Stop Biting vs Hands Off: Which Should You Pick?

Two on-device AI apps that catch nail biting through your webcam — compared honestly on platforms, coverage, price, and privacy

By Igor Gazivoda · Founder, Stop Biting

Pick Hands Off if you have several body-focused repetitive behaviours and live on the desktop; pick Stop Biting if nail biting is your specific problem, or you want a browser version or an annual plan. Monthly they cost the same — $2.99 for Stop Biting, €2.99 for Hands Off, each with a 3-day free trial — but Hands Off’s site lists no annual option, while Stop Biting’s is $29/year, about $2.42/month. Stop Biting and Hands Off solve the same core problem the same way: on-device AI watches your webcam and interrupts nail biting the moment it starts, without sending camera data anywhere. The real differences are coverage and platform. Hands Off covers five body-focused repetitive behaviors on Mac and Windows; Stop Biting focuses on nail biting, adds a no-install web app and a large habit-reversal content library. Disclosure: Stop Biting is our product — this is our honest attempt at a fair comparison, with every Hands Off claim re-verified against handsoffapp.com on 10 September 2026.

Stop Biting vs Hands Off: what’s the difference?

Both are on-device webcam detectors. Hands Off covers five behaviours on Mac and Windows; Stop Biting focuses on nail biting and adds a no-install web app and an annual plan.

Both apps were checked side by side on 10 September 2026. Pricing and features change — always confirm on the vendor’s own site before buying.

	Stop Biting	Hands Off
Platforms	Web app (PWA) in a browser on Mac or Windows	Mac, Windows desktop
Behaviors detected	Nail biting (focused)	Five BFRBs — its site lists nail biting, skin picking, eyebrow or eyelash pulling, ear picking, and nose picking
Detection	On-device AI (MediaPipe/WebAssembly)	On-device AI — all processing local
Price	$2.99/month or $29/year	€2.99/month (monthly plan only listed)
Free trial	3 days, no credit card	3 days
Progress tracking	Bite-free streaks and a timestamped incident history	Yes — its site says it “includes a statistics tracker to show your progress over time”
Privacy	No camera data leaves the device, and nothing is sent while detection runs	States no video is recorded, GDPR compliant, no personal data collected

What do Stop Biting and Hands Off have in common?

The overlap is bigger than the differences, and it’s worth saying so. Both apps use real-time AI on your webcam feed, both process everything locally on your machine, and both fire an alert the moment your hand approaches your mouth — the external awareness signal that habit reversal research identifies as the key ingredient for stopping automatic biting.

Both also price the entry point almost identically: about three dollars or euros a month, with a 3-day free trial. Neither records video or uploads camera data. If your only question is "does the core mechanism work the same way?", the answer is essentially yes.

What does Hands Off do better than Stop Biting?

Hands Off covers more behaviors. Its site markets detection for five common body-focused repetitive behaviors, listing nail biting, skin picking, eyebrow or eyelash pulling, ear picking, and nose picking. If you have multiple BFRBs — say you bite your nails and pick at skin — one Hands Off subscription addresses contexts Stop Biting simply doesn’t attempt to cover.

It also tracks progress. Its site states that Hands Off “includes a statistics tracker to show your progress over time”, so measurement is not a reason to choose us over them — an earlier version of this page implied it was, and that was wrong.

It’s also a credible, personal product: Hands Off is built by a founder who describes his own twenty-year struggle with nail biting, states GDPR compliance explicitly, and interrupts episodes with a full-screen alert. For a desktop-only, multi-behavior use case, it’s a genuinely strong choice.

What does Stop Biting do better than Hands Off?

Stop Biting runs in the browser. Hands Off is a Mac/Windows download; Stop Biting works as a no-install web app (PWA), which matters on locked-down work laptops where you can’t install software.

Stop Biting has an annual plan. Hands Off’s site lists a single €2.99/month subscription. Stop Biting is $2.99/month or $29/year — about $2.42/month if you commit, roughly 19% cheaper than paying monthly.

Stop Biting pairs detection with treatment content. The alarm is the awareness trigger; the library of over 100 science-backed guides on habit reversal training, competing responses, and trigger mapping turns that trigger into a method. Stop Biting also tracks bite-free streaks and keeps a timestamped incident history — but Hands Off ships a statistics tracker of its own, so treat this as a difference in what gets measured, not as a feature they lack.

The honest counterpoint: if your problem is skin picking or hair pulling rather than nail biting, Stop Biting is the wrong tool — it detects nail biting only.

How much do Stop Biting and Hands Off cost?

Stop Biting: $2.99/month or $29/year (about $2.42/month), with a 3-day free trial and no credit card required to start.

Hands Off: €2.99/month with a 3-day free trial, cancel anytime. No yearly or lifetime option is listed on its pricing page.

Over one year at these listed prices, Stop Biting’s annual plan costs $29 versus roughly €35.88 for twelve months of Hands Off. If you only need an app for a month or two, the two are effectively the same price. Pricing verified on both sites on 10 September 2026 and subject to change.

How does each app handle your camera data?

Neither sends it anywhere — both process the webcam feed entirely on your device. This is a tie, and that’s good news. Hands Off states that all processing happens locally, no video gets recorded, and no personal data is collected — it is explicitly GDPR compliant. Stop Biting runs MediaPipe models compiled to WebAssembly directly on your device: the camera feed never leaves your machine, and no camera data is sent during detection, which you can verify yourself with your browser’s network monitor.

Whichever app you choose here, you are not trading privacy for the feature.

Frequently asked questions

Every answer below uses the same 10 September 2026 verification against handsoffapp.com as the rest of this page.

Is Stop Biting or Hands Off more private?

Both process the webcam feed entirely on your device and neither transmits camera data. Stop Biting publishes a technical explainer of its on-device detection; Hands Off states it records no video and is GDPR compliant.

Does Hands Off have a web version?

No — as of 10 September 2026 it’s a Mac and Windows download. Stop Biting additionally runs in the browser as a PWA.

Which is cheaper?

Monthly, they’re effectively the same (~$/€2.99). Stop Biting’s $29/year annual plan is about 19% cheaper over a year; Hands Off lists no annual option.

Does Hands Off track your progress?

Yes. Its site states the app includes a statistics tracker that shows your progress over time. Stop Biting tracks bite-free streaks and a timestamped incident history. Both measure progress, so decide on what you want measured rather than on whether measurement exists at all.

Can either detect skin picking or hair pulling?

Hands Off markets coverage of five BFRBs — nail biting, skin picking, eyebrow or eyelash pulling, ear picking and nose picking. Stop Biting focuses on nail biting only.

Do both work on Windows?

Yes. Both support Windows and Mac; only Stop Biting also runs in a browser.

Which should you pick: Stop Biting or Hands Off?

Pick Hands Off if you have multiple body-focused repetitive behaviors and live on the desktop — one subscription covering five behaviors is the better fit.

Pick Stop Biting if nail biting is your specific problem, you want to run detection in a browser without installing anything, you’d rather pay ~$2.42/month on the annual plan, or you want bite-free streaks, a timestamped incident history and habit-reversal coaching around the detector.

Both offer a 3-day free trial, so the cheapest way to decide is to try the one that matches your situation.

How we verified this page

Every Hands Off detail on this page — platforms, the five behaviours it lists, price, trial length, privacy statements and its statistics tracker — was re-verified against handsoffapp.com on 10 September 2026, and each quotation is Hands Off’s own wording. That check corrected two things in our favour that were not true: Hands Off lists a fifth behaviour, ear picking, that we had omitted, and it ships a statistics tracker that an earlier version of this page treated as something only we offered. We re-verify competitor details quarterly and date them here rather than leaving you to guess how old they are. Prices and features change — confirm on handsoffapp.com before buying.

A note on medical advice

This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. Nail biting and related body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs) can have medical and psychological dimensions that deserve individual attention. For diagnosis or treatment — of BFRBs, infections, or any condition discussed here — consult a qualified professional: a GP or dermatologist for physical symptoms, or a therapist experienced with BFRBs for the habit itself. The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (bfrb.org) maintains a directory of BFRB-informed clinicians.