Is Earn Screen Time free?
It's free to download with a 3-day free trial. As of November 2026, plans are $8.99 a month, $34.99 a year or $69.99 for lifetime access.
The short version
Earn Time, by Vladimir Rodzaevskiy, attaches a minute value to each task, like 20 minutes for a clean room. You approve, the minutes unlock, and apps lock when they're gone. Its biggest strength is setup: it works with any Apple ID, with no Family Sharing and no child account. It adds Study Mode, website blocking, family chat and an Apple Watch app. taskr starts from the opposite direction: your kid already has their apps, and a missed chore takes them away.
- Pick Earn Screen Time if you want your kid to earn all their screen time, or you can't or don't want to set up Family Sharing.
- Pick taskr if you want chores done by a certain time, and you don't want to price every job in minutes.
Side by side
Earn Screen Time details are from its own App Store listing, read in November 2026. We make taskr. Both products change, so verify anything that would decide it for you.
Feature
taskr
Earn Screen Time
- When apps lock
- taskr
Only once a chore passes its deadline. On time, nothing locks
- Earn Screen Time
When earned minutes run out
- What unlocks them
- taskr
You approve a photo of the finished chore
- Earn Screen Time
You approve a task, and its minutes are added
- Photo proof
- taskr
Yes, on every chore
- Earn Screen Time
Optional
- Family Sharing
- taskr
Needed. Your kid must be in your Apple family
- Earn Screen Time
Not needed. Works with any Apple ID and syncs through iCloud
- Extras
- taskr
None. It sticks to chores and locks
- Earn Screen Time
Study Mode, website blocking, family chat, Apple Watch app, widgets
- Free trial
- taskr
Two weeks
- Earn Screen Time
3 days
- Minimum iOS
- taskr
iOS 16 or later
- Earn Screen Time
iOS 18 or later
- Price
- taskr
Free to try; Pro $9.99/mo or $49.99/yr, first two weeks free
- Earn Screen Time
$8.99/mo, $34.99/yr, or $69.99 lifetime
Where Earn Screen Time is the better pick
Setup. Family Sharing trips up plenty of families, and it's the hardest step in setting up taskr, because your kid needs to be a child member of your Apple family. Earn Time skips it entirely. If your kid's phone is on an account you can't change, that may decide it.
Cost over time. Its $34.99 yearly plan is cheaper than taskr Pro, and a $69.99 lifetime option means no subscription at all. It also does more in the app, with website blocking and a mode for homework.
Earning screen time vs. keeping it
Earn-your-time apps work best when the goal is less screen time overall, because screens stop being the default. They need more from you, though. Every task needs a minute value, and you end up deciding whether the dishwasher is worth 15 minutes or 20. They also have a weak spot: a kid with minutes saved up can skip the chore you actually care about.
taskr doesn't touch how much screen time your kid gets. It only cares whether the job got done by the time you said. That makes it the better fit when one chore keeps not happening, and a worse fit if your real goal is to cut hours on screens.
taskr vs. Earn Screen Time FAQ
Do I need Family Sharing for Earn Screen Time?
No. Its listing says it works with any Apple ID, with no Family Sharing and no child account. taskr does need your kid in your Apple family, because that's how it stops them from removing the app.
What iOS does Earn Screen Time need?
As of November 2026, iOS 18 or later. taskr's Screen Time features need iOS 16 or later, so it runs on older phones that a younger kid may have inherited.
What is a good alternative to Earn Screen Time?
Piggy and Screeni work the same way, with earned minutes or credits. taskr is the alternative if you don't want a minutes system at all, and just want a late chore to lock apps.
What is the difference between taskr and Earn Screen Time?
With Earn Screen Time, kids start with no time and earn it through tasks. With taskr, kids keep their apps unless a chore misses its deadline, and a photo you approve brings them back.
Comparing others too?
See taskr vs. ChoreKey, ChoreLocks, Carrots&Cake, Chore Champ, ScreenTreat, ScreenCoach, Screeni, ScreenChore, Piggy. Or read the full roundup of parental control apps that lock a phone until chores are done, or how taskr works.
Try taskr on your kid's phone
Free to try on the App Store. iPhone and iPad. Built on Apple Family Controls.