A Jomo alternative where you earn screen time with pages

If you are looking for a Jomo alternative, you probably already like the idea at its heart: screen time you earn instead of screen time you simply ration. ReadFirst shares that idea and narrows it to one habit. You earn your minutes by reading a printed book, and the pages count for your book as well as your apps.

We make ReadFirst, so we are not neutral. We checked every fact about Jomo on its App Store page and website on 20 October 2026.

What is Jomo?

Jomo is a screen time blocker for apps, categories and websites, with routines that let you earn screen time. Its App Store listing is "Jomo - Screen Time Blocker" by Jomo SAS.

Jomo's Locks block apps continuously, limit how often you open them each day, and can ask for an exercise before an unlock. Its Routines let you earn screen time by completing habits, such as making your bed or going for a run. A Strict Mode locks your rules for a set number of days, and breaks pause the blocking when you need it.

Jomo is free to download with in-app purchases. As listed on the US App Store on 20 October 2026, Jomo Plus costs $5.99 a month or $29.99 a year with a 3-day free trial, and a one-time option is listed from $84.99. There are family plans as well. It runs on iPhone with iOS 16 or later, on Mac and on Apple Vision.

Jomo vs ReadFirst at a glance

Where Jomo is a great choice

Jomo is a great choice if you want flexible rules and more than one habit to count. A run or a made bed can be worth something, which suits people who are building a whole morning or evening routine.

It also covers a lot of ground for the price: open limits, exercises before unlocks, Strict Mode and breaks, on iPhone and Mac. If you want one app to manage many small habits, Jomo makes sense.

Why readers pick ReadFirst

Jomo spreads screen time across many habits. ReadFirst is built around one habit, so it can check every page and track it properly.

• Every unlock is a page you read. To open your apps, you read your printed book and take a live photo of the last page. The page is checked on your iPhone, a photo of a screen does not count, and a page you showed before does not count twice. The photo is never saved. See how read to unlock works.
• Pages become minutes. Your rule sets the rate, for example one page for 15 minutes, and you can change it any time. One unlock opens all your locked apps, and minutes only count down while you use them.
• A bank for the extra. Read more than your rule asks and the extra minutes wait in a bank for later that day, up to 5 hours. One tap opens your apps without a new photo, and the bank empties at midnight. More on the read-ahead bank.
• A full reading tracker. Your bookshelf with barcode scan, a daily page goal, a streak with one grace day a month, progress by week, month and year, and 60 reading medals. The habit that pays for your scrolling is also the one you see grow.
• No account. Your reading syncs through iCloud between iPhone and iPad.

Can you use both?

You can, if reading is one habit among several you want to build. One way to split it: let Jomo reward your morning routine on a few apps, and let ReadFirst guard the apps you reach for in the evening. Pick different apps in each so you always know which rule is in charge. If you want to compare more apps built on the same idea, see our list of apps that make you earn screen time.

Which one should you choose?

Choose Jomo if:

• You want many different habits to earn screen time, not only reading.
• You want blocking on your Mac too.
• You prefer a lower yearly price.

Choose ReadFirst if:

• Reading is the habit you most want to grow.
• You want each unlock backed by a page you actually read.
• You want your streak, goal and finished books in the same app as your lock.