The keyholder
Meets you in person and sets a Screen Time passcode on your iPhone that only they know. If you ask to be released, they remove it and tap Done.
A no-contact app for iPhone
Temptation has a transaction fee.
A free iPhone app for keeping no contact with an ex. Text or call them by name and it reaches the Ex-Tax line, not them. Trying never costs anything.
Free for iPhone. Adults 18 and over in the US. Friends join free.
It's 1:14am
Text your ex.
Reach us.
Ex-Tax puts the Ex-Tax line on your ex's contact card in place of their number. Text or call them by name and it comes to the line instead.
- Your ex never gets it. Ex-Tax never contacts your ex.
- The line replies that your ex never got it, with 988 if you're not okay. It never quotes a price. Trying costs nothing.
- Your friends get a heads-up, at most once every 30 minutes. They see the time, never what you wrote.
- We keep the time and whether it was a text or a call. We never store the words.
- If your text has crisis words in it, the line answers with help lines only, and your friends aren't told.
The lock is free. Always.
How it works
Set it up once. Mean it.
Setup takes about 15 minutes and one friend you trust, in person.
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Swap their number
Pick your ex's contact card. Ex-Tax puts the Ex-Tax line in place of every number on it and takes off their email addresses, so iMessage and FaceTime can't reach them by name either. With full Contacts access, it does the same on any other card that has one of their numbers.
Their real numbers are saved in your iPhone's Keychain. They never reach our server. Keep a copy somewhere you control, too.
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Test the line
Text a short code to your ex's card. When the line answers, it's working, and your phone number is linked to your account. That text went to us, not to your ex.
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Hand your phone to your keyholder
One friend sets a Screen Time passcode only they know and turns on Contacts Only, so a number typed from memory won't go through. They turn off account changes, then you run a wall test together.
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Sign the pact
Press and hold to sign. Day zero starts now. If your ex's number gets saved on your iPhone again, Ex-Tax puts the line back the next time it runs, and your friends get a heads-up.
The Ex Pass
Their real number, 30 minutes, only if you buy it.
An Ex Pass puts your ex's real number back on their card for 30 minutes. You send any message yourself. The price depends on how long you've stayed away, and here is all of it.
| Days without contact | Ex Pass |
|---|---|
| Day 0 to 29 | $1 |
| Day 30 to 59 | $10 |
| Day 60 and up | $20 |
US prices. The App Store shows the exact price before you pay.
The rules
- Trying to text or call your ex never costs anything. You pay only if you choose to buy a pass.
- A pass starts the moment you buy it and lasts 30 minutes. You can't save one for later.
- A paid pass starts your streak over.
- After your streak starts over, your price stays at least where it was for 60 days.
- Another paid pass within 7 days costs one step more than your last one: $1, $2, $5, $10, then $20. Never less than your usual price.
- After 3 paid passes in 7 days, or 2 in 24 hours, we stop selling passes for a while. Ending the pact is always free.
- You pay through Apple, one pass at a time. Nothing is charged without you. Once Apple confirms a purchase while your pact is running, your pass starts.
Free passes
- Ask a friend first. If they say yes, the pass is free. Up to 2 a month, and your streak still starts over.
- Co-parenting or legal. Free if you turned it on, up to 3 a week, and your streak keeps going. Friends see only that you used a free pass, never which kind or your reason.
- Safety. Free and private, once a day, from Get help. Your friends aren't told.
Friends never pay or get money. A friend's report can start your streak over. It never costs anything.
Your friends
Pick who's watching.
Up to 8 friends, free. One of them holds your keys.
- Holds your keys
- Will report you
- Will roast you
- Here for the drama
Every friend
- Gets a heads-up when a text or call reaches the line, or when you send them a message from "I'm tempted", and can reply.
- Says yes or not tonight when you ask for your ex's number or a paused app.
- Can report contact the app can't see. You get 24 hours to own it or dispute it.
- Can guess how long you'll last, and cheer you on.
Friends see your streak and when a text or call reached the line, never what it said. They never see your ex's name or number, your safety passes, or whether a free pass was for co-parenting or legal reasons. Friends use Ex-Tax free and never pay or get money.
When the urge hits
Tap "I'm tempted" instead.
Tell a friend
Write what you wanted to send. It goes to your friends, not your ex, and they can reply right away.
Talk to the coach
An AI coach that runs on your iPhone, any time of night. Your words stay on your device. It's not a person or a therapist.
Breathe first
A one-minute breathing break before any pass. Optional, and always free.
Shield the apps
During your danger hours, apps you pick show a pause screen. Opening one anyway after a 10-minute wait gives your friends a heads-up. It's never charged and your streak stays.
Your streak
Every day away earns a rank.
Your streak counts whole days since your last contact. Slip, and you're back to day zero, with a comeback scene and your best streak to beat.
- Day zero
- Left on Read day 1
- Muted day 3
- Ghost day 7
- Blocked in Spirit day 14
- Who? day 30
- Untouchable day 60
- Royalty day 100
Romeo & Juliet day 1 
Cleopatra day 3 
Paris day 7 
The Great Gatsby day 12 
King Arthur day 21 
Birth of Venus day 30 
The Throne day 100
Your scene shows on your Lock Screen and Home Screen widgets. Widgets never show a price.
What it costs
Almost nothing.
You pay only when you tap Pay: for an Ex Pass, or a Streak Saver. Everything else is free.
Free
- The lock, the Ex-Tax line and your day count
- Ranks and every scene, the comeback scene included
- Up to 8 friends
- Every Lock Screen and Home Screen widget
- Your history: your latest 50 line hits, kept for up to a year
- Daily check-ins, and passes your keyholder approves
Only if you tap Pay
- An Ex Pass: their real number back for 30 minutes, from $1
- A Streak Saver, $0.99: covers one missed check-in, never contact. You also earn one every 7 check-ins in a row. Savers you buy never expire and carry over to your next pact.
Friends never pay or get money.
Honest limits
What Ex-Tax can't do
- It can't see DMs, other apps, other phones, or seeing your ex in person. Friends can report what the app can't see.
- It only gets texts and calls that reach the Ex-Tax line. It never sees your other messages.
- It can't see changes while it isn't running. If your ex's number gets saved again, it's switched back the next time Ex-Tax runs.
- Erasing your iPhone, or removing the passcode with your keyholder's help, undoes the lock. Save your ex's number somewhere you control first: Ex-Tax keeps it only on your iPhone and can't recover it.
- Contacts Only needs iCloud Contacts turned on. We're still confirming on real iPhones how Contacts Only behaves on an adult's own phone on iOS 26 and 27. That's why your keyholder runs a wall test with you during setup.
- Ending the pact is free and takes 24 hours, unless your keyholder removes the passcode and releases you sooner. Your ex's real number goes back on the card when it ends. If a pact from another account on your iPhone may still be on, it goes back once Ex-Tax sees that pact has ended.
- 911 always works. Ex-Tax saves a Help lines contact with 988 and the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and your keyholder adds it to Always Allowed.
Got an invite from a friend?
Friends download Ex-Tax for free and never pay anything. Open the link your friend sent you to see their invite, then get the app and tap the link again.
Get Ex-Tax freeNeed help right now?
If you're in danger, call 911. You can call or text 988 any time. National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788.