Ochi is a genuinely deep Apple-ecosystem blocker: filters, widgets, Shortcuts, and syncing across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. If you use a fraction of that and mostly want one rule that holds, here's what else fits.
Ochi isn't a weak product when people look elsewhere. Its filters, Shortcuts integration, widgets, and multi-device syncing are exactly why it works well as a productivity-system component, not just a blocker. The search for an alternative usually comes from wanting less automation to maintain, not a better version of the same system.
This page compares a field of alternatives by that distinction. For the direct two-product breakdown, read Fella vs Ochi. Below, alternatives are grouped by whether you still need Apple-device automation or just want the apps to stay closed without managing any of it.
| Option | Best reason to consider it | Core approach | Main tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Screen Time | You want a free option with no filters or Shortcuts to configure | App Limits, Downtime, reports, device controls | No cross-device filter syncing or website categories |
| Stay Focused | You want profile-style blocking with different tracking | App and website blocking, profiles, phone-wide limits, statistics | Still real setup, just structured around profiles instead of filters |
| Fella | You want the automation gone and the block kept simple | Selected apps blocked by default, one controlled exception | No filters, schedules, Shortcuts, or multi-device sync |
| Freedom | You need coverage beyond Apple's own devices | Scheduled session blocking across devices, websites, and browsers | No Shortcuts or widget integration built the way Ochi's is |
The comparison that matters isn't automation quality. Ochi's Shortcuts and widgets are well-built. The real question is whether you actually trigger filters through them day to day, or whether the same one or two apps just need to stay closed regardless of device or context.
Multiple filters mean multiple things to keep in sync. A work filter, a bedtime filter, and a travel filter each carry their own apps, websites, and timing. Useful when your situations genuinely differ, extra overhead when they don't.
Automation only helps if you use it. Shortcuts, Control Center controls, and cross-device syncing reduce friction for people already living inside Apple's automation tools. For anyone who doesn't touch Shortcuts otherwise, it's a layer that has to be learned before it saves any effort.
Pauses can be reconfigured, not just triggered. Ochi's temporary filter pauses depend on the filter and plan, which means the exact rules can vary by situation rather than staying the same every time.
Stay Focused offers a similar idea without Ochi's Apple-specific automation layer. Its profiles group apps, websites, and restrictions for a particular context, close to Ochi's filters, alongside phone-wide limits, allowlisting, and usage statistics.
That's a lateral move, not a simplification. Stay Focused trades Ochi's Shortcuts and multi-device syncing for its own tracking and allowlist system, useful if profile-based structure is what you want to keep, not automation specifically.
Apple Screen Time costs nothing and is already native to every Apple device. It won't replicate Ochi's filters or Shortcuts integration, but App Limits and Downtime are a real free starting point. See the wider field in the best free iPhone app blockers guide.
Fella replaces Ochi's filters with one rule that's always on. There's no Shortcut to trigger, no widget to check, and no device sync to verify. Selected iPhone apps stay blocked by default, with one 5-minute emergency unlock per session before automatic relocking.
That trades Ochi's flexibility for something to stop thinking about. You don't need a different configuration at the office, at home, or in bed. The same rule holds everywhere, which is a real limitation if your access needs genuinely differ by context or device.
It's the wrong pick if Mac or iPad coverage matters. Fella currently blocks selected apps on iPhone only, with no syncing to other Apple devices. Choose it only when the problem is specifically an iPhone problem.
Choose Screen Time when free and native both matter. It's built into every Apple device already, without Ochi's filter or Shortcuts layer.
Choose Stay Focused when profile-style structure is what you want to keep. It offers a comparable configurable approach with its own tracking instead of Ochi's automation.
Choose Freedom when the habit reaches beyond Apple's ecosystem. Its cross-device blocklist covers Windows and Android alongside Mac, which Ochi's current scope doesn't.
Choose Fella when the automation itself is what you're trying to escape. It trades Ochi's filters and Shortcuts for one fixed rule and nothing to sync. For the direct comparison, continue to Fella vs Ochi. For the wider market, see the best app blockers for iPhone.
It depends on how much of Ochi's automation you actually use. Screen Time is the free built-in baseline with no Shortcuts or syncing. Stay Focused offers a similar profile-based toolkit with different tracking. Fella removes the filters and automation entirely with one fixed rule. Freedom is the pick for cross-device coverage beyond Apple's own ecosystem.
Apple Screen Time is included with iPhone, iPad, and Mac at no cost. Ochi itself is already free to download with Pro purchases layered on top, so confirm what the free tier covers before assuming you need to pay elsewhere.
Fella asks the fewest ongoing questions: pick the apps, and the block runs with one 5-minute emergency unlock per blocking session. Ochi's filters, schedules, widgets, and Shortcuts are more capable but require more configuration to build and keep synced.
Ochi already covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac with filter syncing. Stay Focused promotes iPhone and iPad support. Fella is iPhone-only and does not sync a filter state across other Apple devices.
It depends on whether you actually use Apple's automation surfaces day to day. If Shortcuts, Control Center, and cross-device syncing are already part of your workflow, they reduce the effort of starting the right filter. If not, they're one more system to maintain.
