StayFocusd Review: Is It Worth It in 2026?

Most people who search for StayFocusd already have it installed. It shows up as the free Chrome extension recommended in half the “best website blockers” lists, the one with the little clock icon and the puritanical name. The question in 2026 isn’t whether it works — it does, within a narrow definition of “works” — but whether it still holds up against tools built years later with a fuller picture of how people actually break their own rules.

StayFocusd takes a specific approach: instead of blocking a site outright, it gives you a daily time allowance, then cuts you off once you’ve spent it. That model is closer to a budget than a wall, and it changes who the extension actually helps. Some people need a hard stop. Others just need to know when they’ve had enough Reddit for one afternoon.

This review covers what StayFocusd does well, where the extension model runs out of road, and which alternatives — including LeechBlock, Strict Workflow, and Browwwser — are worth checking before you commit another year to it.

In short — StayFocusd is a free Chrome extension that limits daily time on distracting sites rather than blocking them outright, and it works well for light self-monitoring but not for anyone who needs a block they can’t switch off in two clicks.

• If you want a free, no-signup way to see and cap your time on a handful of sites, StayFocusd does the job.
• If you work across Chrome, Safari, and a phone, StayFocusd only covers the one browser it’s installed in.
• If you’ve disabled a blocker mid-scroll before, StayFocusd’s extension toggle offers the same escape hatch.
• If you need a short, absolute block for an exam or deadline, the Nuclear Option covers that narrow case.
• If you want scheduling, cross-device sync, or app blocking alongside site blocking, look at Freedom or Browwwser instead.

What Is StayFocusd, Exactly?

StayFocusd is a browser extension made by Transfusion Media, available for Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers. It has been around for years as one of the default recommendations for anyone who types “block distracting websites” into a search bar, and it remains free with no premium tier.

Its core idea is different from most blockers on this site: rather than an all-or-nothing wall, StayFocusd works on an allowance. You decide which sites count as distracting, set a daily time budget, and once that budget is spent, the sites lock for the rest of the day.

Beyond the blocklist itself, StayFocusd keeps a running tally of time spent on the sites you’ve flagged, visible from the extension’s own panel. It’s not a full analytics dashboard, but it’s enough to notice a pattern — that the allowance gets used up by 10 a.m. most days, for instance — without installing a separate time-tracking tool on top.

How the daily allowance works

You add domains to a blocked list — social feeds, news sites, forums, whatever pulls you in — and assign a total number of minutes per day across all of them combined. StayFocusd tracks active time on those sites and counts down. Cross the limit, and every site on the list becomes inaccessible until midnight resets the clock.

This is closer to a budgeting tool than a lock. It suits someone who wants awareness and a soft ceiling more than someone who needs the option removed entirely. You can still open a blocked site before the allowance runs out — StayFocusd isn’t stopping access, it’s metering it.

The Nuclear Option

For situations where metering isn’t enough, StayFocusd includes a stricter mode called the Nuclear Option. It blocks either the entire internet or a specific list of sites for a set number of hours, and once activated, it can’t be reversed early — the timer has to run out. It’s the closest thing StayFocusd has to the irreversible commitment that tools like SelfControl build their whole design around.

The catch is that the Nuclear Option still lives inside the same extension. Disabling or removing the extension circumvents it, the same way it circumvents the daily allowance — there’s no OS-level lock behind it.

StayFocusd vs the Alternatives

Tool	Platforms	Free plan	How it blocks	Price
StayFocusd	Chrome, Chromium browsers	Yes (fully free)	Extension, daily time allowance	Free
LeechBlock	Firefox, Chrome	Yes (fully free)	Extension, scheduled rule sets	Free
Strict Workflow	Chrome	Yes (fully free)	Extension, Pomodoro-timed blocks	Free
SelfControl	macOS	Yes (fully free)	System-level, irreversible timer	Free
Freedom	Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Chrome	Limited free plan	App and extension, synced across devices	Paid subscription
Browwwser	macOS (built-in Chromium browser)	Yes (7 days)	Built into the browser engine	$99/year or $199 lifetime

The pattern across the free, extension-based tools — StayFocusd, LeechBlock, Strict Workflow — is the same: strong on flexibility and cost, weak on anything resembling enforcement. SelfControl trades flexibility for a genuine lock but only on Mac and only in short bursts. Freedom and Browwwser move blocking out of the extension layer entirely, at the cost of a subscription or license fee.

Where StayFocusd Falls Short

It’s an extension, not a barrier

This is the honest limitation, and it’s shared with nearly every browser extension blocker: turning it off is part of the browser’s own interface. Open the extensions menu, click the toggle, and StayFocusd stops doing anything — no password, no delay, no confirmation. A companion “challenge” extension exists to add friction, but it’s optional and easy to skip during setup.

For someone who just wants a nudge, that’s not a flaw. For someone who has caught themselves disabling a blocker mid-scroll — which is a common enough pattern that it’s worth naming plainly — the extension toggle is the exact gap they’re trying to close.

Chrome only, one browser at a time

StayFocusd blocks within the browser it’s installed in. It doesn’t follow you into Safari, Firefox, or a second Chrome profile, and it has no iOS or Android app. Anyone who reflexively opens a new browser when the old one gets annoying will find that behavior works exactly as well against StayFocusd as it does against boredom. Compare that to how website blocking works across browsers on Mac, where the browser you’re not using matters as much as the one you are.

No scheduling, no device sync

The daily allowance resets at midnight and that’s about the extent of its scheduling logic. There’s no way to set different limits for weekdays versus weekends, no way to sync a blocklist across a work and personal machine, and no reporting beyond the day’s countdown. If your distraction pattern changes on weekends, or you switch between a work laptop and a personal one, StayFocusd treats every day and every device the same. Tools aimed at productivity and task management more broadly tend to build this in from the start; StayFocusd stays deliberately narrow.

Who StayFocusd Actually Works For

StayFocusd fits best as a light-touch awareness tool, not a commitment device. It’s a reasonable starting point if:

• You’re testing whether limiting a couple of sites even helps, before paying for anything.
• Your distraction is mild — a habit of checking a feed, not a pattern that survives a two-click override.
• You only work from one browser, on one machine.
• You want the Nuclear Option for a single high-stakes day, like an exam or a launch, rather than daily use.

It’s a weaker fit if you’ve already tried a free extension blocker and found yourself disabling it, if you split time between a laptop and a phone, or if the sites pulling you away change browsers as easily as they change tabs.

StayFocusd Alternatives Worth Considering

LeechBlock

LeechBlock covers similar ground to StayFocusd — free, extension-based, allowance or schedule-driven — but with more granular rule sets and support for Firefox as well as Chrome. It’s the closer of the two free options to a direct swap; read the full LeechBlock review for the details.

Strict Workflow

Strict Workflow takes a Pomodoro angle: it blocks a fixed list of sites during work intervals and lifts the block during breaks, with less time spent configuring an allowance. It’s a fit for anyone who already thinks in timed work blocks. See the Strict Workflow review for how it compares.

SelfControl

SelfControl is Mac-only and free, and it solves the exact problem StayFocusd’s Nuclear Option gestures at: once you start a block, there’s no toggle to switch it off, not even by quitting the app or restarting the machine. It only blocks in one direction — sites you list — for a duration you can’t shorten. The SelfControl review covers where that rigidity helps and where it doesn’t.

Freedom

Freedom blocks across devices — desktop apps, mobile, and browser — from one synced schedule, which is the multi-device coverage StayFocusd doesn’t attempt. It’s a paid subscription, and like StayFocusd it runs partly as a browser extension on the browsers it doesn’t control at the OS level. The Browwwser vs Freedom comparison breaks down the difference in enforcement.

Browwwser

Browwwser is a Chromium browser for macOS with blocking built into the browser engine itself, rather than added as an extension on top of it. That’s the structural difference from StayFocusd: there’s no extensions menu toggle to click, because the block isn’t implemented as an extension. It costs $99/year or $199 for a lifetime license, with a 7-day trial, which puts it in different territory from StayFocusd’s free price — the tradeoff is enforcement that doesn’t depend on the same interface you’re trying to resist.

Which One Should You Actually Use?

If you haven’t tried limiting your own browsing before, StayFocusd or LeechBlock cost nothing and take a few minutes to set up — that’s a reasonable place to start, and for plenty of people, it’s enough. The extension model only becomes a problem once you’ve tested it against yourself and lost, which is a specific, noticeable moment: you catch your own hand on the toggle.

If that’s already happened, the fix isn’t a stricter extension — it’s moving the block somewhere the browser’s own settings can’t touch. SelfControl does that at the OS level for short, absolute blocks on Mac. Browwwser does it for ongoing daily use, on the reasoning that a block worth keeping shouldn’t live in the same menu as the thing it’s blocking. Which of those fits depends on whether you need one hard afternoon or a habit that holds for months.

FAQ

What is StayFocusd and how does it work?

StayFocusd is a free Chrome extension that limits how much time you spend on distracting sites each day, rather than blocking them outright. You set a daily allowance in minutes for sites you list, and once that allowance runs out, those sites become inaccessible until the next day. It also includes a stricter Nuclear Option that blocks everything, or a chosen list, for a set period.

Is StayFocusd free to use?

Yes. StayFocusd has always been free, with no paid tier, subscription, or premium unlock. That’s unusual among website blockers, most of which gate features like scheduling or cross-device sync behind a subscription. The tradeoff is that StayFocusd only covers the one Chrome profile it’s installed in, so the free price comes with a narrower scope than paid tools like Freedom or Browwwser.

Can you get around StayFocusd once it blocks a site?

Yes, easily. StayFocusd runs as a browser extension, so disabling it, opening an incognito window, or switching to another browser removes the block in a few clicks. There’s no password lock or delay by default, though a companion extension can require a challenge before changes take effect. For anyone whose willpower fails at the moment of temptation, this gap matters more than any feature list.

Does StayFocusd work on Safari, Firefox, or mobile?

No. StayFocusd is built for Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers such as Edge, Brave, or Opera, using the same extension. It has no Firefox version, no Safari version, and no iOS or Android app, so it can’t stop you from opening a blocked site in a different browser or on your phone. Anyone who drifts between browsers or devices will need a separate tool to cover those gaps.

What is the Nuclear Option in StayFocusd?

The Nuclear Option is StayFocusd’s all-or-nothing mode. Instead of tracking a daily allowance for a handful of sites, it blocks either the entire internet or a chosen list for a set number of hours, with no way to undo it early once it starts. It suits short, high-stakes blocks, like an exam or a deadline, more than everyday self-regulation.

Is StayFocusd safe, and does it collect personal data?

StayFocusd doesn’t require an account and processes its blocking logic locally in the browser, so it isn’t collecting browsing history to sell. As with any extension, it requests permission to read and change data on the sites you visit, which is necessary to enforce blocks. Reviewing Chrome’s extension permissions page before installing is a reasonable habit regardless of which blocker you choose.