How to block Pornhub on iPhone, so it stays blocked
Blocking one site sounds simple until 11pm, when the block you set in an hour of clarity meets the version of you who knows every way around it. Here is how to block Pornhub on an iPhone properly. The free ways first, then what it takes to make the block actually hold.
The quick answer
- Apple Screen Time blocks Pornhub in Safari for free. Settings, Screen Time, Content and Privacy Restrictions, limit adult websites. It covers the main domain and misses a lot else.
- Escape's free Safari blocker blocks Pornhub plus 40,000+ known adult sites, including the mirror and proxy domains a one-site block misses. Free forever, no account.
- Deep Block (premium) extends that to Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and private tabs, and iOS greys out the blocker's own off switch while it runs.
Why blocking just pornhub.com does not work
The obvious move is to add pornhub.com to a blocklist and call it done. It fails for a boring reason. The site does not live at one address. There are mirror domains, proxy sites, and country variants, and new ones appear constantly. Block one door and the habit walks through the next one without even noticing a block was there.
That is why a serious block works from a curated list rather than a single name. Escape's list holds 40,000+ known adult domains, audited domain by domain, and the Pornhub family is on it many times over. You block the category once instead of playing whack-a-mole with one site at a time.
Method 1. Apple's Screen Time, free and built in
Every iPhone can do a version of this with nothing installed. Open Settings, then Screen Time, then Content and Privacy Restrictions. Turn restrictions on, open Web Content, and choose Limit Adult Websites. Safari now filters known adult sites, Pornhub included.
Two honest caveats. Apple's filter is good but general, and people in recovery report gaps, especially with mirrors and image searches. And if you know your own Screen Time passcode, the block is one negotiation with yourself away from off. It is a fence, not a wall. The full setup is in the Screen Time guide, and the gaps are covered honestly in why Screen Time misses porn.
Method 2. Escape's free Safari blocker
Escape's content blocker hands Safari the full curated list through Apple's own content-blocker API. Install the app, switch the blocker on in Safari settings, and Pornhub and its mirrors stop loading. The app never sees what you browse. Apple designed the API so the list goes in and nothing about you comes out.
It is free forever, with no account and no trial. Escape is on the App Store.
The gap both free methods leave, and what closes it
Safari is not the only browser on your phone. Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and a dozen apps with built-in browsers will all still load the site, and a determined 11pm version of you knows that. This is the gap Deep Block closes. It filters every browser on the phone, including private and incognito tabs, and while it is on, iOS greys out the Safari extension toggle so the block cannot be quietly switched off in a weak moment.
If you want the block to survive your own worst five minutes, Strict Mode adds a cooling-off wait before any protection can be turned off, and a guided deletion lock makes the app itself hard to remove. The whole stack is laid out in the five layers of protection.
If this is about more than one site
Most people searching for how to block Pornhub are not running a content-moderation project. They are trying to stop. If that is you, the blocking is the floor, not the fix. Escape also has a 90-second urge tool for the moment the pull hits, 27 short courses on why the loop works the way it does, and private on-device insights into your own patterns. No account, and nothing about you leaves your phone. The honest guide to choosing a blocker is a fair place to start.
Escape blocks porn in Safari for free, extends to every browser with Deep Block, and adds a 90-second urge ritual, practice games that retrain how you meet an urge, and 27 short courses on identity and the long arc of recovery. No account, no personal tracking.
More on this topic in Blocking porn on iPhone and iPad, or go deeper with the You grew up on this course.
See how the five layers of protection fit together, from the free Safari blocker through Deep Block and Strict Mode.