# Iris review (2026): is it worth $1.99 a month? > Screen color and brightness software for eye comfort Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Iris is a desktop program that adjusts a screen's color temperature and brightness to reduce blue light and eye strain. It ships with nine presets and an automatic mode, plus advanced settings for building your own preset. The full program starts with a 7-day free trial and is then sold as a subscription or as one-time licenses. - **Category:** Desktop Utilities - **Made by:** Iris Technologies EOOD - **Website:** https://iristech.co/ - **Runs on:** Windows, macOS, Linux - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want a free filter with controls, because Iris mini has none and sits at two fixed settings. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Iris is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $1.99 per month. - **Pricing model:** Free trial - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** 7 days free; invited friends who install Iris earn extra free months of Iris Pro. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Subscription | $1.99 per month for 1 PC, billed monthly | Activates both Iris and Iris mini on one device at a time, with free program updates. | | Iris Pro | $14.99 one-time | Lifelong license for one version on one device at a time; free minor builds and bug fixes, but major feature updates are not included. | | Lifelong | $49.99 one-time | One-time purchase valid for all future versions, with free program updates, on one device at a time. | Read from https://iristech.co/buy-iris/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Iris before buying. ## Key features - **Color temperature and brightness:** Lowers blue light and adjusts brightness; the vendor says brightness is changed without PWM, the flicker approach many monitors use. - **Presets and modes:** Nine presets, including Health, Sleep, Reading, Programming, Sunglasses, Dark and Movie, with Automatic, Manual and Paused modes. - **Custom presets:** Advanced settings let you build your own preset; the site mentions 20+ advanced features. - **Iris mini:** A free, stripped-down version with no interface; it switches between 5000K and 3400K and between 100% and 80% brightness in automatic mode. - **Invite-a-friend time:** Invited friends get 1 month of Iris Pro, and the person who invites gets 1 more month for each person who downloads it. ## Good for - People who work at a screen late and want less blue light at night - Users who prefer one-time pricing over a subscription - Anyone who only needs a basic night filter and can use the free Iris mini ## Worth knowing - Iris Pro is a license for one version; major feature updates need the subscription or the Lifelong license. - Each license covers one device at a time, though it can be moved to a new machine. - Iris mini, the free version, has no interface and fixed settings. - Downloading the trial asks for an e-mail address, which the vendor says it uses for tips and product news. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.6 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Iris dims screen colour and brightness at night with nine presets and an automatic mode. The full version is a 7-day trial and then $1.99 a month or a one-time licence, and the cheap $14.99 licence stops at one version, so you'd pay $49.99 to keep getting major updates. - **Value for money: B.** $1.99 a month sits inside the cheaper quarter of utilities, which starts at $2.42. The $14.99 one-time Pro licence is cheap too, but it leaves out major updates; the Lifelong one that includes them is $49.99. - **Free plan and trial: C.** A 7-day trial, and the free Iris mini has no interface and two fixed settings. Downloading the trial asks for an email address. - **Features: B.** Colour temperature and brightness, nine presets, automatic mode and custom presets. Nothing in the listing is missing from a blue-light filter's job. - **Ease of use: B.** No store rating on record. You install it, pick a preset or leave it on automatic, and there is nothing to set up. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Windows, Mac and Linux, but all desktops. No phone or web version and no integrations. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Iris Technologies EOOD's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among desktop utilities - Iris's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 69 of the 186 other desktop utilities we grade, and level with 46. - It stands best on features (B, above 113 of 186) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 8). - Its paid plans start at $1.99 a month, against a middle price of $2.99 for the category: 9 of the 36 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/utilities ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Iris you would be making control of displays through the operating system. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It costs $23.88 a year. - You could not: Control of displays through the operating system. - You could not: Apps for macOS, Windows and Linux that stay in step with each other. - You could not: Sharing with other people, which means accounts and invitations. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** Display control, One-time purchase ## Alternatives - [f.lux](https://toolgpa.com/tools/f-lux): Warms your screen's color at night to match the time of day. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/f-lux-vs-iris) - [Lunar](https://toolgpa.com/tools/lunar): Mac app that sets external monitor brightness over DDC. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/iris-vs-lunar) - [BetterDisplay](https://toolgpa.com/tools/betterdisplay): Display scaling, brightness and DDC control for Mac. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/betterdisplay-vs-iris) - [MonitorControl](https://toolgpa.com/tools/monitorcontrol): Free, open-source brightness and volume control for Mac displays. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/iris-vs-monitorcontrol) - [Twinkle Tray](https://toolgpa.com/tools/twinkle-tray): Free brightness sliders for external monitors on Windows. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/iris-vs-twinkle-tray) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://iristech.co/ - https://iristech.co/buy-iris/ - https://iristech.co/free-trial-help/ - https://iristech.co/iris-mini/ - https://iristech.co/download-now Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/iris Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).