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OurPact screen time, on the paid plans, is a budget the child can see. They open OurPact Jr., start the allowance, and pause it when they want the rest saved. A lock is a clock. Between two times you chose, categories go off, including overnight, whether anyone remembers to press pause. OurPact's how-it-works page is the first model. Safe Lagoon's schedules are the second. The healthier one depends on whether your child will actually stop the game.
The splitTwo designs, one phrase
In OurPact the child is in the loop. They track the allowance in OurPact Jr., start it, and pause it. They can see the schedule. Always Allowed apps stay available. Blocked apps disappear from the iOS home screen and are grayed on Android. Instant block stops scheduled apps and leaves Always Allowed apps up. A grant hands minutes back. A child who will not press pause can sit in a game until the allowance hits zero.
On Safe Lagoon the clock is the contract. Categories turn off between two times. Apps you mark always allowed ignore that window. They can ask for more time, and you approve or deny. They do not start and pause a pot of minutes. Prices are in Safe Lagoon vs OurPact.
OurPactWhat their page says the child can do
On your phone you set block schedules, a daily limit that can differ by day, instant block, and app rules: follow the schedule, always blocked, or always available. Premium also lists new-app alerts, in the features article updated 13 November 2026.
On their phone, OurPact Jr. shows the schedule. During a block they can still open Always Allowed apps. They start, pause and watch the allowance. When instant block is on, scheduled apps wait until you unblock or grant time. Blocked apps leave the iOS home screen. On Android they are grayed, so a child who goes looking sees "not now" rather than a missing icon.
The allowance sits on Premium, $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year, up to 20 child devices. The free plan is thinner: 1 child device, five manual blocks a month, one automated schedule, and browser blocking including Safari. Judging the allowance means judging Premium. Premium+ at $9.99 adds screenshots and 30-day location history. You do not need it to test the budget. The support article states a 14-day trial.
A profile can mix iOS and Android. That matters if the allowance has to survive a hand-me-down iPhone and the family tablet. Our full schedules are on Android. On iOS we can pause and schedule third-party apps, without per-app usage like Android.
The clockWhat the clock does with the same night
You pick categories, a start, an end, and the days. Games and social can end while a school app marked always allowed stays put. The window can cross midnight. That is the click parents get wrong.
A window belongs to the day it starts. A block from 21:00 to 07:00 that begins Sunday night is Sunday's window, even though the morning half is Monday. School nights are Sunday through Thursday. They are not Monday through Friday. Monday through Friday starts Monday at 21:00, includes Friday night, and leaves Sunday night open. Children notice Sunday.
Keep always-allowed apps short. The dialer can stay. The game should not. Their Always Allowed list can eat a block the same way. A more-time request comes to you. You approve or deny, the extra time ends, and the schedule is back. My assistant shows that window on a card and saves nothing until you tap Approve. Read the days. "School nights," said casually, is where Sunday disappears. The bill will not choose: about $70 a year either way.
Age 9Sunday for a 9-year-old who will not pause
The lock is the point.
Your 9-year-old is in a game by 16:40. Dinner is 18:00. They will not pause. "After this round" lasts until the food is cold. An allowance in their hand is a negotiation you have lost, because the pause button is theirs and the round is never the last one. If you are already on OurPact, instant block can still save the meal. The reason to change models is the night you are not there to press it.
Set games and social off from 21:00 to 07:00, Sunday through Thursday. Play from 17:30 to 21:00 was agreed out loud. At 20:50 they start another round. At 21:00 the categories go off while you are in the other room. At 21:04 they ask for more time. You deny it, because the reason is the round. The block holds until 07:00. A separate alarm clock means the phone does not have to come back as a clock.
Sunday 21:00 runs through Monday 07:00, and the same pattern covers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. Friday 21:00 stays open. Saturday overnight stays open. Monday through Friday would leave Sunday at 21:30 in the game and would darken Friday night. Always allowed here: the dialer, and tomorrow's worksheet. The game is not on that list.
Age 14Wednesday for a 14-year-old who can budget
The allowance is the point. A lock would treat this teenager like the 9-year-old, and you would spend the year arguing about fairness.
On OurPact Premium, Wednesday's budget covers a bus playlist and a conversation after homework. They start it in OurPact Jr. around 19:10, pause at 19:40 when a friend is at the door, and start again at 20:15, leaving a little for the morning bus. Always Allowed apps stay usable while it is paused. A schedule can still cut the late window, and instant block is there for the night the pause never comes.
Fourteen is often old enough to notice that pausing now means music on the bus tomorrow. Nine can repeat that sentence and still ignore it when a game is loud. OurPact can put both ages on one subscription, up to 20 devices. On Android we can give the younger child a hard window and the older one a daily limit plus a request you approve. We will not hand the 14-year-old their own start and pause. If that button is the lesson, stay.
A Galaxy can use the clock while an iPhone keeps the allowance. Our iOS side pauses and schedules third-party apps, without Android-style per-app usage. An OurPact alternative on Android is for the day the clock is the lesson and the phone is Android.
Which fitsWhich one fits, without a slogan
Use the allowance when a 14-year-old can tell you why they would pause. OurPact Jr. puts that choice on their phone, and instant block is still there for the night it does not show up. Use the lock when a 9-year-old will not pause the game. A clock at 21:00 does not need their cooperation, and you can still approve a real more-time request.
Some houses want a budget in the afternoon and a lock at 21:00. Their page describes both. We can stack a daily limit and a bedtime schedule. Do not pick from price. A year of Premium is about $70 either way. Their 14-day trial covers a school week of pausing. Seven days on our price page covers one Sunday-through-Thursday window.
If neither model fits the devices, the wider sort is parental control apps compared.
QuestionsFAQ
Can my child pause a Safe Lagoon schedule the way they pause an allowance?
No. OurPact Jr. is where they start and pause. A schedule here runs on the clock. They can ask for more time, and you approve or deny. When the extra time ends, the schedule is back.
Which days cover 21:00 to 07:00 on school nights?
Sunday through Thursday. The window belongs to the day it starts, so that range covers Sunday night through Thursday night, into the next morning. Monday through Friday skips Sunday night and includes Friday night. Read the card before you tap Approve.
What happens to always-allowed apps?
They ignore the schedule. On OurPact, Always Allowed apps stay up during blocks, and blocked apps leave the iOS home screen or are grayed on Android. A long exception list undoes either rule. Keep the dialer. Leave the game off the list.
Is an allowance a bad idea?
No. It fits a teenager who will pause and who understands that leftover minutes are for later. It fits a 9-year-old poorly, because they will not pause the game. Instant block is still there for the night the pause never comes.
Do I need Premium+ to try the allowance?
No. Allowance, schedules, instant lock and app rules are on Premium, $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year. Premium+ adds screenshots and 30-day location history. The free plan is one device, five manual blocks a month and one schedule. The support article states a 14-day trial.
Prices and feature lists were taken from each company's own site on 14 November 2026 and can change. Safe Lagoon is not affiliated with Bark or OurPact. Names are trademarks of their owners.
Writes for the Safe Lagoon blog · More articles on the blog
