Before the Scroll vs FaithLock

FaithLock gives you something to do before your apps open. Before the Scroll does not open them.

These two products look like the same idea and are not. Both put Scripture between you and Instagram. The difference is what happens next, and it is the whole thing.

FaithLock is live on the App Store today and Before the Scroll is not built yet, so this page is written by someone with an obvious interest. That is exactly why every number below is sourced to FaithLock’s own site or store listing, and why there is a section further down on what they do better than us. If that section were not here you would be right not to trust the rest.

Side by side

What happens when you open a blocked app: Before the Scroll. It does not open. There is a fixed ten minutes with God first, and nothing you can press shortens it.; FaithLock. A Scripture pause and a quiz. Complete it and you are let into the app, with roughly five minutes of access before it locks again.
Is there a way around it: Before the Scroll. No skip and no override. That is the product, not a setting.; FaithLock. The unlock is the way through. Read the Scripture and the app opens. Their site also says plainly that they do not hold your phone hostage and you can uninstall any time.
When it applies: Before the Scroll. The first ten minutes of your morning. One window, on purpose.; FaithLock. Preset scheduled lock times for morning prayer, devotion, work hours, or family time, plus a Sabbath Mode that locks apps completely for a set duration.
What grows: Before the Scroll. A watercolor tree, grown from mornings actually kept. Miss one and it simply waits for you.; FaithLock. A hand-painted garden called Garden of Grace. Their site: it blooms with practice, and neglect it and it wilts.
Platforms: Before the Scroll. Android first, where a true hard block is possible on day one. iOS starts reminder-first until Apple approves the screen-time entitlement.; FaithLock. iPhone only. The App Store lists iOS, macOS on Apple silicon, and visionOS.
Price: Before the Scroll. Not on sale yet. Pay what you want from $1 to fund the build, or $39 for one of the first 500 seats. At launch: a 7-day free trial, then $4.99 a month or $39 a year.; FaithLock. Free to download, with in-app purchases listed on the App Store at $6.99 and $39.99. Their site quotes different figures on different pages, so check in the app before buying.
Does it exist: Before the Scroll. No. The app is being built in public and nothing is shippable yet.; FaithLock. Yes, today. 4.2 stars from 16 ratings on the App Store.

	Before the Scroll	FaithLock
What happens when you open a blocked app	It does not open. There is a fixed ten minutes with God first, and nothing you can press shortens it.	A Scripture pause and a quiz. Complete it and you are let into the app, with roughly five minutes of access before it locks again.
Is there a way around it	No skip and no override. That is the product, not a setting.	The unlock is the way through. Read the Scripture and the app opens. Their site also says plainly that they do not hold your phone hostage and you can uninstall any time.
When it applies	The first ten minutes of your morning. One window, on purpose.	Preset scheduled lock times for morning prayer, devotion, work hours, or family time, plus a Sabbath Mode that locks apps completely for a set duration.
What grows	A watercolor tree, grown from mornings actually kept. Miss one and it simply waits for you.	A hand-painted garden called Garden of Grace. Their site: it blooms with practice, and neglect it and it wilts.
Platforms	Android first, where a true hard block is possible on day one. iOS starts reminder-first until Apple approves the screen-time entitlement.	iPhone only. The App Store lists iOS, macOS on Apple silicon, and visionOS.
Price	Not on sale yet. Pay what you want from $1 to fund the build, or $39 for one of the first 500 seats. At launch: a 7-day free trial, then $4.99 a month or $39 a year.	Free to download, with in-app purchases listed on the App Store at $6.99 and $39.99. Their site quotes different figures on different pages, so check in the app before buying.
Does it exist	No. The app is being built in public and nothing is shippable yet.	Yes, today. 4.2 stars from 16 ratings on the App Store.

An interstitial interrupts you and then lets you through. A gate does not open until the thing it is guarding is done.

Where FaithLock is better

It is real and you can be using it in two minutes. Before the Scroll is a promise with a tree attached, and no amount of writing changes that.
If you are on an iPhone and you want a block this morning, FaithLock is on the App Store now. Our iOS hard block is waiting on Apple, so on that platform, today, they can do something we cannot.
One morning window is a narrow bet. Their scheduled locks and Sabbath Mode cover work hours, family time, and sleep, so if your problem is all day rather than at 6am, that is a better shaped tool.
Their unlock being completable is a real design position, not a flaw. Friction that lets you through teaches you to notice the reach. Some people genuinely do change on that, and for them a door that will not open is just an annoyance to uninstall.

Which one you want

Pick FaithLock if

You are on an iPhone and you want it working today.
Your scrolling is spread across the whole day, not concentrated in the first hour.
You want a moment of friction you can pass through, not a door that stays shut.
You are not willing to pay for software that does not exist yet, which is a completely reasonable position.

Pick Before the Scroll if

You have already tried the apps you can tap through, and you tapped through them.
The morning specifically is where you lose. You are fine the rest of the day.
You would rather have something that waits for you than something that wilts at you. A missed morning is not punished here.
You are on Android, where the block is real from day one.
You are willing to back something unfinished, from someone keeping the same practice in public, including the mornings he loses.

Before the Scroll is not built yet. What is live is the practice, kept in public every morning, and the seats that are funding the build.

Take a seat for $39 or read what it actually does