Apps That Help You Stop Online Shopping

The short version: The most useful app to stop online shopping is one that blocks your shopping apps during the hours you tend to buy, usually evenings and late nights, and makes the block hard to undo on a tired whim. Your phone already has a free version: Screen Time on iPhone and Digital Wellbeing on Android can limit or schedule apps such as Amazon, Temu and Shein. If those limits are too easy to switch off, a blocking app adds a delay, a lock, or a reason to wait. Unglue blocks the apps you choose until you earn minutes with real-life habits. Freedom blocks apps and websites across all your devices. one sec adds a pause before an app opens. AppBlock gives Android users strict schedules, and Opal is a strong option on iPhone.

It is 11:40pm. The kids are asleep, the dishwasher is humming, and you are lying on the sofa with a basket that holds a lamp, two phone cases and a set of storage boxes you will probably never fill. Nobody needs the lamp. You tap "Place order" anyway, because it felt nice for a second.

We know that sofa. One of us has a drawer of "it was only a few pounds" purchases that still have the tags on. So this guide is from people who have also bought something at midnight and forgotten it by the time it arrived.

Here is what we looked for, the free settings to try first, and the apps worth a look, including where ours falls short.

What a stop online shopping app should do

Most shopping apps are designed to make buying fast. Saved cards, one-tap checkout and daily deals all remove the small pauses where you might change your mind. A useful blocker puts some of those pauses back. We judged each option on four things:

  • Can it block shopping apps on a schedule? Your impulse buying probably has a time of day. If yours is after 9pm, the blocker should know that.
  • Can it block shopping websites too? If Amazon's app is blocked but Safari or Chrome still opens amazon.com, you have only moved the problem.
  • Does the block hold when you are tired? A limit with an "ignore" button is a suggestion. The best tools add a wait, a lock or a second person.
  • Does it ask too much? Something you have to set up every night will not last a week.

Start with what is already on your phone

Before you install anything, the free tools are worth ten minutes. They will be enough for some people.

iPhone and iPad with iOS 27

Apple redesigned Screen Time in iOS 27. Two features do the work here, both under Settings > Screen Time.

  • Time Allowances set a daily budget for categories of apps. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Time Allowances, tap Manage Categories, and add the category your shopping apps sit in. Apple's guide to schedules and time allowances notes a useful detail: if an app declares an associated website, the allowance applies to both.
  • Screen Time Schedules decide which categories you can use at different times of day. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Screen Time Schedule, turn on Schedule, and tap Add Schedule. Make an evening time window that leaves your shopping category out.

Apple says these features need version 27 on all your Apple devices if you share Screen Time across them.

iPhone and iPad with iOS 26 and earlier

The same jobs are done by Downtime and App Limits in Settings > Screen Time. To block a shopping website in Safari, Apple's iOS 26 guide says to tap Content & Privacy Restrictions, turn it on, tap App Store, Media, Web, & Games, then Web Content. Select Limit Adult Websites, tap Add Website below Never Allow, and enter the address.

Android

Google's Digital Wellbeing guide covers three tools that help with shopping:

  • App timers. Go to Settings > Digital Wellbeing, find the shopping app and set a daily timer. Timers reset at midnight.
  • Site timers in Chrome. In Settings > Digital Wellbeing, open the Chrome chart, tap Show sites, and tap Set site timer next to a shopping site.
  • Focus mode. Go to Settings > Digital Wellbeing > Focus mode, choose the shopping apps and tap Set a schedule. While it is on, those apps will not open and will not send notifications.

Where the built-in tools stop

The person who set the limit can remove it in a few taps, and at 11:40pm that person is you. Android's Focus mode has a Take a break button, and Screen Time limits can be changed in Settings. If the built-in tools hold for you, that is great, and you can stop here. If you keep undoing them, the apps below are built for that moment.

The apps, compared

AppPhonesShopping websitesWhat makes the block stick
UnglueiPhone, AndroidApps onlyEarn minutes with real-life habits; Buddy Code lock
FreedomiPhone, Android, computersYesLocked Mode on paid plans
one seciPhone, AndroidYes on iPhoneA pause before the app opens; strict blocks
AppBlockAndroid, iPhoneYes on AndroidStrict Mode with a PIN, timer or approval
OpaliPhoneYesDeep Focus sessions you cannot cancel

Unglue

We make Unglue, so weigh this one with that in mind.

Unglue blocks the apps you choose, such as Amazon, Temu, Shein, Etsy or Vinted. They stay blocked until you earn minutes by doing something in real life: a short walk, a glass of water, ten minutes of reading. On iPhone it uses Apple's Screen Time framework, so the block is enforced by the phone itself. You can also set scheduled blocking, so the shopping apps close at 9pm whatever kind of day you have had.

The part that helps most with shopping is the wait. When the urge to buy a lamp at midnight has to get past a ten-minute walk, it often fades. And if you know you will talk yourself out of any rule, Selection Lock with a Buddy Code lets a partner or friend hold the key. You can add apps to the blocked list freely, and taking them off needs the code.

Where it falls short: Unglue blocks apps rather than websites, so if you shop in a browser, pair it with the website settings above or with Freedom. It also has no budget or spending tracker. Yes, we are an app asking you to use apps less. We know.

Freedom

Freedom's strength is reach. Its iPhone page says it blocks apps and websites across your phone, tablet and computer from one blocklist, and it syncs with Mac, Windows, Android and Chromebook. That matters if your shopping moves to the laptop the moment the phone is blocked.

You can start a session now, schedule one for later, or make recurring sessions. Locked Mode, a paid feature, stops you from deleting a running session or the blocklist. Freedom's help pages note that the app needs to be open on a device for a schedule to start there.

Where it falls short: the strongest features are on the paid plan, and it offers a block with nothing to do in its place.

one sec

one sec takes a gentler approach. When you open an app you have chosen, it shows a short breathing pause and asks if you still want to go in. That small gap has research behind it. In a six-week field study published in PNAS, Grüning, Riedel and Lorenz-Spreen found that people closed the target app in about 36% of attempts after the pause, and tried to open those apps 37% less often by the end. One of the authors works on the app, which the paper discloses, and the study looked at social apps rather than shopping.

The Android version lists app blocking on a schedule and time limits for apps and websites. The iPhone version offers strict blocks for apps and websites.

Where it falls short: the pause is easy to tap through when you really want something. It works best for the absent-minded opens, the ones where you check Temu without deciding to.

AppBlock

AppBlock is the most flexible option on Android. You can block apps and websites by time of day, by daily usage, by how many times you open them, by location, or when you join a certain Wi-Fi network. A "home Wi-Fi after 9pm" rule suits evening shoppers well.

Its Strict Mode lets you choose how a block can be turned off: with a PIN, after a timer, only when the phone is charging, or with someone else's approval. Website blocking in browsers needs Android's Accessibility permission.

Where it falls short: the number of options can feel like homework, and some features sit behind the paid plan.

Opal

Opal is a polished iPhone blocker that uses Apple's Screen Time framework, like Unglue. Its App Store listing describes blocking apps and websites, scheduled sessions, and a Deep Focus level that cannot be cancelled once it starts.

Where it falls short: the listing describes it as an iPhone app, and the strongest features are on the paid plan.

Which one should you choose?

  • You mostly buy on one or two apps in the evening. Start with a free Screen Time Schedule or Focus mode schedule. If you keep turning it off, try Unglue or one sec.
  • You shop in the browser, on the laptop too. Freedom, because one blocklist covers every device.
  • You are on Android and want firm rules. AppBlock's Strict Mode.
  • You want someone else to hold the key. Unglue's Buddy Code or AppBlock's approval option.
  • You mostly open shopping apps without thinking. one sec's pause catches the habit before it starts.

An app is one part of the plan

A blocker covers the moment you reach for the phone. A few other changes make that moment rarer:

  • Remove saved cards from the shopping apps and your browser. Typing the card number back in is a small pause, and small pauses help.
  • Turn off notifications from shopping apps. Sale alerts are timed to reach you when you are bored.
  • Unsubscribe from marketing emails. Gmail's Manage subscriptions page lists the senders who email you most and unsubscribes in a tap.
  • Use a waiting rule. Leave things in the basket for 48 hours, or a week for bigger things. Plenty of them stop looking necessary by then.

Our full guide on how to stop online shopping goes through each of these, with the research on why online stores are so easy to buy from. If your shopping mostly happens in the hours after everyone else is asleep, our piece on revenge bedtime procrastination may sound familiar too.

Common questions

What is the best app to stop online shopping?

The best one is the one you will not switch off. For most people that means a blocker that closes shopping apps on a schedule and adds a real wait or a second person before the block can come off. Unglue, Freedom, one sec, AppBlock and Opal all do a version of this. Try the free Screen Time or Digital Wellbeing settings first.

Can I block Amazon on my phone?

Yes. On iPhone with iOS 27, add Amazon's category to a Screen Time Schedule or Time Allowance. On iOS 26 and earlier, use Downtime or App Limits, and add amazon.com under Never Allow in Web Content. On Android, use a Digital Wellbeing app timer or Focus mode, and a Chrome site timer for the website. Blocking apps can do the same with a firmer lock.

Can I block Temu and Shein?

Yes, in the same way as any other app. Europe's consumer group BEUC has filed complaints about the design of Temu and Shein, and its complaint about Shein named countdown timers, daily reward games and frequent notifications. Turning off their notifications is worth doing alongside the block.

Is there an app that blocks all shopping sites at once?

There are too many shops for any list to catch them all, so aim for the ones you actually use. A blocklist of your five or six regular shops usually covers most of the problem. Freedom and AppBlock can block websites across browsers, and on iPhone with iOS 26 you can add each shop under Never Allow.

Will blocking shopping apps actually help me spend less?

It helps with the purchases you make on impulse, which are the ones a blocker can catch. It will not fix spending you plan, and it works best alongside removing saved cards and turning off sale alerts. If shopping feels out of control, or you are hiding purchases or debt, it is worth talking to your doctor or a debt adviser as well.

Sources

Thank you for your attention.

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— The Unglue team