Opal is a screen time app for detailed blocking rules, focus sessions and usage reports, with Pro at $19.99 a month or $99.99 a year. Prayer Latch is a Christian app blocker that locks your chosen apps each morning until you pray, with a free offline Bible and prayer journal, and Plus at $4.99 a month or $24.99 a year. Choose Opal for fine-grained control, and Prayer Latch if you want your phone time to start with God.
We make Prayer Latch, so read this with that in mind. Details about Opal come from opalapp.com and its US App Store listing as of October 2026. Prices change, so check before you subscribe.
What does Opal do?
Opal blocks apps with rules you set: schedules, daily time limits and limits on how many times you can open an app. It runs focus sessions, shows reports on your screen time and has a Hard Mode that stops you turning it off mid-session. The free plan includes one rule. Opal Pro is $19.99 a month, $99.99 a year or $399 for life in the US, and the App Store also lists weekly plans. It runs on iPhone, Android and Mac.
What does Prayer Latch do?
Prayer Latch locks the apps you choose at your wake-up time, and at up to 18 lock times a day if you add more. When you reach for a locked app, you pray, with a guided prayer chosen for your mood or in your own words, and hold to say Amen. Your apps open until the next lock time. It includes a free offline Bible in 24 languages, a private prayer journal and Latch, a padlock companion who grows over a 90-day journey. Emergency unlock is always free. It runs on iPhone and Android.
How do they compare?
| Opal | Prayer Latch | |
|---|---|---|
| What unlocks your apps | The end of a session or schedule | A prayer, until the next lock time |
| Blocking rules | Schedules, time limits, open limits, focus sessions | Lock times, up to 18 a day |
| Hard to bypass | Hard Mode | Free emergency unlock, by design |
| Faith content | None | Guided prayers, offline Bible, prayer journal |
| Reports | Detailed screen time reports | Prayer streaks and journal |
| Platforms | iPhone, Android, Mac | iPhone, Android |
| Free plan | 1 rule | Prayers, Bible, journal free forever; 7 days of locking free |
| Paid plan (US) | $19.99/month or $99.99/year | $4.99/month or $24.99/year |
Which one should I choose?
| You want… | Choose |
|---|---|
| Detailed rules and screen time stats | Opal |
| Blocking on your Mac too | Opal |
| To start every day with prayer instead of the feed | Prayer Latch |
| A Bible and prayer journal in the same app | Prayer Latch |
| A lower price | Prayer Latch |
Is there a Christian version of Opal?
Prayer Latch is the closest thing: an app blocker built around prayer instead of timers. Other Christian app blockers work in similar ways; see Christian app blockers compared.
Can I use Opal and Prayer Latch together?
Yes. Both use Apple's Screen Time permission on iPhone, and several apps can use it at once. A common setup is Prayer Latch for your morning and evening lock times and Opal for work-hour focus sessions. On Android, two blockers that both use Accessibility can conflict, so test them together before relying on both.
Why build an app blocker around prayer?
Most blockers ask you to stop something. Prayer Latch asks you to start something. The first minutes of the day go to God, and the apps can wait. "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up" (Psalm 5:3, KJV).
Pray before you scroll
Prayer Latch locks your chosen apps each morning until you pray. Your first 7 days are free, no card needed.
Updated October 22, 2026 by the Prayer Latch team at Janus Works LLC.