Is Focuh or StayFocusd better for blocking websites in Chrome?

Both block websites in Chrome reliably, so the choice comes down to model. StayFocusd uses a daily time budget — you allow yourself a set number of minutes, then sites lock for the rest of the day. Focuh uses long self-imposed challenges of 30 to 180 days where sites stay blocked the whole time. Pick StayFocusd to ration a habit and Focuh to remove one. For breaking a reflex, the challenge model tends to stick better.

Are Focuh and StayFocusd both free?

Yes, both are free Chrome extensions with no required payment. StayFocusd has been free since 2010. Focuh is free with no paid tier at all, no email signup, and no telemetry. The difference isn't price — it's ownership. StayFocusd is owned by Sensor Tower, an ad-intelligence company, while Focuh is built by an independent product team and collects no data. If 'free' to you means 'no one is profiling me,' that's the line that matters.

Does StayFocusd or Focuh collect my data?

Neither needs to phone home to block a site — both run locally in Chrome. The distinction is ownership. StayFocusd is owned by Sensor Tower, a mobile and web ad-intelligence company, which makes some users uneasy about who controls their blocker. Focuh collects no telemetry and runs no remote code; your blocklist and attempt counter stay in local Chrome storage. If data ownership is your concern, Focuh is the cleaner pick.

Which has a Pomodoro timer, Focuh or StayFocusd?

StayFocusd added a built-in Pomodoro focus mode inside the extension that blocks sites during work intervals. The Focuh Chrome extension is a pure blocker without a timer. However, the free Focuh desktop app for Mac includes a focus timer with a menu-bar countdown alongside its blocking. So for an in-browser Pomodoro, StayFocusd wins; for blocking plus a timer on a Mac, the free Focuh app covers it.

Can either block apps and other browsers?

No Chrome extension can, and that includes both StayFocusd and Focuh — an extension only controls Chrome. The difference is that Focuh ships a free macOS desktop app that blocks at the operating-system level, covering Safari, Firefox, Arc, and native apps during a focus session. StayFocusd has no desktop companion, so the moment you switch browsers or open an app, its block is gone.

Is StayFocusd still being updated in 2026?

StayFocusd still works, but it hasn't seen meaningful development in years and its options page shows its 2010 roots — a dense wall of settings with sparse documentation. It's reliable but feels frozen. Focuh is actively developed by a product-focused team, with a setup built to get you blocking in under a minute. If active maintenance matters to you, that's a point for Focuh.

Should I switch from StayFocusd to Focuh?

Switch if you want a cleaner, actively maintained extension with no ad-company ownership, you prefer long challenges over daily budgets, or you want a free OS-level Mac app behind the browser block. Stay on StayFocusd if its daily-budget model fits how you work, you rely on its in-browser Pomodoro mode, and the Sensor Tower ownership doesn't bother you. There's no shame in keeping a tool that works.

Can I use both Focuh and StayFocusd together?

You can, but there's little reason to run two blockers in the same browser — they'd duplicate each other and could conflict on redirects. A more useful pairing is the Focuh Chrome extension for in-browser blocking plus the free Focuh Mac app for system-wide blocking, since those cover different layers. Running StayFocusd and Focuh side by side mostly just adds clutter.

Focuh vs StayFocusd: 2026 Comparison

Focuh vs StayFocusd compared for 2026: two free Chrome blockers, two models. Daily time budget vs long focus challenges — plus a free OS-level Mac app.

June 2, 2026

What is StayFocusd?

StayFocusd is a free Chrome website blocker that's been around since 2010, with roughly 700,000 users. It's built around a daily time budget: you allow yourself, say, 30 minutes a day on blocked sites, and once that's spent, those sites lock for the rest of the day. A later Pomodoro focus mode added session-based blocking on top.

It still works, but it carries two things newer users notice. It's owned by Sensor Tower, a mobile and web ad-intelligence company, and it hasn't changed much in years — the options page is a dense set of toggles that shows its age.

What is Focuh?

Focuh is a free Chrome extension built around a different idea: instead of a daily allowance, you commit to a self-imposed challenge — block your distractions for 30, 91, or 180 days, or a custom range — and let the habit fade over weeks rather than resetting every midnight. It has no account, no telemetry, no ads, and no cap on how many sites you block.

Focuh also ships a free desktop app for Mac that blocks at the operating-system level, which StayFocusd has no equivalent of. The two are designed to work together: the extension handles Chrome tabs, the Mac app handles everything else.

Focuh vs StayFocusd at a glance

Feature	Focuh	StayFocusd
Price	Free, no tier	Free
Account required	No	No
Telemetry	None	Owned by Sensor Tower
Blocking model	Long challenges (30–180 days)	Daily time budget
Site cap	Unlimited	Unlimited
Attempt counter	Yes	No
Pomodoro timer	In Mac app	Yes (in extension)
OS-level desktop app	Yes (free, macOS)	No
Actively maintained	Yes	Minimal

How does the blocking model differ?

This is the real fork in the road. StayFocusd rations; Focuh removes.

StayFocusd's daily budget asks, "How much time do I get on this today?" You set an allowance, burn through it, and the site locks until tomorrow. It's a genuinely good model if you want to keep using a site but cap the damage — fifteen minutes of Reddit a day, then a wall.

Focuh's challenge asks, "How long am I going off this for?" You pick a length and the site stays blocked the entire time. There's no daily reset to top up and no allowance to blow by 10am. For a reflex you actually want gone — the unconscious tab-open — the challenge framing tends to break the loop that a daily budget quietly keeps feeding.

Neither is "better" in the abstract. If you want a limit, StayFocusd fits. If you want a wall, Focuh fits.

Which is more private?

Both extensions block locally — neither needs a server to stop a tab from loading. The difference is who owns the tool.

StayFocusd is owned by Sensor Tower, a company in the business of mobile and web ad-intelligence. That isn't an accusation that the extension exfiltrates your browsing; it's a fit question. If you're installing a tool specifically to take back your attention, handing it to an analytics company sits uneasily with some people.

Focuh collects no telemetry and runs no remote code. Your blocklist and your daily attempt counter live in local Chrome storage, and there's no server to send them to. If the ownership question is what pushed you to compare these two, that's the deciding line. The StayFocusd alternative page goes deeper on the privacy angle specifically.

Does either block more than Chrome?

Here's where a fair comparison has to be blunt: neither extension can block apps or other browsers, because no Chrome extension can. An extension sees Chrome and nothing else. Switch to Safari, open the Reddit app, or check X on a desktop client, and the block evaporates.

The difference is what each team offers beyond the extension. StayFocusd is a Chrome extension and stops there. Focuh ships a free Mac app that blocks at the OS level using Accessibility APIs, so a single focus session covers Safari, Firefox, Arc, and native apps at once — and it doesn't sit in chrome://extensions, so it's harder to switch off mid-session. The system-level vs browser blocking guide explains why that gap ends most browser-only blocking by week two.

Where StayFocusd still wins

A fair comparison names where Focuh loses. StayFocusd's daily time budget is a better fit if you don't want to ban a site outright — Focuh's philosophy is removal, not rationing, and it doesn't replicate the allowance model.

StayFocusd's Pomodoro mode is also in-browser, while Focuh's timer lives in the Mac app rather than the extension. If you specifically want a Pomodoro timer plus blocking inside Chrome with nothing else installed, that's a clear point for StayFocusd — or for a dedicated tool like Strict Workflow.

Which should you choose?

Choose Focuh if:

You want long challenges, not a daily allowance you can blow by lunch
You'd rather not trust your blocker to an ad-intelligence company
You want a free OS-level Mac app backing up the browser block
You value an actively maintained, fast-to-set-up extension

Choose StayFocusd if:

The daily time budget fits how you actually work
You want the in-browser Pomodoro mode with nothing else installed
The Sensor Tower ownership genuinely doesn't bother you

The bottom line

StayFocusd is a proven free blocker with a daily-budget model that still holds up, and if that model fits you and the ownership doesn't, there's no urgent reason to move. Focuh comes at the same problem from the other side — long challenges, no telemetry, an attempt counter, and a free Mac app for blocking beyond Chrome.

If you've been topping up a daily allowance and burning it before lunch, the challenge framing is worth a try. Install Focuh free, and add the free Mac app when the browser block isn't enough on its own. For the wider lineup, see the best free website blocker for Chrome guide.