The best BePresent alternative is free: edgi

By the edgi team Updated October 23, 2026 Facts checked October 23, 2026

The best BePresent alternative is edgi, a free iPhone app whose Focus lock keeps TikTok, Instagram or any app you pick closed until you finish a 60-second Lesson. BePresent pays you in points and leaderboard places for time off your phone; edgi pays you in the idea itself, kept as a card on a Map of everything you've learned, and it costs nothing. ScreenZen, one sec and Opal are the other blockers people compare.

We make edgi, and we built Focus for people who want the time they take back from their phone to turn into something they can keep.

What BePresent does

BePresent turns screen time into a game. You set a daily limit and keep a streak while you stay under it, earn points for time offline, and climb a weekly leaderboard. Sessions block your apps, alone or with friends in a group session. The social part is the clever bit: a friend in your group session is a better reason to stay off Instagram than any timer.

It's a subscription: $59.99 a year after a free trial, as of October 2026 (Plugged In's review and BePresent's App Store pricing).

Where edgi is different

BePresent scores the minutes you didn't spend. edgi fills the minute you were about to spend. Reach for Instagram and the block screen says "One lesson opens Instagram for 5 minutes," and the Lesson is on something worth the stop: why your phone's GPS has to correct its own clock, how caffeine blocks the signal that makes you sleepy, why chili heat is your heat alarm firing at body temperature. You guess, tap and test your way through it, a minute later you know it, the card is in your collection, and Instagram opens for the minutes you chose.

Setting it up takes a minute. In edgi, open Settings, then Focus, and pick the apps through the iPhone's own Screen Time picker (edgi never sees which ones). Each app gets an intention, written as a sentence: "I'll open TikTok no more than 3 times a day, for 5 min each time." Opens run from 1 to 30, minutes from 1 to 60, on the days you choose, and a Lesson opens it either on the first open of the day or on every open.

A stricter intention starts the moment you save it. A looser one waits until midnight, so the plan the morning version of you made is the plan you live with at 11 p.m.

Being present is a feed problem

BePresent's name is the right goal. The reason it's hard is that a feed makes the present look thin:

FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) FOMO is the anxiety that others are having rewarding experiences without you, intensified by social feeds into constant psychological distress.

60-second Lesson

FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)

Each friend goes out one night a week, but a feed adds all their nights together, so someone is always out and your own week looks empty.

Play it here Read about fomo (fear of missing out)

That card is one of nine in The Slot Machine in Your Pocket, a Set on why your phone feels the way it does, open from your first day in edgi. Knowing how the trick works makes it easier to spot when the block screen asks whether you really want Instagram right now.

A streak, a collection and a finish line, free

edgi has the parts of a screen-time game that bring people back. One Lesson keeps your streak, and the block screen and a home-screen widget both show it. Cards turn foil, then gold, as you come back to an idea. Sets of six to nine cards have a finish line. And any Lesson you do in edgi pays for the first open of every app set to once a day, so a Lesson over breakfast means those apps open with a tap, inside the limits you set. BePresent charges $59.99 a year for its game; edgi's is free.

Checking BePresent's price first? See is BePresent free. For every free blocker side by side, see the best free app blocker for iPhone.

FAQ

What is the best alternative to BePresent? edgi. Its free Focus lock blocks the apps you pick on iPhone and opens them after a 60-second Lesson, for the opens and minutes you choose. Every Lesson becomes a card on your Map.

Is there a free version of BePresent? BePresent is free to download, then $59.99 a year after a free trial, as of October 2026. edgi's Focus lock is free.

Does edgi have streaks like BePresent? Yes. One Lesson a day keeps your edgi streak, and the block screen shows it each time you reach for a locked app.

Is edgi free? Yes. edgi is free on iPhone, Focus included.