Focus & Productivity

one sec vs Opal in 2026: A Pause Before the App, or a Wall in Front of It?

one sec makes you breathe before an app opens; Opal blocks it outright for $99.99 a year. Here's what each costs, what the research says, and which sticks.

By Engineer Foodie Desk Oct 21, 2026 ✓ Sources checked Oct 21, 2026

8 min read

Prices checked Oct 15, 2026 on one sec’s FAQ, the US App Store and Opal’s pricing page (Opal student details checked Oct 17, 2026; Opal platforms and Hard Mode checked Oct 20, 2026; one sec platforms and features checked Oct 21, 2026). Everything is linked under Sources. No affiliate links on this page (how we work).

Here’s the short answer: start with one sec. It’s free for one app, its paid plan is $19.99 a year on the US App Store against Opal’s $99.99, and it has a peer-reviewed field study behind it (co-written by one sec’s own creator, so raise one eyebrow). Pay for Opal Pro only if a pause isn’t enough and you need the switch Opal sells as “No way out. You can’t turn Opal off.”

The real difference isn’t price. one sec adds friction: you breathe, then decide. Opal adds force: rules that block the app, and on Pro, a Hard Mode. Which you need depends on how well you negotiate with yourself at midnight.

We haven’t tested either; everything below comes from their own pages, store listings and the published study.

TL;DR by situation

You just want a nudge: one sec. The free version puts a breathing interruption in front of one app.
You need a hard stop: Opal Pro, for Hard Mode, or a lock someone else holds (see below).
You’re on Android: both list Android, but neither publishes a clean USD Android price. If you want a lock you can’t talk your way out of, FriendLock puts the key with a friend.
You want free: one sec free covers one app; Opal Free covers one rule.

More options: Opal alternatives and Opal vs ScreenZen.

Price: what you pay for each

Plan	one sec	Opal	Source
Free	1 app	1 rule	Vendor sites
Weekly	n/a	$4.99 or $9.99	US App Store
Monthly	$6.99	$19.99	US App Store
Yearly	$19.99	$99.99	US App Store
Lifetime	$99.99	$399 (website)	Store, website
Family	$9.99/mo, $29.99/yr	n/a	US App Store
Student	n/a	Up to 50% off	Opal
Teams	As low as 83ct/user/mo	Contact sales	Vendor sites

USD from the US App Store for iPhone, checked Oct 15, 2026; Opal lifetime and student from opalapp.com/pricing (Oct 15 and Oct 17, 2026); one sec team licences “as low as 83ct per user per month (billed annually)” from one-sec.app (Oct 21, 2026).

one sec. The FAQ says the free version “allows to set up a breathing interruption for one app”, and Pro unlocks unlimited apps. Its own site lists euros, not dollars: 3,99 € a month, 14,99 € a year, 99,99 € lifetime, with a 1-week free trial and a note that “prices differ by region” (Oct 15, 2026). The homepage adds: “Pay once, use on all your devices” (Oct 21, 2026).

On Android, one sec publishes no USD price; Google Play shows in-app purchases of $3.99–$99.99 per item, a range rather than a plan price (Oct 15, 2026), so check current price in the app.

Opal. The yearly plan is shown as $8.29 a month with a free week (Oct 15, 2026). The US App Store also lists a student weekly plan at $9.99 and an “Opal Pro Subscription” at $49.99, but no lifetime option. Opal’s Play listing shows $2.99–$79.99 per item, which tops out below the $99.99 yearly site price, so check current price in the app on Android.

On yearly plans, Opal costs five times what one sec does on the US App Store, and its lifetime is four times one sec’s.

How each one works

one sec: a pause you can walk through. When you open a target app, one sec interrupts first: a deep breath, a mirror, rotating your phone, typing random text or 4-7-8 breathing. Then you choose: go in, or close it. one sec also lists time limits (it calls one the “Doomscroll emergency brake”), intention and emotion tracking, and journaling. And it can do full blocks: “You can set up blocks so that configured apps or sites can’t be opened at all during a block session or scheduled time” (Oct 21, 2026).

It’s Ferris Bueller in app form: life moves pretty fast, and if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you lose an hour to Reels. one sec makes you stop. What happens next is still up to you.

Opal: rules, then a wall. Free gives you one rule (a schedule, a time limit or an open limit). Pro adds unlimited rules, Advanced Timers, “Allow Only” and Hard Mode, which Opal describes in one line: “No way out. You can’t turn Opal off.” That’s the whole public spec (Oct 20, 2026). Its help center also describes “No Unblocks Allowed”: a running schedule can only be edited when it ends, “otherwise, you MUST use your Emergency Pass to exit.”

Websites. Both block them. one sec uses its browser extension: “you can set interventions for any website you like” (Oct 21, 2026). Opal says it’s reliable in iOS Safari but often not in third-party browsers (Oct 17, 2026).

Opal sells lifetime for $399 on its website, but its US App Store listing has no lifetime option. “Pay once” exists only if you leave the app to find it. For a company selling less friction, that’s a lot of friction in the checkout.

Source: Opal pricing and the US App Store, checked Oct 15, 2026

What the research says

one sec has a peer-reviewed paper behind it. Grüning, Riedel and Lorenz-Spreen (2023), published in PNAS, ran a field experiment with 280 participants over 6 weeks. Their findings, in the paper’s words:

“on average 36% of the times participants attempted opening a target app, they closed that app again after one sec interfered”
“users attempted to open target apps 37% less than in the first week”
“one sec decreased users’ actual opening of target apps by 57% after six consecutive weeks”

A separate preregistered online experiment (N = 500) found “providing the additional option to dismiss the consumption attempt had the strongest effect”, that a time delay also reduced consumption, and that “the deliberation message was not effective.”

The conflict of interest, stated on PubMed: “F.R. is the originator of one sec.” one sec’s homepage quotes the 57% figure. Peer-reviewed, and co-written by the app’s creator: both are true.

Platforms

one sec says: “You can set up the app for iOS and Android devices, and use the browser extension on Windows, macOS and Linux computers.” No native Mac app is stated (Oct 21, 2026). Opal says it’s “Available on iPhone, Mac and Android” (Oct 20, 2026). So Opal has a Mac app; one sec reaches Windows and Linux through the browser.

When neither holds: a lock someone else controls

Every setting above is one you control: one sec’s pause is a door you can walk through, and Hard Mode is a wall you can skip switching on next time. That’s the pattern in our piece on why app blockers don’t work: the person setting the limit and the person breaking it are the same person. Very Black Mirror: you’re the test subject and the person running the experiment.

On Android, FriendLock moves the key to someone else. A friend approves or denies your unlock request in the app, or reads you a 6-digit code over a call. It can block just Reels, YouTube Shorts or Snapchat Spotlight so WhatsApp and maps keep working, and your friend gets an alert if you try to uninstall or bypass it. The free plan blocks up to 3 apps and may show ads on in-app screens; Pro isn’t priced on its Play listing, so check current price in the app (Google Play, checked Oct 15, 2026). It’s Android only, and it isn’t tamper-proof: cheating doesn’t become impossible, it becomes a conversation.

Disclosure: the team behind this site has a stake in FriendLock.

More Android picks: best app blocker for Android.

Here’s what I’d do

Put one sec’s free interruption on the one app that eats your evenings, and give it a few weeks; the study’s numbers come from six.

If you’re closing the app after the breath, pay $19.99 a year for one sec pro and add the rest of your apps.

If you keep breathing and opening it anyway, you need force, not friction. Pay for Opal Pro yearly ($99.99), not monthly ($19.99), and turn on Hard Mode. Students: ask for the up-to-50% discount. I’d skip the $399 lifetime.

And if you’re the WALL-E hover-chair version of yourself and you know you’ll turn off anything you control, hand the key to a friend. More tactics: how to stop doomscrolling.

Considering a physical blocker instead? Read Brick vs Opal.

FAQ

Is one sec better than Opal? For a nudge, one sec is cheaper and has published research; for a hard block you can’t turn off, Opal Pro’s Hard Mode is the stronger tool.

Is one sec free? Yes for one app; one sec pro is $6.99 a month or $19.99 a year on the US App Store (Oct 15, 2026).

Does one sec work on Android? Yes, one sec lists iOS and Android apps, but it publishes no USD Android price, so check in the app.

Can you bypass Opal? Opal says Hard Mode means “You can’t turn Opal off,” and its help center adds No Unblocks rules with an Emergency Pass; we haven’t tested bypasses.

one sec vs ScreenZen? Both pause you before an app opens; ScreenZen says it’s completely free, while one sec is free for one app with a paid pro plan.

Sources

one sec FAQ (free version, EUR prices, trial): https://one-sec.app/faq/ (verified 2026-10-15)
one sec homepage (platforms, website blocking, full blocks, interruptions, team licences): https://one-sec.app/ (verified 2026-10-21)
one sec on the US App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-sec-screen-time-focus/id1532875441 (verified 2026-10-15)
one sec on Google Play (in-app purchase range): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=wtf.riedel.onesec (verified 2026-10-15)
Opal pricing: https://opalapp.com/pricing (verified 2026-10-15; student and Teams verified 2026-10-17)
Opal homepage (platforms, Hard Mode): https://opalapp.com/ (verified 2026-10-20)
Opal on the US App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/opal-screen-time-control/id1497465230 (verified 2026-10-15)
Opal on Google Play (in-app purchase range): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.withopal.opal (verified 2026-10-15)
Opal help, making Opal foolproof: https://help.opalapp.com/article/how-do-i-make-opal-foolproof (verified 2026-10-20)
Opal help, website blocking: https://help.opalapp.com/article/why-isnt-blocking-working-correctly (verified 2026-10-17)
Grüning, Riedel & Lorenz-Spreen (2023), PNAS 120(8) e2213114120: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2213114120 (verified 2026-10-15)
ScreenZen homepage and FAQ: https://screenzen.co/ (verified 2026-10-15); ScreenZen on Google Play (pause feature): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.screenzen (verified 2026-10-20)
FriendLock on Google Play: https://link.sayne.design/friendlock (verified 2026-10-15)