Pledgely
Every list like this ranks blockers on features: how many sites they block, whether they filter images, how nice the app looks. Those comparisons miss the way blockers actually fail. Nobody relapses because a blocker missed a domain. People relapse because they turn the blocker off, and on most apps that takes a minute and costs nothing.
So this list ranks on one axis first: what happens when you try to switch it off? Blocking coverage is table stakes; the off switch is the product.
1. Pledgely: deactivation costs real money
Pledgely blocks porn system-wide using Apple's Screen Time technology, in every browser and every app, including Safari. What makes it different is the pledge: you commit $1 to $100 a day on the web at pledgely.app, and the only event that ever charges it is turning the blocker off. Keep it on and every daily hold is released back to your card. Nothing you browse is monitored or logged.
It's the only blocker where the 2am escape hatch has a price tag you chose in daylight. Weaknesses: it needs a subscription plus a card on file, which is the point.
2. Covenant Eyes: deactivation gets seen
The accountability heavyweight. An ally you choose receives reports of your screen activity, so switching it off or browsing around it becomes a conversation. Strongest if you have a person you'd genuinely hate to disappoint; weakest if you don't, or if being monitored makes you quietly abandon the app. Full comparison: Covenant Eyes alternatives.
3. BlockerX: strong features, negotiable off switch
Mature blocker with app blocking, an optional accountability partner, and a big community. Its friction features are real friction. But friction is all it is: a determined evening defeats it, quietly. See BlockerX alternatives.
4. Canopy: best-in-class filtering, parent-shaped
Canopy filters content in real time, including images inside otherwise safe pages, which most blockers can't do. It's built for parental control, and that shows when you self-manage: you hold the unlock password, so the off switch is in your own pocket.
5. QUITTR: recovery program with a blocker attached
Streaks, lessons, community, panic button, plus conventional blocking. Good if you want structure and content around the quit. The blocking itself is self-reversible like the rest.
6. Ever Accountable: reports, lower price
Same ally-report model as Covenant Eyes with a simpler product. A fine pick if you want the human-accountability route and Covenant Eyes feels heavy.
7. Screen Time's built-in filter: free, and freely reversed
No app at all: turn on Limit Adult Websites in Screen Time's content restrictions and adult sites stop loading in Safari and most browsers. It genuinely filters, and you can switch it off with your own passcode in under a minute. Fine as a layer, not as a plan. If you've tried it and watched it fail, here's why.
The honest summary
| Blocker | Blocking | What turning it off costs |
|---|---|---|
| Pledgely | System-wide via Screen Time | Your pledge, $1 to $100 per day |
| Covenant Eyes | Monitoring + filter | A conversation with your ally |
| BlockerX | System-wide | Time and friction |
| Canopy | Filter + image scan | Your own password |
| QUITTR | Conventional | Nothing |
| Ever Accountable | Monitoring | A report someone may read |
| Screen Time built-in | Web filter | Your own passcode, under a minute |
Any of these stops a casual impulse. Only consequences stop a determined one, which is why porn blockers fail for people who've already deleted three of them. If that's you, pick the one where quitting the blocker costs more than the urge is worth.
Put real stakes behind quitting
Pledgely blocks porn across your whole phone and charges your own pledge only if you turn the blocker off. Stay clean, pay nothing.