Opal vs Brick:
a Pro subscription or a physical key

Opal and Brick take fundamentally different approaches to enforcement. Opal is entirely software-based: rules, schedules, and an optional Hard Mode that live inside the app. Brick requires a physical object, tapping your phone to the Brick device to start and end blocking, moving part of the friction into the real world.

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

The core decision here isn't about which one is stricter. It's whether you want enforcement to live entirely in software, or whether a physical object you have to place somewhere and retrieve deliberately is the kind of friction that actually works for you.

Opal's Hard Mode is a toggle inside the app. Once enabled, it removes the ability to unblock or leave early, entirely enforced through software, with no object required to activate or deactivate it.

Brick's entire model depends on the physical device. Starting a block and ending it both require tapping your phone to the Brick. Placed somewhere genuinely inconvenient, that turns unblocking into a deliberate trip rather than a quick software toggle.

That distance is real, but it's also a dependency. A Brick kept in a drawer across the room creates friction a software toggle can't match. A Brick kept in your pocket creates almost none at all. The device's effectiveness depends entirely on where you choose to put it.

Brick is a single $59 purchase with lifetime app access. There's no recurring charge after the initial hardware cost, a meaningfully different pricing philosophy from a subscription model.

Opal's subscription can add up considerably over time. At $19.99 monthly or $99.99 yearly, multiple years of Opal Pro can exceed Brick's one-time cost several times over, though Opal's $399 lifetime option closes some of that gap if you're certain about long-term use.

The math favors Brick for anyone confident in long-term use. A one-time $59 purchase is hard to beat on pure cost if the physical-device model works for you and you plan to use it for more than a year or two.

Choose Brick if a physical barrier genuinely changes your behavior. Its one-time cost and phone-only focus suit someone who wants distance built into the unlock process itself, not just a software delay.

Choose Opal if you want desktop coverage or don't want to manage an object. Its Mac app and purely software-based rules mean nothing to buy, carry, or risk losing.

Weigh the loss risk of a physical device seriously. Brick includes 5 Emergency Unbricks for when the device isn't available, but beyond that, losing the physical Brick is a real practical problem software-only tools like Opal don't have.

Opal and Brick both offer a real path to strictness, through different means. Opal's Hard Mode and Brick's physical requirement both genuinely raise the cost of unblocking, just through software versus the real world.

Fella stays entirely in software, without Opal's rule-building or Brick's hardware. Selected iPhone apps stay blocked by default, enforced through Apple's Screen Time frameworks, with one 5-minute emergency unlock per session and nothing to buy, tap, or carry.

The right pick depends on what kind of friction you trust. If a physical object genuinely works better for you than any software setting could, Brick's model is worth the cost and the object management. If you want strictness without hardware or a rule-building project, that's the gap Fella is built for. See how Fella works or current pricing.