The short answer#
Covenant Eyes is an accountability product: it reports what you did. Canopy is primarily a filter: it blocks explicit content automatically, using AI, and only brings a person or an AI into the loop when you try to turn your own protection down.
These solve different problems#
Covenant Eyes takes screenshots of your screen, by design, across iOS, Mac, Android and Windows, and sends them to your nominated ally continuously. It does not block anything by default. That mechanism is stated plainly in their own marketing.
Canopy works the other way round. It blocks and filters explicit content automatically, by default, using AI image, video and text recognition, across websites, social media and AI chatbots including ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini and Claude. Its optional accountability layer is a “Ally,” and it can be a human or an AI. In either case, the Ally is not shown a continuous activity report. It is only notified when you request to lower your own protections or access something blocked: a human Ally gets a text or email describing the request and approves or denies it; Canopy's own copy states routine activity generates “no alerts.” The AI Ally option reviews and discusses the same kind of request instead of a person, is available around the clock, and Canopy states it keeps “no reports, logs, or judgement” and does not share your browsing history. That is still an AI reviewing your request, even though it is not reading your history.
Canopy vs Covenant Eyes#
| Canopy | Covenant Eyes | |
|---|---|---|
| Core mechanism | Blocks explicit content automatically | Reports your activity continuously |
| Blocking | Yes, on by default | Yes, device-level |
| Human or AI reviews you | Only when you request lower protection | Continuously, by design |
| AI on your data | Yes: content detection, and an optional AI Ally | Not advertised |
| Screenshots | Not part of the product | Yes, explicitly, by design |
| Device limit | 1, 3, or up to 10 depending on plan | Unlimited, up to 10 users |
| Cheapest monthly price | $8.33 (billed annually) | $18 |
| Free trial | 7 days | None (pay first) |
| Money-back window | 30 days | 30 days |
Pricing and guarantees#
Checked directly on Canopy's pricing page, 14 August 2026 (it shows only annual billing, no separate monthly-billing rate was found). Essential is $8.33 a month for 1 device, Plus is $9.99 a month for up to 3 devices, and Premium is $12.50 a month for up to 10 devices, all billed annually, with a 7-day free trial and a stated 30-day money-back guarantee. Covenant Eyes Victory is $18 a month, $198 a year, or $950 for a lifetime licence, with a 30-day money-back guarantee rather than a free trial: you pay first, then can be refunded within 30 days.
Who each is built for#
These fit genuinely different intentions, not just different budgets.
Covenant Eyes fits someone who wants ongoing transparency to a person, with nothing filtered automatically. If the accountability itself, not the blocking, is the point, this is built for that.
Canopy fits someone who wants explicit content stopped automatically, with a lightweight check, human or AI, only when protection gets turned down. If you want the default state to be blocked rather than reported-on, this is the closer fit, and it costs less on every tier.
The third option#
Neither of the above does what Firmhold does. Covenant Eyes reports continuously to a person. Canopy blocks by default and brings in a human or an AI only at the moment you try to weaken your own settings. Firmhold does not block anything, does not report to a person, and does not put an AI, ours or anyone else's, anywhere near your data.
Instead, Firmhold asks you to log a relapse or a survived urge yourself, computes the pattern behind it with fixed, deterministic rules on our own servers once there is enough data to be honest, and shows the result to nobody but you. Core logging, the calendar, daily risk status and the panic button are free with no card; $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year unlocks the pattern engine itself.
All three, side by side#
| Firmhold | Canopy | Covenant Eyes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core mechanism | Finds the pattern behind your urges | Blocks content automatically | Reports activity continuously |
| Blocking | No | Yes, by default | Yes |
| AI on your data | None, ever | Yes: detection, plus optional AI Ally | Not advertised |
| Free tier | Yes: logging, calendar, daily risk, panic button | 7-day trial, not ongoing | No, 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Cheapest monthly price | $9.99 | $8.33 | $18 |
The numbers worth checking#
Covenant Eyes advertises “Join 1.7 Million others.” Canopy states “Join over 200K protected families.” Both are user-count claims rather than effectiveness claims, and neither comes with a source or methodology, checked 14 August 2026. That is a narrower kind of claim than the unsourced efficacy percentages found on some other products in this category, and worth distinguishing rather than treating all unsourced numbers as equally serious.
Firmhold is new and we have no user or results numbers of our own. When we do, we will publish them and say where they came from.
Try Firmhold free
Logging, your calendar, daily risk status and the panic button are free, with no card. If you upgrade and it is not for you, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Start free, no card neededCommon questions#
Is Canopy the same kind of app as Covenant Eyes?
No, even though both get compared in this category. Covenant Eyes is a continuous accountability tool: it screenshots your activity and sends it to a person you choose, all the time. Canopy is primarily an AI content filter that blocks explicit material automatically; its optional "Ally" feature (a human or an AI) only gets involved when you ask to lower your own protections, not as an ongoing report.
Does Canopy use AI on your data?
Yes, explicitly, in two ways: AI content recognition to detect and block explicit material in real time, and an optional "AI Ally" that reviews and discusses your requests to change protection settings. Canopy states the AI Ally option keeps no reports or logs and does not share your browsing history, but it is still an AI reviewing your request. Covenant Eyes does not advertise AI at all.
Which is cheaper, Canopy or Covenant Eyes?
Canopy, on every tier: $8.33, $9.99 or $12.50 a month depending on device count (billed annually), against Covenant Eyes Victory's $18 a month or $198 a year. Canopy also has a 7-day free trial; Covenant Eyes does not, it is pay-first with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Is there an alternative to both that does not report to another person or use AI?
Yes. Firmhold is built around a different premise from either: nobody sees your activity, including us, and no AI is ever involved in analyzing it. It computes patterns with fixed rules on our own servers once there is enough data to be honest, and shows the result to nobody but you.
Sources#
- Canopy, pricing page, verified live in-browser 14 August 2026 (the page has a Myself/Family toggle and only displays annual billing): Essential $8.33/mo (1 device), Plus $9.99/mo (up to 3 devices), Premium $12.50/mo (up to 10 devices), 7-day free trial, 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Canopy, homepage and how-it-works page, checked 14 August 2026: AI-powered content filtering across websites, social media and named AI chatbots; blocking on by default; the “Join over 200K protected families” claim, unsourced.
- Canopy, Ally feature page, checked 14 August 2026: human and AI Ally mechanics quoted directly, including “no reports, logs, or judgement” for the AI option and alerts limited to protection-lowering requests for both.
- Covenant Eyes, Victory plan pricing page, checked 8 August 2026 and re-verified 14 August 2026: $18 monthly, $198 annual, $950 lifetime, 30-day money-back guarantee (not a free trial).
- Covenant Eyes published product description of its screenshot-and-ally mechanism across iOS, Mac, Android and Windows.
- Firmhold pricing and feature split as published on our own pricing page and enforced in the product.
Canopy and Covenant Eyes are products of their respective companies. We are not affiliated with either, and this page is our own comparison rather than theirs. Everything stated about both products comes from their published material on the dates shown. Prices, trial terms and features change, so check both directly before deciding.