Stop Biting vs Nailed: Subscription vs One-Time Mac App
Two apps built on the same detection engine, with very different scopes — a $4.99 menu bar utility vs a cross-platform habit system
By Igor Gazivoda · Founder, Stop Biting
Nailed and Stop Biting share more DNA than any other two apps in this category: both use Google’s MediaPipe machine learning models running via WebAssembly, entirely on-device. The difference is scope. Nailed is a deliberately minimal $4.99 one-time macOS menu bar app; Stop Biting is a subscription that adds Windows, a browser version, streak tracking, incident history, and a habit-reversal content library. Disclosure: Stop Biting is our product — we’ve verified every Nailed claim here against nailedapp.io in August 2026 and tried to represent it fairly.
At a glance
Details verified against nailedapp.io in August 2026. Pricing and features change — confirm on the vendor’s site before buying.
| Stop Biting | Nailed | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Mac, Windows, web browser (PWA) | macOS only (menu bar app) |
| Price | $2.99/month or $29/year | $4.99 one-time |
| Free trial | 3 days, no credit card | None listed |
| Detection engine | MediaPipe models via WebAssembly, on-device | MediaPipe models via WebAssembly, on-device |
| Alerts | Audible alarm, multiple alert types | Red screen flash, optional beep |
| Tracking | Streaks and incident history | Not listed among features |
Same engine, different philosophy
Under the hood, the two apps make the same technical bet: MediaPipe’s hand and face models, compiled to WebAssembly, running locally. Nailed’s site describes it plainly — machine learning detects when your hand approaches your mouth, everything runs on your Mac, the camera feed is processed in memory and immediately discarded, no servers, no analytics.
Stop Biting’s detection works the same way, and we publish the same commitment: no camera data ever leaves your device, zero network requests during detection.
So the honest framing isn’t "which detector is real" — both are. It’s "how much system do you want around the detector."
The case for Nailed
Nailed costs $4.99 once. No subscription, no account, nothing recurring. If you own a Mac, want the lightest possible intervention, and dislike subscriptions on principle, that’s a genuinely compelling offer — over a year it’s cheaper than two months of any subscription app in this category.
It’s also admirably unobtrusive: it lives in the menu bar, flashes the screen red and optionally beeps when it catches you, and its site emphasizes minimal CPU and battery usage. For a conscious minimalist who just wants the awareness signal and nothing else, Nailed is a well-made tool.
The case for Stop Biting
Platforms: Nailed is macOS-only. Stop Biting runs on Mac, on Windows, and in any modern browser as a no-install web app — including on machines where you can’t install software.
Trying before buying: Nailed lists no free trial; you pay $4.99 to find out whether webcam detection suits your setup and lighting. Stop Biting’s 3-day trial requires no credit card, so you can test detection accuracy on your actual desk for free.
The system around the alarm: Stop Biting tracks bite-free streaks and keeps a timestamped incident history, which turns detection into data — when you bite, how often, and whether you’re improving. It also ships with over 100 science-backed guides on habit reversal training, so the alarm feeds a method rather than standing alone. Nailed’s site doesn’t list tracking or educational content; that’s consistent with its minimal philosophy, but it’s a real difference for treating an entrenched habit.
The honest counterpoint: if the awareness signal alone fixes your habit, Stop Biting’s subscription buys you things you may not need — and Nailed’s one-time $4.99 wins on pure price for Mac users.
Cost over time
Nailed: $4.99, once. Stop Biting: $2.99/month, or $29/year (~$2.42/month).
There’s no way to spin that: on price alone, a one-time purchase beats a subscription, and if price is your deciding factor and you’re on a Mac, buy Nailed.
What the subscription pays for is the rest of the system — Windows and browser support, streak and incident tracking, alert options, ongoing model and feature updates, and the content library. Whether that’s worth ~$29/year depends on how established your habit is: casual biters often need only the nudge; chronic biters typically need the tracking and the method. Pricing verified August 2026.
Who should choose which
Choose Nailed if: you’re on a Mac, you want a one-time purchase, you’re confident the red-flash awareness cue alone will do it, and you don’t need history or tracking.
Choose Stop Biting if: you’re on Windows or need a browser version, you want to trial detection free before paying, you want streaks and incident data to measure progress, or your habit has survived previous attempts and you want the full habit-reversal toolkit around the detector.