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
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, an annual plan, 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 verified against handsoffapp.com in August 2026.
At a glance
Both apps were checked side by side in August 2026. Pricing and features change — always confirm on the vendor’s own site before buying.
| Stop Biting | Hands Off | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Mac, Windows, web browser (PWA) | Mac, Windows desktop |
| Behaviors detected | Nail biting (focused) | Five BFRBs — its site lists nail biting, skin picking, eyebrow or eyelash pulling, 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 |
| Privacy | No camera data leaves the device; zero network requests during detection | States no video is recorded, GDPR compliant, no personal data collected |
How they’re the same
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.
Where Hands Off is stronger
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, 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’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.
Where Stop Biting is stronger
Stop Biting runs in the browser. Hands Off is a Mac/Windows download; Stop Biting works as a desktop app and 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 streaks and keeps a full incident history, so you can see when and how often you actually bite.
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.
Price breakdown
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 $29 versus roughly €35.88 for twelve months of Hands Off. If you only need an app for a month or two, the two are effectively the same price. Pricing verified on both sites in August 2026 and subject to change.
Privacy
This is a tie, and that’s good news. Hands Off states that all processing happens locally, no video gets recorded, and no personal data is collected — it is explicitly GDPR compliant. Stop Biting runs MediaPipe models compiled to WebAssembly directly on your device: the camera feed never leaves your machine, and detection makes zero network requests, which you can verify yourself with your browser’s network monitor.
Whichever app you choose here, you are not trading privacy for the feature.
Frequently asked questions
Is Stop Biting or Hands Off more private? Both process the webcam feed entirely on your device and neither transmits camera data. Stop Biting publishes a technical explainer of its on-device detection; Hands Off states it records no video and is GDPR compliant.
Does Hands Off have a web version? No — as of August 2026 it’s a Mac and Windows download. Stop Biting additionally runs in the browser as a PWA.
Which is cheaper? Monthly, they’re effectively the same (~$/€2.99). Stop Biting’s $29/year annual plan is about 19% cheaper over a year; Hands Off lists no annual option.
Can either detect skin picking or hair pulling? Hands Off markets coverage of five BFRBs; 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.
Verdict
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 streak tracking, 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.