Freedom alternative: Freedom vs Cohesive

This is the most lopsided comparison on the site, so it’s worth putting the conclusion first: for the job Freedom does, Freedom is the right tool. Cohesive doesn’t block anything and never will. If you came here looking for a blocker, stop reading and go get Freedom.

The rest of this page is for the case where you already tried that and it didn’t stick.

What Freedom does

From Freedom’s own site, as of 31 July 2026:

• Blocks apps, websites, or the entire internet. Including specific platforms — Instagram, TikTok, YouTube — or everything at once.
• Scheduling. Advance and recurring sessions, so it starts on its own.
• Cross-device sync. “One session. All devices.” Blocking applies everywhere simultaneously.
• Locked Mode. Prevents you ending a session early.
• Custom blocklists and ambient focus sounds.
• Platforms. macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Chromebook, Linux.
• Pricing. A free tier, $39.99 per year, or $199.00 for Freedom Forever.

Six platforms in one synced session is genuinely the most complete coverage in this category. If your distraction migrates from phone to laptop the moment you block the phone, this is the product that closes that door.

What Cohesive does

The opposite thing, on purpose.

Cohesive never blocks an app, never locks a device, never stands between you and anything. It’s a digital detox app that does not promise you’ll consume less.

Instead: you catch one ordinary moment — what you were doing, what was around it — in two taps. If you want, you answer one question you can answer by remembering. At the end you see everything you said, word for word, and decide whether any of it is worth keeping. What you keep is a short, editable, exportable list of sentences about what actually matters to you.

What each one assumes

Freedom assumes you already know what you want and need it enforced. That’s a completely reasonable assumption and it’s true a lot of the time — you know you want the essay written, you know Twitter will prevent it, and what’s missing is enforcement, not insight. Locked Mode exists because the problem is the renegotiation at 2pm, not the decision at 9am.

Cohesive assumes the opposite gap: that you can win the enforcement and still be stuck, because you don’t know what you’d rather be doing. Blocking works, the hour comes back, and it goes somewhere else — not from weakness, but because nothing was waiting for it.

Neither assumption is wrong. They’re about different people, and about the same person in different weeks.

Side by side

	Freedom	Cohesive
Available now	Yes	Yes
Blocks apps and sites	Yes, including whole internet	Never
Cross-device sessions	macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Chromebook, Linux	iOS, Android, macOS
Prevents you quitting early	Yes — Locked Mode	No
Scheduling	Yes, recurring	No
Counts or scores	Session history	No number, anywhere
What accumulates	Sessions completed	Sentences you chose to keep
Free tier	Yes, limited	Catching moments and managing your map stay free; first finding free
Paid	$39.99/yr, or $199 forever	€92.99 once, or €14.99/mo

Prices are in different currencies and not converted. Freedom’s are from their own site on 31 July 2026; Cohesive’s are from its own pricing page.

Which one to pick

Pick Freedom if you need a site genuinely unreachable for a set stretch, your distraction moves between devices, or the failure you’re trying to prevent is talking yourself out of your own decision. Locked Mode is the best answer in this category to that specific problem.

Pick Cohesive if you’ve done all that and it held, and the evening still didn’t feel like yours — or if the sentence that fits best is “I don’t want to consume less, I want to have chosen it.”

Using both is coherent. Freedom is enforcement; Cohesive is the part that works out what’s worth enforcing.