Brick vs Unpluq:
one required object or a menu of barriers

Brick and Unpluq both believe physical distance can succeed where a software setting can't. Where they diverge is how committed each one is to that idea. Brick requires its physical device for every single unlock, no alternative path. Unpluq treats its NFC Tag as one optional barrier among several digital ones, shake, tap, scroll, QR code, or random challenge.

This page compares the two products directly. For how either one stacks up against Fella specifically, see Fella vs Brick or Fella vs Unpluq, or read on for where Fella fits as a third, hardware-free option.

Both products are built around the same core insight: an object you have to physically reach is harder to ignore than a screen you're already holding. Brick commits to that idea completely, with no fallback. Unpluq offers it as one option within a broader, more flexible system.

Brick has no way around the object. Starting a block and ending it both require the physical Brick. There's no digital fallback if the device isn't nearby, which is precisely the strictness some people are looking for.

Unpluq's Tag is genuinely optional. Its free and Premium tiers both function through digital barriers alone: shaking the phone, tapping a pattern, scrolling through blank space, scanning a QR code, or a random challenge. The Tag adds a stronger physical option without being required.

That flexibility cuts both ways. Unpluq lets you choose how strict to be per schedule, which is convenient, but also means you can always pick the easiest digital barrier on a hard day. Brick removes that choice entirely.

Brick's $59 is a single payment for lifetime access. No subscription, no recurring cost, the hardware purchase is the entire price of entry.

Unpluq layers a subscription on top of an optional hardware purchase. A free tier gets you started, Premium at $6.99 monthly or $59.99 yearly unlocks more apps and barriers, and the Tag itself is a separate $26.50 purchase if you want the physical option.

Long-term cost depends entirely on which tier you actually use. Someone who stays on Unpluq's free tier pays nothing ongoing; someone on Premium for several years will spend considerably more than Brick's one-time cost.

Choose Brick if you want one committed physical requirement, no fallback. Its one-time cost and single enforcement method suit someone who's found that having any digital alternative undermines the friction entirely.

Choose Unpluq if you want to tune the barrier to the situation. Different schedules can use different barriers, useful if some distractions need a physical Tag and others are fine with a lighter digital challenge.

Consider how you'll actually behave with a choice available. If having an easy digital option means you'll reliably pick it on hard days, Brick's single required path may serve you better than Unpluq's flexibility.

Brick and Unpluq both use real-world friction to make unblocking harder than a software toggle would. That's genuinely effective for people who respond to physical distance more than any on-screen setting.

Fella stays entirely in software, with no object to buy, carry, or place. Selected iPhone apps stay blocked by default, enforced through Apple's Screen Time frameworks, with one 5-minute emergency unlock per session and nothing physical involved at all.

The right pick depends on whether a physical object is what actually works for you. If distance from a real object genuinely changes your behavior, Brick or Unpluq is worth the cost and the management. If you want strictness without hardware of any kind, that's the gap Fella is built for. See how Fella works or current pricing.