halfway to your goal still earns an hour, and with Premium the count shows on your Apple Watch.
About EarnLock
Questions
FAQ
What is the best alternative to Forest?
If you want your apps to open only after you move, EarnLock is a Forest alternative built around movement. It locks the apps you pick until you reach a daily activity goal measured by Apple Health. Halfway opens them for an hour, and the full goal opens them until midnight. Locking one app with a step goal is free for good, and there is no account. For focus timers and real tree planting, Forest is the better pick.
How is EarnLock different from Forest?
Forest blocks apps for a focus session or a scheduled window, and a tree grows while you stay off the phone. EarnLock locks the apps you pick with Apple's Screen Time controls until Apple Health shows you've moved enough that day, with a math-gated emergency unlock once a day. A locked app shows what's left, such as "2,026 steps until unlock". EarnLock also starts with a Shadow Week that blocks nothing and counts how often you would have been blocked, and Premium includes an Apple Watch app. Forest plants real trees and runs on Android and in the browser; EarnLock is an iPhone app.
How much does EarnLock cost compared with Forest?
Locking one app or category with a step goal is free for good, with partial and full unlocks, Shadow Week, streaks with a weekly rest day, the Insights Day view, every widget, and the emergency unlock. Premium adds unlimited apps, active minutes and active calories, the Apple Watch app, a Live Activity, Smart Schedules, and Week and Month insights for $1.99/month or $9.99/year, each with a 7-day free trial, or $19.99 once. All three support Family Sharing. Forest is free to download in the US App Store, and Forest Plus is a subscription at $5.99 a month or $32.49 to $35.99 a year (checked 29 October 2026). Check both listings for current prices in your country.
Does Forest actually block apps?
Yes. On iOS 16 or later, Forest blocks apps outside your Allow List during a focus session, and its Time Guard feature blocks apps on a schedule. Those blocks end with the session or the scheduled window. EarnLock's lock ends when your daily activity goal is met, or when you use your one emergency unlock of the day, which asks you to solve a two-digit math problem.
Is EarnLock private?
Yes. EarnLock has no account, makes no network connections of its own, and includes no analytics, advertising, or other third-party SDKs. Apple Health is read on your iPhone and never written to or sent anywhere, and Apple's Screen Time picker gives EarnLock opaque tokens instead of the names of your apps. EarnLock is built for limiting your own iPhone and has no parent controls.
Can EarnLock block the same apps Forest can?
EarnLock locks any app or whole category you can choose in Apple's Screen Time picker: one on the free tier, as many as you like with Premium. During a Forest session, apps outside your Allow List are blocked. The bigger difference is what opens them: with EarnLock, it's steps or other activity measured by Apple Health.
Start here
Try EarnLock.
Your apps stay locked until Apple Health shows you've moved, and halfway earns an hour. Locking one app is free, with no account.
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