Brick alternative that ships from Spain: the European option

Most "Brick alternatives" lists you'll find are written for a US audience and don't mention a European option at all. This is the piece that fills that gap. We'll give Brick full credit for what it does well, lay out where a Spanish-made disc makes more sense for someone buying inside the EU, and keep the whole thing honest enough that we'd say it to Brick's face. Prices checked in July 2026, sources at the end.

Does Brick ship to Europe?

Yes. Brick ships to Europe and fulfills locally from a warehouse in the Netherlands, with import taxes prepaid at checkout in most countries. There is no customs surprise waiting at your door. What you do get is a price in US dollars and a shipping cost calculated at the end of the order.

Let's kill a myth first, because it's the one thing people get wrong about Brick in Europe: no, you won't get ambushed by customs. Brick ships EU orders from a local warehouse in the Netherlands, and Passport acts as the importer of record, so duties and taxes are prepaid in the cart for most countries. That part is genuinely well handled.

The real friction is smaller and quieter. The price is in dollars, so it moves with the exchange rate. Shipping is added at checkout, so the number on the product page isn't the number you pay. And support is in English. None of that is a dealbreaker. It just means the final euro price to your door is something you only learn near the end of the order.

How much is Brick really in euros?

Brick costs 59 dollars, which is around 51€ at the July 2026 exchange rate (1 dollar = 0.87€), plus shipping calculated at checkout. Monk costs 54.95€ including VAT, one-time, with shipping included from Spain. The euro price you see on Monk is the euro price you pay.

Fifty-nine dollars and 54.95 euros don't line up at a glance, so here's the honest math. At July 2026 rates, 59 dollars is about 51€, plus the international shipping line added in the cart. The taxes are prepaid, which is good, but the conversion and the shipping still mean the total isn't visible until the end.

Monk is 54.95€, full stop. VAT included, one payment, no subscription, app included, lifetime updates. Shipping is included from Spain, 24 to 48 working hours to the Peninsula. For a European buyer that's the practical difference: a clean euro number versus a dollar number that finishes assembling itself at checkout.

Is there a European alternative to Brick?

Yes, Monk. It's a physical NFC disc the size of an AirTag, made and shipped from Spain, built on the same idea as Brick: a magnet, no battery, and a scan to get a blocked app back. The main difference is the mechanism. Monk has no manual unlock. You always scan the disc.

Credit where it's due, and we mean this: Brick is the category pioneer. It's the US leader with 35,000-plus reviews, an enormous community, and it supports Android today. If you're in the US or you're on Android, Brick is very likely your answer, and we'd tell you so.

Monk takes the same physical-barrier idea and builds it for Europe. It's an NFC disc with a magnet, no battery, that blocks iPhone apps. You use Block and Allow modes, scheduled sessions, Strict Mode, and remote scanning to manage a kid's limits without spying on their phone. The mechanism is where Monk is a little stricter than Brick: Brick gives you five emergency unlocks ("unbricks"); Monk gives you no manual unlock at all. To reopen a blocked app you always scan the disc, and the three emergency unlocks are finite, meant for the real edge case (you left the disc at home and need your bank), not for daily cheating. Calls and SMS are never blocked on either. Both work offline.

If you want the full side-by-side in Spanish, we wrote a Monk vs Brick comparison.

Can you bypass a physical app blocker?

On iOS, no app blocker is 100% impossible to bypass, and anyone claiming otherwise is overselling. Safari and a few system gaps always leave a crack. What a good physical blocker does is kill the automatic gesture: it turns "open Instagram without thinking" into "walk to the disc and scan it." That one second of friction is the whole point.

Monk vs Brick for a European buyer

Prices checked in July 2026. Dollar amounts converted at 1 dollar = 0.87€ (rate of July 3, 2026). Brick's real total to your door appears at checkout, shipping included.

The short read: Brick brings the community, the track record, and Android. Monk brings euros, national shipping inside Spain and the EU, support in your language, and a tighter mechanism. If you're in Europe, on iPhone, and you'd rather not pay in dollars or wait for international shipping, Monk is the honest pick. For most other cases, look at Brick without hesitation.

If you go with Monk, it works in three steps

No endless setup. You're running by the afternoon:

1. Stick the disc where it makes sense. The magnet holds on the fridge, the desk, wherever "worth walking over there" is true. The physical distance is part of the trick: the less convenient, the better it works.
2. Choose what you block and when. Block and Allow modes pick the apps; scheduled sessions and Strict Mode set the hours (mornings without social, dinner without work). For kids, remote scanning lets you manage their limits without reading their phone.
3. Scan to reopen. When you want a blocked app, you go to the disc and scan it. That gesture is the entire system: it turns an impulse into a decision. The three emergency unlocks stay parked for the real edge case, not the daily habit.

FAQ