You download Opal, set up a few blocks, and within a day or two you find the paywall: most of the app needs Opal Pro. At the time of writing, Pro costs $99.99 a year (billed as $8.29 a month), $19.99 a month if you pay monthly, or $399 once for lifetime access. That is a lot of money for an app that blocks other apps, so it is fair to ask if it is worth it.
The answer depends on the problem you want to solve. This post looks at each part separately.
What free Opal gives you
The free version is a small preview of the app. You can run focus sessions, block a limited set of apps on a basic schedule, and see some of your screen time stats. It is enough to learn how the app works, and for some light users it is all they need.
But the strongest features (the strict modes, unlimited schedules, and detailed reports) all need the paid subscription.
What $99 a year actually buys
Opal Pro unlocks these features, starting with the most important:
- Deep Focus and harder difficulty modes. Focus sessions that are hard to end early. This is the feature most people really pay for, because the free blocks are easy to turn off.
- Unlimited app blocking and schedules. Block as many apps as you want, on as many repeating timers as you want. The free version limits both.
- Full stats and reports. Detailed screen time charts, trends over time, and a "focus score" that turns staying off your phone into a game.
- Whitelisting. Block everything except a small list of allowed apps. This makes your iPhone work more like a simple phone.
These features are real. The design is good, the stats help people who like streaks, and Deep Focus is much harder to skip than a free block.
What Screen Time already does for $0
Before you pay, you should know how much of this your iPhone already does. Opal is built on Apple's Screen Time system, which is already in your Settings app. For free, Screen Time gives you daily limits for each app, Downtime schedules, category blocks, website restrictions, and a weekly report. That covers most of the blocking and scheduling features of Pro, but with a simpler look. We wrote a longer comparison of Screen Time and the paid blockers if you want more detail.
Screen Time does not have the focus score, the streaks, or the nice charts. If those keep you motivated, that is a fair reason to pay. If not, you would pay $99 a year mostly for a nicer look on a system you already own.
You still control the off switch
One thing stays true at every price: you keep the off switch. Even in Deep Focus, you can still end the block, delete the app, or change the settings, and it only takes a minute. Opal can slow you down, and that helps, but you can always remove a block you set for yourself.
So before comparing features, ask one simple question: the last time you wanted to break a limit late at night, did the extra steps stop you? If the free blocks already stop you, the Pro modes will work even better, and the subscription may be worth it. If you ended the session anyway, a harder version of the same block probably will not change anything, at any price.
So who should pay?
- Pay for Pro if the stats and streaks motivate you, you want whitelisting or many schedules, and a small barrier is enough to stop you. The $99.99 yearly plan is the sensible option. The $19.99 monthly plan only makes sense as a one-month test, and $399 for lifetime is a big commitment, because these apps change fast.
- Stay free if you only need a few blocks and a small reminder. Free Opal plus Screen Time covers a lot.
- Neither will help if your problem is that you turn off your own limits. More features do not solve that. What solves it is losing the ability to turn them off.
The cheaper fix for the real problem
If you are in that last group, the thing you need to lock is the Screen Time passcode. It protects every limit on your phone, including the ones Opal uses. If you know that passcode, you can remove every block on your iPhone by typing four digits.
WaitToUnlock solves exactly this. It creates a random Screen Time passcode, helps you enter it on your phone without memorising it, and stores it encrypted. When you really need it back, you request it and wait several hours before it is shown. There is no subscription: it costs $29.99 once, which is about fifteen weeks of Opal Pro.
You do not have to choose between them. Many people use Opal (free or Pro) for daily structure, and use WaitToUnlock to lock the passcode. Together, Opal's blocks get something they cannot provide alone: a lock you cannot undo in a weak moment.
The short version
Opal Pro is a well-made app with a high price. Pay for it if you want the design and the harder focus modes. Skip it if free Opal plus Screen Time is enough for you. And if the real problem is that you keep unlocking your own limits, spend $29.99 once to lock the passcode away, instead of $99.99 a year on blocks you can still turn off.