Cloister, SelfControl, Cold Turkey and Freedom
Last updated 5 October 2026
What this page says about the other three apps is what their own websites said when this page was last updated.
All four block distracting websites on a Mac. They differ most on one question: what happens when you want a session to end early. SelfControl and Cloister have no way to end one. Cold Turkey offers a ten-minute break for a donation, and Freedom lets you end a locked session once every seven days. After that, the choice comes down to platforms, schedules and price.
| CloisterMac · paid once | SelfControlFree · open source | Cold Turkey BlockerMac and Windows | FreedomEvery platform · account | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Can’t be ended early | No way outThere is no stop command, for you or for us. | No way out“You can’t. That’s the idea. Just wait.” | A paid breakA locked block can’t be stopped, but its block page offers 10 minutes for a donation to the WWF, unless you switched that off beforehand. | A weekly exitLocked Mode can be ended once every 7 days from the dashboard, and in a session’s first minute, unless you remove that exit for good. |
| Schedules | Yes | No | In Pro | In Premium |
| How it blocks websites | Hosts file and network filterBelow every browser, with no browser extension. The filter is an optional macOS system extension that you allow when macOS asks. | Hosts file and packet filterRead from its source code. | Browser extensionsAn app, plus an extension in each browser. | A local proxyPlus optional browser plugins. |
| Blocks apps | Websites onlyBlocking apps is planned for version 2. | Websites only | In Pro | Yes |
| No account needed | None | None | A product key only | Account required |
| Runs on | MacmacOS 15 or later. | MacOS X 10.10 or later. The current version, 4.0.2, is from November 2021. | Mac and WindowsmacOS 10.14 to 26. | Every platformMac, Windows, iPhone, Android and Chromebook. |
| Price | €39 onceFor one Mac and a year of updates, or €79 for two Macs and every update. The version you have keeps working. 14-day trial. | FreeOpen source. | $45 once€39 in the eurozone, for every computer you personally use. A free version without locks or schedules. | $8.99 a month$3.33 a month billed yearly, or $99.50 once. A free plan without Locked Mode. |
Yes Yes, with an exit No
Cloister vs SelfControl
SelfControl is the closest to Cloister in how it works. Both block below the browser from a background component, and neither has a way to end a block early. SelfControl is free and open source, and it has no schedules: its own FAQ lists them as a feature request.
What Cloister adds is schedules that start sessions on their own, a 24-hour ceiling on every session so that a mistyped duration can’t cost you a week, and support from the person who makes it. Moving the clock forward and editing the hosts file were both tried against Cloister on a real Mac mid-session, and the block held.
Cloister vs Cold Turkey
Cold Turkey covers more ground: Mac and Windows, apps as well as websites, and one purchase for every computer you personally use. Its own description of a locked block is “almost impossible to stop”. The block page offers a ten-minute break for a donation to the World Wildlife Fund, unless you turned that off in advance, and websites are blocked through an extension in each browser.
Cloister has no break to buy and nothing to install in a browser: it blocks below all of them. It does less — the Mac only, and websites only — and what it does, it does without an exit.
Cloister vs Freedom
Freedom blocks on every platform, phones included, and syncs your lists through an account. Its Locked Mode can be ended once every seven days from the dashboard. You can remove that exit for good, but it is there until you do.
Cloister has no account and no dashboard, and nothing on a server can end a session, so there is no exit to remove. There is no subscription: it is paid for once.
Where Cloister falls short
- It blocks websites, not apps, and runs only on a Mac.
- Safari with iCloud Private Relay switched on gets past the hosts file. Cloister’s network filter blocks it, but only if you allow the filter when macOS asks.
- Anyone who boots into Recovery mode and deletes one directory can remove it. That is deliberate: Cloister is a commitment device, not a lock against the Mac’s own administrator.
The support page keeps this list current: known limits.
How this page was made
Everything here about SelfControl, Cold Turkey and Freedom comes from their own websites and documentation, read on 5 October 2026, and is linked below. We have not installed or tested them. Prices change, so follow the links for today’s. If anything here is wrong or out of date, write to support@getcloister.app and it will be corrected.
- SelfControl: website, FAQ, source code
- Cold Turkey: website, features, pricing, user guide, system requirements
- Freedom: pricing, ending a block session, privacy questions and answers