Norte vs Freedom
Freedom is the cross-platform veteran: one subscription blocks across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows and Android, with sessions that sync between them. Pick it if your distraction problem follows you onto a laptop. Pick Norte if the problem is your phone and you want the hours you reclaim to land somewhere — Norte also tracks daily habits and shows the year as one map. Norte is the cheaper of the two: $11.99 a year against Freedom’s $39.96.
Side by side
| Feature | Norte | Freedom |
|---|---|---|
| Blocks apps | Yes | Yes |
| Uses Apple Screen Time | Yes | Yes |
| Pause screen before opening | Yes | No |
| Tracks daily habits | Yes | No |
| Year-long consistency view | Yes | No |
| Platforms | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Android |
| Minimum iOS | 15.1 | 16.1 |
| On the App Store since | 2026 | 2018 |
| App Store rating (worldwide) | 5.0 (63) | 4.4 (12,929) |
| Free tier | Blocking and habit tracking work from day one | Blocking, but no scheduling and sessions cap at 2 hours |
| Monthly | $1.99 | $8.99 |
| Yearly | $11.99 | $39.96 ($3.33/mo) |
| One-time / lifetime | $22.99 | $99.50 |
Ratings are worldwide totals, summed across every App Store storefront and weighted by count. Apple shows only your own storefront, so these will not match the number on your phone. Facts verified on 2026-09-20.
Prices are each vendor’s own published figure, in the currency they publish it in — one sec prices in euros, and converting would invent a number its FAQ does not state. Check the App Store before buying; regional prices differ. Norte: App Store Connect (live norte_pro_* products, US storefront) · Freedom: freedom.to/upgrade pricing page.
Where Freedom is better
- The widest device reach here, and the only one on Windows. A session started on one device blocks on all of them, which neither Opal nor Norte does. Norte is iPhone only.
- On the App Store since 2018, with a desktop product years older than that — it is the established name in this category.
- Locked Mode, which genuinely prevents quitting mid-session. Norte always lets you override, by design; if you want to be unable to stop yourself, Freedom is built for that and Norte is not.
- Website blocking, not just apps. Norte blocks apps through Apple Screen Time and does not do URL-level blocking.
Where Norte is better
- Norte tracks habits. Freedom measures and blocks; it does not record that you read, ran or slept early, which is the half Norte exists for.
- Cheaper: $11.99 a year to Freedom’s $39.96, and $22.99 once against a $99.50 lifetime.
- The year map turns months of small decisions into one picture.
- Freedom’s free tier caps sessions at two hours and has no scheduling; Norte’s free tier runs the whole daily ritual.
Pick Freedom if
you need blocking on Windows, or a lock you genuinely cannot talk your way out of mid-session.
Pick Norte if
the phone is the problem, and you want the time you win back to show up as something you built.
Questions people ask about this comparison
Does Freedom work on iPhone the same way Norte does?
Both use Apple’s Screen Time framework on iOS, so the block itself is enforced by the system in either case. The difference is scope: Freedom extends the same session to your desktop, while Norte stays on the phone and spends that effort on habit tracking instead.
Which is cheaper?
Norte. $1.99 monthly, $11.99 yearly or $22.99 once, against Freedom’s $8.99 monthly, $39.96 yearly (which Freedom advertises as $3.33/month billed annually) and $99.50 lifetime. Both have a free tier, though Freedom’s caps sessions at two hours.
Can Freedom track habits?
No. Freedom is a blocker across devices; it has no notion of a daily habit you are trying to build. If you want both halves you would otherwise pair it with a separate habit tracker.
Norte is rated 5.0 and Freedom 4.4. Is Norte better?
Not on that evidence. Norte’s 5.0 rests on 63 ratings and Freedom’s 4.4 on nearly 13,000 across eight years. A handful of early ratings says very little; thirteen thousand says a great deal, including that a real share of users have hit something they disliked.
Norte is free to try
Block the apps that eat your hours, then watch the habits you build with them instead.
Get Norte on the App Store