Three well-known accountability apps take screenshots: Victory by Covenant Eyes, Ever Accountable, and Truple. Each one captures images of your screen for a partner to review. How much it captures depends on the device. On iPhone, for example, Covenant Eyes takes screenshots in Safari only. Screenshots show more than a list of sites, and they also show more of your private life. Here's how they compare.
In short
Victory by Covenant Eyes, Ever Accountable, and Truple take screenshots. Accountable2You, Sworn, and Blockd do not.
What gets captured depends on the device. On iPhone and iPad, Covenant Eyes takes screenshots in Safari only.
Screenshots can show what an address list misses, but they can also capture messages, money, and other people's information.
If you mainly want blocking and a partner who knows when it comes off, an app without screenshots may fit better.
Which accountability app takes screenshots?
Three apps build their accountability around screenshots, and each works a little differently.
Victory by Covenant Eyes. Covenant Eyes now sells its service under this name, and its app is called Victory Shield. On Android, Windows, and Mac it takes screenshots of device activity and offers optional porn blocking. On iPhone and iPad it takes screenshots in Safari only. For other browsers and apps there, it detects likely explicit domain names and can block them. Covenant Eyes says it does not provide screen accountability on Chromebooks, Kindle devices, or Linux.
Ever Accountable. Its compatibility table shows screenshot accountability on Android, iPhone and iPad, Windows, Mac, ChromeOS, and Kindle. Blocking is available only on Android, iPhone and iPad, and Mac, and nothing is blocked by default unless you turn on optional filtering. It sends alerts for uninstall attempts.
Truple. It captures screenshots at random intervals, on average every 30 seconds to 5 minutes, and you choose that range. It also tracks web history, with optional filtering on iOS and Android. It lists a long range of devices and says not all features work on all platforms.
| App | Screenshots | Blocking | Price (US) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victory by Covenant Eyes | Android, Windows, Mac; Safari only on iPhone and iPad | Optional porn blocking; likely explicit domains on iPhone | $18 per month, $198 per year, or $950 lifetime |
| Ever Accountable | Android, iPhone and iPad, Windows, Mac, ChromeOS, Kindle | Optional, on Android, iPhone and iPad, and Mac | $14.99 per month or $129 per year |
| Truple | Random intervals you set | Optional, on iOS and Android | $16.00 per month or $160 per year |
Accountability apps that take screenshots, based on each vendor's own pages.
Plans cover different people. Covenant Eyes covers up to 10 users within a family. Ever Accountable's price is for one reporting user with unlimited devices, with a 14-day free trial. Truple's price covers one household.
What does a partner see in a screenshot report?
A partner sees pictures of your screen. A website address only tells them which site you opened. A screenshot shows what was on the page at that moment.
How much they see depends on the app and device. Truple's random timing gives a partner a sample of your day, not a full recording. Covenant Eyes on iPhone gives screenshots from Safari and only domain detection elsewhere. Before you pick one, look at a sample report on the vendor's site and ask whether you'd be comfortable with your partner seeing it every week.
What are the pros of screenshot accountability?
Screenshots solve a real problem:
- They show context. A blocker that works by address can't tell what's on a page. A screenshot can, even on a site nobody thought to block.
- They cover gray areas. A lot of what people want to stop lives in a feed or a search result, not on one site. An image can catch that.
- They run on many devices. Ever Accountable and Truple list platforms that blockers often skip, like Kindle.
- Some people want the full picture. For a few, knowing a partner might see the screen is what keeps them honest.
What are the cons, and what's the privacy trade-off?
Your screen holds more than the habit you're working on.
- They can capture private things. Text messages, bank balances, health searches, and work documents all pass across your screen. So do other people's words and faces, and those people never agreed to be in your report.
- Your partner has more work. Reviewing images takes longer than reading a short alert, and it puts your partner in the role of an inspector.
- Coverage has gaps. Covenant Eyes on iPhone covers Safari only, and Truple says not all features work on all platforms.
- Seeing isn't stopping. Ever Accountable blocks nothing by default, and a screenshot only reports what already happened.
None of this makes screenshot apps wrong. The choice is about how much of your life you want another person to see. Accountability apps without screenshots covers the other side in depth.
What do accountability apps without screenshots show instead?
Some apps share less, on purpose.
Accountable2You reports browsing, including private and Incognito browsing, plus apps used and device activity. It does not take screenshots, and it does not block websites. It can alert a partner if monitoring is disabled or the app is removed. Personal costs $11 per month or $121 per year.
Sworn is a site blocker that takes no screenshots. Your partner gets a short email when you try something blocked, or when Sworn is paused, loosened, or left off. They learn the kind of site, never which one. Sworn Premium costs $7 per month in the US after 7 days free.
Blockd blocks sites across every app and browser and tells your partner about changes, not your browsing. If the app is deleted, your partner is alerted within minutes when the device goes quiet. Blockd Pro costs $7.99 per month or $39.99 per year in the United States.
The honest limits: any blocker can be turned off by the person who installed it. Blockd makes turning it off visible to a partner instead. DNS blocking decides by website address, so it can't see what's on a page. iPhone runs one VPN (an app that routes your traffic through another server) at a time, so another VPN app can replace Blockd's connection, and apps with hard-coded DNS can get around it. If you need someone to see the content itself, a screenshot app does something Blockd can't.
How do you choose the right fit?
- What devices do you use? Blockd runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later, and on Mac. There's no Android or Windows version, so on those, a screenshot app will cover more.
- Do you want to be blocked, or seen? Screenshots report what happened. A blocker stops the site from loading.
- What would your partner be comfortable doing? Reviewing images weekly is a bigger ask than replying to an alert. How to be a good accountability partner can help with that talk.
If you've narrowed it to the two biggest screenshot apps, Covenant Eyes vs Ever Accountable compares them side by side.
If the habit feels out of your control, or it's hurting your sleep, work, or relationships, think about talking with a licensed therapist.