The honest comparison: free DNS and hosts filtering vs paid accountability apps — and which fits which situation.
Blocking tools come in three tiers. Free and local: hosts files and DNS filters — precise, private, but bypassable by VPNs and alternative browsers. Platform controls: Screen Time, Family Link, Family Safety — strong coverage on supervised devices, but they live on the device. Accountability apps: paid software that monitors and reports activity to a partner — the only tier that survives deliberate bypass, because it turns secrecy itself into the mechanism.
A hosts file or filtered DNS stops known domains before they load. It will not block unknown sites, encrypted VPN traffic, or content inside apps that run their own networks. Expect coverage of the major sites — treat '100% blocking' claims as marketing, from any tool.
Apps like Covenant Eyes and Ever Accountable run at the system level and send blurred or summarized activity reports to a chosen partner. The point isn't perfect filtering — it's that someone you trust sees when you're struggling, which removes the secrecy loop that keeps habits alive. These cost $10-20/month and are a different product: accountability, not just blocking.
Self-managed reset with a streak tracker: free DNS + hosts is usually enough. Repeated relapses despite blocking: the gap is accountability, not technology — that's when the paid tier earns its price. Pair any blocker with the tracking tools on this site; blocking removes access, streaks replace it with visible progress.