Fella vs Refocus:
one rule or every rule?

Refocus is built for people who want to design their own blocking system. It can block apps and websites, start a block for a fixed duration, repeat rules on selected days and times, enforce usage limits, and make unblocking harder through several Strict Mode options.

Fella is built for people who want to stop designing the system. It blocks selected iPhone apps all day and provides one 5-minute emergency unlock per session. There are no recurring schedules, website lists, location rules, or multiple access allowances to maintain.

Refocus wins on breadth; Fella wins on constraint. The buying decision is whether detailed controls help you match real life or give you more ways to bargain with the block.

Refocus covers several distinct blocking jobs inside one app. You can start an immediate timed block, create a weekday work schedule, restrict an app after a usage allowance, or block a website that remains distracting even after its app is removed.

Its Strict Mode is not a single setting. The current App Store listing describes options including a passcode, NFC tag, waiting period, copy-text challenge, and a Pomodoro-style system that controls how often and how long blocked content can be opened.

This flexibility matters when different distractions need different rules. Email may need a work-hours boundary, social media may need a daily limit, and a website may need a complete block. Fella does not attempt this level of rule design.

Fella assumes the difficult moment is not setup; it is the later request for an exception. If you can freely choose duration, pause length, challenge type, schedule, and strictness, every choice may be sensible on day one but negotiable on a difficult day.

The Fella model fixes the exception before temptation arrives. Selected apps are blocked. One five-minute window is available each day. When that time ends, access closes automatically, so a necessary check cannot remain open because you forgot to restart a rule.

That narrowness is only useful when it matches your life. If you need several legitimate access windows, browser blocking, or different weekday and weekend rules, Refocus is the more appropriate product.

Refocus lets you choose what kind of friction is persuasive. A wait can interrupt an impulse without completely denying access. A trusted passcode holder or NFC tag can move the override away from immediate reach. A text challenge makes unblocking inconvenient enough to reconsider.

Fella does not ask you to select a friction mechanism. Its strictness comes from scarcity: one unlock, five minutes, once per session. There is no second challenge to complete when the first access period is used.

Neither model is automatically stronger for every person. A physical NFC tag may be more restrictive than Fella while it is out of reach. A configurable pause may be much softer. Compare the exact Refocus rule you would use with Fella's fixed rule, not the maximum feature list.

Choose Refocus if you want a power-user app blocker. It is better for websites, recurring schedules, app timers, usage allowances, different app groups, and a choice of strict-mode mechanisms. It also supports a more gradual reduction strategy.

Choose Fella if the apps should not be available throughout the day. It suits the person who already tried careful limits and wants one predetermined pressure valve rather than a configurable series of pauses.

Pay attention to platform scope. Refocus promotes blocking across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, while Fella currently focuses on iPhone apps. If distraction moves to the browser or another Apple device, Refocus offers broader coverage.

Refocus's free tier and paid tier block differently, not just with fewer extras. On the free plan, selected apps are blocked together as one group—there's no way to unblock a single app without releasing the rest. Refocus Pro adds the ability to block and unblock apps individually, which matters if you want to keep one app closed while checking another.

Its Pomodoro-style unblocking is one of the more specific Strict Mode options. Rather than a single override, it caps unblocking at five times per day, 25 minutes each, with a mandatory 5-minute cooldown between uses—closer to a work-session timer than an emergency exception.

Fella has no free tier and no per-app unblocking to configure. Every selected app blocks and unblocks together, on the same single daily five-minute window, whether that's one app or ten.