Both Ascension and Cold Turkey are hard-to-bypass blockers for Windows. Cold Turkey has been in development for over a decade and also runs on macOS. Ascension is Windows-only, and combines blocking with detailed screen time analytics.
Choose Cold Turkey if you're on macOS, want a free version, or want blocking without extensive statistics.
Choose Ascension if you're on Windows and want detailed data on your habits alongside the blocking.
| Comparison | Ascension | Cold Turkey |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows (iOS in development) | Windows and macOS |
| Hard to bypass blocking | Yes | Yes |
| Premade blocks | Extensive | Basic |
| Whole computer lockout | No (by design) | Yes (Frozen Turkey) |
| Screen time tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced statistics | Yes | No |
| Impact scoring | Yes | No |
| Desktop app blocking | No | Yes |
| Goals | Yes | No |
| Uninstall protection | Yes | Yes |
| Free version | No — 15-day trial | Yes |
| Automated reports | Yes | No |
| Price | $50 lifetime or $12.99/mo | $45 one time |
Ascension and Cold Turkey share three block types: scheduled, always-on, and time limit. Ascension adds a fourth: entry delay, which forces you to wait a set number of minutes before a blocked site will open.
Cold Turkey has one thing Ascension doesn't: Frozen Turkey, which locks down your entire computer for a set period. Ascension deliberately doesn't offer this. A whole-machine freeze is how people end up locked out of a computer they need for work, and the usual ending is a factory reset rather than a changed habit. If you specifically want that level of lockdown, Cold Turkey is the right tool.
Ascension scores every app and site by how mentally draining it is, so two hours of coding and two hours of Netflix don't land in your stats as the same two hours. You can adjust the weighting yourself when the defaults don't match your work. Cold Turkey measures raw time only.
Mountain Laboratory, Ascension's simulator, replays your real last 30 days as if a block had been active. Cut Reddit entirely, cap YouTube at 20 minutes a day, and see exactly what your week would have looked like before you commit to anything. Cold Turkey records what you did but can't model what would have happened if you'd changed it.
Ascension lets you work with your usage data instead of just reading a total. Break your history down, filter specific apps and sites in or out, and group them into categories you define yourself — "work," "distractions," whatever fits how you actually spend time. Cold Turkey records usage and shows totals, but filtering is basic and there are no custom categories.
Ascension generates weekly and monthly reports showing where your time actually went, plus a projection of how many hours you're on track to spend in the years ahead if nothing changes. Cold Turkey gives the option to see the time on an app or website, but no scheduled reports and no projections.
Set screen time goals in Ascension and they're tracked automatically against a year-long streak grid showing every day you hit or missed. Cold Turkey has no goal tracking.
Some work is worth measuring precisely. Ascension lets you log specific projects and sessions by hand alongside the automated tracking. Cold Turkey is automated-only.
Both apps enforce hard blocks, and both become impossible to uninstall once the strongest lock is applied. Ascension offers five lock types: password, random text, countdown, until-a-date, and time range. Cold Turkey's locks are comparably strong, and Frozen Turkey goes further than anything Ascension offers.
Cold Turkey runs on Windows and macOS, with one license covering both, and blocks desktop applications as well as websites. Ascension is Windows only, with iOS in development, and blocks websites rather than desktop apps.
It depends what you want. Cold Turkey is a blocker and does that job well. Ascension blocks about as effectively and adds a full analytics layer on top: impact-weighted metrics, custom categories, scenario simulation, goal streaks, and automated reports. If you want a block button, Cold Turkey is enough. If you want to understand the habit as well as block it, choose Ascension.
Close to even. Both offer multiple lock types, and with the strongest lock applied neither application can be uninstalled. The one gap is Frozen Turkey, Cold Turkey's whole-computer freeze. Ascension deliberately doesn't offer it, because locking yourself out of a machine you need for work usually ends in a factory reset. If you want that, pick Cold Turkey.
No. Once a block is under the strongest lock, Ascension cannot be uninstalled, and the block resumes after a restart. The same is true of Cold Turkey.
No. Ascension is Windows only today, with iOS in development. For macOS, Cold Turkey is the right choice.
Marginally on a one-time purchase — roughly $45 versus Ascension's $50 lifetime, and Cold Turkey also has a free tier, which Ascension doesn't. What the difference buys is a full analytics product Cold Turkey has no equivalent for. If you only want blocking, Cold Turkey is better value.
No, but there's a 15-day trial that unlocks every feature, with no credit card required. Cold Turkey's free tier covers basic website blocking, though its blocks are cancellable and its Pro trial runs 7 days.
Available on Windows 10 & 11
We update this page as both products change. If anything here is outdated or inaccurate, tell us at support@ascensionapp.ai and we will fix it.
Last verified: August 2026