Comparisons
Cohesive compared
Cohesive blocks nothing and counts nothing, which decides most of these comparisons on its own. What follows is where the approaches actually differ, and who should pick which.
Opal alternative: Opal vs Cohesive
Opal blocks apps on phone and desktop, runs a lockable focus timer, and summarises your sleep, focus and rest into an Opal Score with Focus Gems for milestones. Cohesive does none of that — no blocking, no timer, no score, no achievements — because it treats the moment as information about you rather than as behaviour to suppress. Both are available now, so the choice isn't availability: it's whether you want the hour reduced or want to know what the hour was for.
one sec alternative: one sec vs Cohesive
one sec inserts friction before an app opens — a breath, a pause, a prompt — turning an automatic reach into a deliberate one, and it also blocks on a schedule if you want. Cohesive doesn't intervene at the moment at all; it catches the moment afterwards and asks what was around it, so that what accumulates is a description of what you want rather than a count of what you avoided. Both are installable today, and they are close enough in spirit to sit side by side.
Freedom alternative: Freedom vs Cohesive
Freedom blocks apps, websites, or the entire internet on a schedule, synced across macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Chromebook and Linux, with a Locked Mode that stops you ending a session early. Cohesive blocks nothing on any platform — it catches an ordinary moment afterwards and asks what was around it. For enforcing a decision you have already made, Freedom is the better tool and nothing here competes with it. Cohesive is for the case where the decision itself is the thing you don't have yet.