Search for “screen time MCP” in late 2026 and two real products show up, plus some hobby projects. They are both about letting your own AI assistant take part in how you spend your attention, and they could hardly be more different in what they do. Here is a fair look at each, because the right answer for many people is “both”.

We make Respite, so read this with that in mind. Facts about LockIn MCP come from its own site and its public listing, accessed November 2026, and are linked at the end.

What is LockIn MCP?

LockIn MCP is a website blocker designed from the start to be driven by an AI assistant. You connect your own Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Poke over MCP (with OAuth sign-in for the web clients), and the assistant calls tools such as block_domains, enter_focus_mode, temporarily_unblock_domains and get_block_status. Blocking happens in the computer’s hosts file, which holds up through restarts and private windows. It is full-featured on macOS, works on Linux and Windows through the hosts file, and has a Chrome extension as an add-on. It also offers task-aware blocking, where the page’s address and a short excerpt are sent to its server for a relevance check. It lists $2.99 a month, $29.99 a year, or $59.99 lifetime, with a trial.

In short: your AI becomes the person who flips the blocker on and off, mostly on a computer.

What is Respite’s MCP connector?

Respite is a screen time app for Android, iPhone and Chrome. With Respite Plus you can connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor over MCP, sign in with Google or Apple, and let the assistant call read tools (get_account, get_usage, get_insights, list_limits, list_events and get_progress) and, if you opt in, tools that make limits stricter (set_limit, add_schedule) plus list_changes, undo_change, remove_limit and remove_schedule. It can tell you which apps grew this week, which limits you break, whether you walk away when paused at a limit, and how your streak is going. Respite is, to our knowledge, the first mobile screen time app with a built-in MCP server (November 2026). The hub has the details.

In short: your AI becomes your analyst, for the phone and browser. It changes nothing unless you opt in. If you do, tightening a limit applies at once, loosening needs your approval in the Respite app (arriving in app updates), and every change is logged and can be undone. See letting your AI change your limits.

How do they compare?

LockIn MCP Respite
Main job Block websites on a computer Pause, limit and track apps and sites; AI reads your usage
What your AI can do Block, start focus mode, temporarily unblock, check status Read usage, insights, limits, events and progress; with opt-in, lower limits and add schedules
Can the AI change things today? Yes Only to make limits stricter, and only if you opt in
Platforms macOS full; Windows and Linux via hosts file; Chrome add-on Android, iPhone, Chrome
Strength Strong blocking that survives restarts Mobile usage across devices, pause and game layer
MCP sign-in OAuth for Claude web, ChatGPT, Cursor, Poke OAuth with Google or Apple; Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor
Price (at the time of writing) $2.99 a month, $29.99 a year, $59.99 lifetime Free; Plus $4.99 a month for the connector
Data sent for relevance checks Task-aware blocking sends page address and a short excerpt Nothing to a Respite AI; tool results go to your AI provider

Where does LockIn MCP win?

  • It can act. Asking Claude to block a list of sites for two hours and having it happen is a real capability, and Respite does not do that: its AI can make limits and schedules stricter at once, and anything looser waits for your approval in the app.
  • Desktop strength. Hosts-file blocking is much harder to wander around than a browser extension alone.
  • Price. It costs less than Respite Plus.
  • Task-aware focus. Letting the AI decide what is relevant to your task is a neat use of an LLM, with the trade-off noted above.

Where does Respite win?

  • Your phone. Most of the scrolling happens there, and LockIn is centred on the desktop.
  • Usage data. Respite measures what you do across devices, so the AI can answer questions about your habits, not only operate a blocker.
  • A pause and a free game layer (acorns, quests, streaks) that work without any AI.
  • Free to start, with an account optional until you want sync.

Is Respite the only one? Is LockIn?

Neither. LockIn MCP calls itself “the only blocker with native MCP”, which is a vendor claim we would not repeat as fact, and we do not claim to be the only screen time app with MCP either. Beyond the two of us, we found unofficial MCP servers that read Mac Screen Time data locally, and community servers for RescueTime (we did not find an official one) and ActivityWatch. Those are local or third-party, and they read computer activity. What we can honestly say is narrower: to our knowledge, Respite is the first mobile screen time app with a built-in MCP server, as of November 2026. We re-check this regularly.

How do the privacy models differ?

They are different in kind. LockIn’s blocking runs on your own computer, and its task-aware mode, when you use it, sends the address of the page and a short excerpt to its server for a relevance check; its MCP calls tell your AI what is blocked. With Respite, nothing goes to a Respite AI because there is none: your AI asks Respite for your synced usage, limits and progress, and the answers become part of your chat with your AI provider under that provider’s policy. Neither is “private” in an absolute sense; both move some information to a service you choose to connect. Read each product’s policy, and see is it safe to give an AI your screen time data? for how we think about it.

Should I use both?

If your day has both a laptop and a phone, probably. A workable split:

  1. Computer: LockIn, or any strong site blocker, for deep-work sessions your AI can start.
  2. Phone and browser: Respite for a pause before the apps that eat your evenings, and for the data.
  3. Weekly: ask your AI, connected to Respite, “how did my week go against my limits?” and use the answer to adjust.

Both can be added as connectors in the same Claude or ChatGPT account. Claude and ChatGPT have step-by-step guides for Respite.

What if I just want a blocker, with no AI?

Then you do not need either. See best app blockers for the plain options, and Respite vs Freedom for cross-device blocking. The AI part is a bonus, not a requirement.

Sources (accessed 3 November 2026)

Next step

Want your phone’s numbers in front of your AI? Download Respite and read AI and screen time.