Free Focus Tools

Blocks whole sites and apps in one click, and lets itself be trusted: the free version never asks you to pay for the core job.

Add the sites and applications that trap you to a block list, turn blocking on, and nothing gets through until you say so. The free tier blocks unlimited sites and apps for as long as you set it, and unlike a timer app it also stops the desktop apps - the games, the email client, the chat window.

Start hereOn Windows this is the strongest free block you can put between you and a bad habit - one lazy afternoon of setup buys weeks of quieter evenings if it clicks.

• Why it is freeThe free version is a full blocker, not a trial: unlimited blocks that last as long as you lock them for, with no expiry date and no nagging pop-ups. Schedules, usage reports, and blocking-resistance upgrades are clearly separated as paid extras on the official site; the core block job is free forever.
• Works onWindows PC, Mac
• Honest limitsWindows and Mac; the free tier cannot pause active blocks or use schedules.

The blocker already inside your iPhone: daily app limits, scheduled downtime, and a passcode to protect you from yourself.

Open Settings and find Screen Time. Set daily limits for any app (fifteen minutes of TikTok, not three hours), schedule 'downtime' hours when only essential apps open, and lock the settings behind a passcode - ideally one held by a trusted person or one you genuinely do not remember. Limits sync across your Apple devices.

Start hereThe easiest first test on an iPhone: put a fifteen-minute daily limit on the two apps that steal your evenings, set the passcode, and see what the week feels like.

• Why it is freeBuilt into every iPhone and iPad by Apple at no charge: nothing to download, no subscription, and no account beyond the Apple ID you already use. All of the useful features - app limits, downtime, the self-blocking passcode - are part of the free system.
• Works oniPhone / iPad
• Honest limitsiOS and iPadOS; the same Screen Time settings exist on Mac.

A stubborn Mac blocker that keeps your time-wasting sites offline until the timer runs out, even if you delete the app first.

Pick the sites that derail you, set a timer for as many hours as you need, and click Start. SelfControl blocks those sites - and anything pulling from the same servers - until the timer ends. There is no pause button, no restart trick, and uninstalling does not turn it off early, which is exactly why it works when willpower runs out.

Start hereIf your focus battle happens on a Mac, this is the quickest honest test of whether blocking actually helps: pick three sites, try ninety minutes, and see what your day becomes.

• Why it is freeThe source code is published openly for anyone to read and build, and the official site charges nothing for the app: no paid tier, no account, no license key. It is one independent developer's small, focused project offered to everyone for free.
• Works onMac
• Honest limitsMac only; nothing for Windows or phones.
• LicenseFree and open source (GPL)

Android's built-in dashboard for app time, with daily limits and a focus mode, already on your phone.

Open Settings and search for 'Digital Wellbeing'. The dashboard shows exactly how much time each app took today, daily timers grey out apps when their cut-off passes, and Focus mode temporarily switches off chosen distracting apps so the phone stays usable for maps, calls, and messages.

Easy winIt hides slightly differently on every brand of phone - search Settings for 'Digital Wellbeing' and start with a single app timer on your worst offender.

• Why it is freeIncluded by Google with Android 9 and newer at no charge: no install, no subscription, no ads. Many phone makers (Samsung, Pixel, and others) add their own extra wellbeing dashboards on top, also free.
• Works onAndroid phone
• Honest limitsAndroid 9 and newer; where it lives varies by phone brand.

A free browser extension that decides exactly when each time-wasting site is allowed - up to thirty separate sets of rules.

Install it in Firefox, Chrome, or Edge, list the sites that eat your afternoon, and choose the rules: blocked during work hours, allowed ten minutes per hour, or locked down on the spot. A password - or a random access code you never read - can slow you down in the weak moments when you would normally just unblock yourself.

Easy winPowerful, and it rewards fiddling if you let it - start with one block set covering the two sites you resent most, and grow from there only if you need to.

• Why it is freeLeechBlock NG is developed in public on GitHub and released under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, and the official site never asks for payment. The Firefox, Chrome, and Edge versions are all free, with no account and no premium tier hiding the good features.
• Works onFirefox browser, Chrome browser, Edge browser
• Honest limitsFirefox, Chrome, Edge, and similar browsers; phones need a desktop-grade browser like Firefox for Android.
• LicenseMozilla Public License 2.0 (free and open source)

Gives each distracting site a daily time budget, then quietly blocks it when your minutes run out.

You set a daily limit for each time-sink site - say, ten minutes of social media - and StayFocusd counts down while you browse. When your budget is spent, that site greets you with a stern blocked page until tomorrow. The 'nuclear option' flips it around and blocks everything except the short list you actually need for a task.

Easy winSet small budgets (ten minutes, not an hour) and remember the Blocked Sites page where you add and remove them - that is the whole tool.

• Why it is freeStayFocusd has been free in the Chrome Web Store for years, with no paid version and no account: the official site takes you straight to the install page. Nothing here is a trial that switches itself off - donations, not subscriptions, keep it going.
• Works onChrome browser
• Honest limitsChrome and most Chromium browsers; nothing for phones.

A pomodoro-style focus feature already inside Windows 11's Clock app, complete with a daily streak.

Open the Clock app that ships with Windows 11, choose Focus sessions, and set any length of time from fifteen minutes up. Windows silent-modes your notifications, counts down with a neat progress ring, and keeps a daily streak so motivation gets a small scoreboard. Connect Microsoft To Do (free account) if you want the timer tied to a task list, or Spotify (free tier) if you focus to music.

Start hereIf you work on a Windows 11 PC, this is already on your machine - search 'Clock', set thirty minutes, and let the streak counter do its quiet work.

• Why it is freePre-installed with Windows 11 and updated free through the Microsoft Store; the focus sessions themselves need no subscription and no new account. The To Do and Spotify tie-ins simply use those services' own free accounts.
• Works onWindows PC
• Honest limitsWindows 11 (not built into Windows 10); To Do and Spotify need their own free accounts.

A zero-fuss pomodoro timer in any browser, with an optional task list that counts your finished rounds.

Open the page and press the big countdown: twenty-five minutes of focus, a five-minute break, and a longer break after every fourth round, with a soft chime when each one ends. Optionally, type in your tasks, estimate how many pomodoros each will take, and let the report show what actually got done.

Start hereNo signup, no setup - this is the classic first pomodoro to try on one homework problem, one email, or one drawer, and the break is regular enough that your brain learns the rhythm.

• Why it is freeThe whole timer and task list work free in the browser without any account (an account is optional and free too), and there is no install and no ads in the timer itself. A Pro tier exists only for extras you do not need on day one.
• Works onAny web browser
• Honest limitsAny modern browser on any device; keep the tab open while it runs.

Sometimes the plain iPhone timer beats every focus app: start one, do one thing, stop when it rings.

Open Clock, set ten minutes, and commit to exactly one task for exactly that long - the dishes, one page of reading, the one call you dread. When it rings you are free with zero guilt, because you kept the deal you made. This 'I only have to do ten minutes' deal is one of the most reliable gentle starters there is, and the timer supplies the start and the end for you.

Start hereThe ten-minute timer is the classic on-ramp for chores and homework - the trick is to promise yourself you may stop when it rings, every single time.

• Why it is freeThe Clock app ships on every iPhone and iPad at no charge: nothing to download, buy, or sign into, and it works without internet.
• Works oniPhone / iPad
• Honest limitsiPhone and iPad; the same idea works with any phone's stock timer.

A pomodoro timer that adds labels and habit stats, so vague dread turns into named, countable chunks.

Break your work into sessions, label each one (essay draft, tidy kitchen, tax letter), and get a notification when time is up. A stats page shows how your focus sessions stack up across days, which turns an abstract 'I never get anything done' feeling into a visible habit you can steer. Signing in is optional and syncs your history.

Easy winTry it when plain timers feel toothless - the labels are the magic, because 'work' is unbearable but 'clean one shelf' starts on its own.

• Why it is freeThe official site charges nothing for sessions, labels, and stats, and the optional account is free; there is no subscription advertised for the core timer. The web app runs in any browser with nothing to install.
• Works onAny web browser
• Honest limitsWeb only; keep the tab open while it runs.

A clean one-page pomodoro timer with keyboard shortcuts, for days when even small setups feel like too much.

One page, one timer: press start for a twenty-five-minute focus round, then short and long breaks in the classic rhythm. Keyboard shortcuts jump you between focus, short break, and long break, desktop notifications and a mild alert sound tell you when to switch, and custom intervals are there if the standard beat does not suit you.

Easy winThe fewest buttons of any timer on this list - good on the days when starting is the hard part and any settings screen would send you away.

• Why it is freeToptal hosts TomatoTimer free on its official project page, with no signup, no pricing, and nothing to install. The page is genuinely just a timer - it collects nothing and is usable on a phone's browser too.
• Works onAny web browser
• Honest limitsWeb only; desktop notifications work best in Chrome.

A gentle open-source app that nudges you to take microbreaks and real breaks, at a rhythm you choose.

Stretchly lives in your system tray and adds rhythm to the day: tiny twenty-second microbreaks at set intervals and a longer rest every few of those, each announced by a quiet chime and a full-screen rest reminder that suggests what a break is for - stand, look far away, drink water. Every interval, sound, and rule is adjustable, and 'strict mode' can lock breaks so they cannot be skipped.

Worth practicingBreak apps annoy everyone at first - start with microbreaks turned off and one real break every forty-five minutes, and give it a week before deciding.

• Why it is freeIt is developed openly on GitHub, and the official page offers free downloads for Windows, macOS, and Linux with no account and no paid tier - donations support the developer. Break reminders are the entire product; nothing is held back behind a purchase.
• Works onWindows PC, Mac, Linux
• Honest limitsWindows, macOS, and Linux; not a phone app.
• LicenseFree and open source (see repository)

Book a real, live human to work beside you on camera, silently - three sessions a week free, forever.

Choose a twenty-five, fifty, or seventy-five minute slot, and Focusmate pairs you with another person somewhere in the world. You greet each other, say in one sentence what you are working on, work quietly side by side on camera, and finish with a quick report of what happened. There is no conversation to keep up - the silent company of another working human is the whole mechanism, and it is remarkably effective when starting is the problem.

Start hereThe first session feels strange for about five minutes and then never again - with three free sessions a week, the experiment costs nothing but honesty.

• Why it is freeThe free plan covers three scheduled sessions per week permanently - not a trial week - and asks for no payment information. Paid plans only exist to raise the number of sessions and offer group formats.
• Works onAny web browser
• Honest limitsWeb app (also works on phone browsers); the free limit is three sessions weekly.

No app to learn: a free video call with a friend, cameras on, mutes on, each of you doing your own boring task.

Message a friend with the same problem - starting - and agree a slot. Start a Meet call, greet, turn microphones off, and each work on your own task with the other person faintly visible in the corner. Agree that at the end you each give a one-sentence report. The point is not conversation; the point is that someone knows you are at your desk, which famously makes starting chores and schoolwork easier.

Easy winAgree the rules out loud first - mutes on, cameras on, one-sentence wrap-up - because it is a ritual, not a chat, and the ritual is what works.

• Why it is freeAnyone with a free Google account can start and join Meet calls without paying - it runs in a browser with nothing to install. The free plan currently allows calls up to roughly an hour, which fits a body-doubling session exactly.
• Works onAny web browser, Android phone, iPhone / iPad
• Honest limitsFree calls currently run about an hour; needs a Google account.

A focus workspace that puts an ambience video, a timer, and your to-do list on one calm page.

Build a focus backdrop that suits you: a rainy café or library video playing softly, a pomodoro or countdown timer beside it, your tasks (or one task) pinned underneath, optional background music. It is 'body doubling by scenery' - sitting yourself down in a dedicated study-room scene that the internet hands to you, which many people find makes the seat easier to stay in.

Easy winOpen the free web app, pick the 'library' scene, drop in one task, and run one timer - that is a complete workflow inside two minutes.

• Why it is freeThe core web workspace is free with a free account, and the free tier genuinely covers ambience videos, timers, and a task list with no trial countdown. A Pro plan exists for heavier integrations and custom uploads, but a working focus page costs nothing.
• Works onAny web browser
• Honest limitsWeb plus phone apps; some of the bigger extras sit behind the paid plan.

Any article, webpage, or PDF in Edge read out loud with natural voices - nothing to install, one keystroke.

Open any page or PDF in Edge and press Ctrl+Shift+U: Edge begins reading the text aloud and highlights each word as it goes, so you can follow along or just close your eyes and listen. Choose different voices and speeds from the toolbar, and it works on long documents - turning a page you kept postponing into something you can absorb on a walk.

Start hereIf you already have Edge, you already have this - try it today on the single document that defeated you, with the speed bumped up slightly.

• Why it is freeRead Aloud is built into Edge at no charge with no account needed, and the natural-sounding voices stream from Microsoft's own service for free as part of the browser.
• Works onEdge browser
• Honest limitsShips with Edge on Windows, macOS, and Edge's phone apps.

A free Windows veteran that reads almost any document aloud - and can save the reading as an MP3 for later.

Drag a TXT, DOCX, EPUB, or PDF into Balabolka and it reads the text aloud using the voices installed on Windows, with speed and pitch controls friendly to hands and eyes. Its quietly brilliant trick is exporting: save any reading as an MP3 or WAV file, so a wall of course reading becomes an audio file for the bus or the dishes queue.

Easy winTurn to it when a browser reader cannot open the file type you have - the interface looks twenty years old because it is, and it works anyway.

• Why it is freeThe author distributes the full program free from the official site: completely functional, no ads inside, no upgrade nag, no account. The one cost of the tool is patience with an interface two decades old - the payoff is a reader with no limits per month.
• Works onWindows PC
• Honest limitsWindows only; voice quality depends on the voices Windows has installed.

Paste in any text - course reading, a scary letter, your own draft - and listen instead of pushing through.

The web reader takes pasted text (or pages submitted to it) and reads it aloud at your chosen pace with its standard voices. It is aimed squarely at exactly the moments when reading is the wall in front of you: long assignments, dense official letters, drafting your own writing that you cannot bear to reread off the screen.

Easy winStart with the free voices before ever considering a paid plan - for most one-off reading struggles the free tier carries the whole job.

• Why it is freeA free tier lets anyone paste text and listen with the free voices, with no purchase required to try it day to day. The paid plans buy premium AI voices, larger uploads, and MP3 downloads - the basics stay free and clearly labeled.
• Works onAny web browser
• Honest limitsWeb and phone apps; premium voices, MP3 export, and large files are paid.

Type or paste text, pick from dozens of voices in many languages, and download a free MP3 you can keep.

Rather than a reader, it is a voice maker: paste in text, choose a voice and speed, listen in the browser, and download the audio file. That makes it the handy bridge from 'text on a screen I cannot face' to 'audio in my ears': turn spelling lists, revision notes, or a wall of instructions into a walking-around audio file.

Easy winUse it when the text must become a file - a revision MP3 for the commute - rather than something read live at the desk.

• Why it is freeThe official site lets anyone generate and download speech free, without an account for reasonable use, and even says the outputs may be used commercially under its terms. Generation limits apply per request (long texts need splitting), but the limits cost nothing.
• Works onAny web browser
• Honest limitsFree voices are standard quality; long texts need to be split per request.

Google's sticky-note app: capture a fleeting idea in two seconds, with checklists and reminders that do the chasing for you.

Keep's superpower is capture speed: a note, a list, a checkbox list, or a voice memo lands in the app before the thought escapes. Checklists handle groceries and chore loops; time reminders ping your phone at the moment you choose; pins and colors sort the top few things from the pile; everything syncs to web and every device through your Google account.

Start hereThe phone widget is the play: put a one-tap Keep button (or 'new list') where your thumb rests, and let it catch everything you would otherwise lose.

• Why it is freeA free Google service with no paid tier at all: every feature on the cards - lists, reminders, voice notes, sync - is simply free with your existing account.
• Works onAndroid phone, iPhone / iPad, Any web browser
• Honest limitsWeb and phone apps; notes stay simple by design, not a writing app.

A digital notebook where every page is an open canvas - type anywhere, drag in photos, scribble with a finger.

Notebooks, sections, and pages form a structure familiar to anyone who has ever owned a school binder, but each page accepts typing, photos of homework, sticky-note scribbles, and drawings anywhere you drop them. Pages find their way back through search (including handwritten words), and shared notebooks make family memos and club agendas painless.

Easy winIf you have ever signed in to anything Microsoft, you are nearly done - start one notebook called 'Now' and one called 'Later', and just fling things onto pages.

• Why it is freeMicrosoft gives OneNote away - Windows, macOS, iPhone, Android, and web - with a free Microsoft account and 5 GB of OneDrive storage; no Microsoft 365 subscription is required to use it. The subscription only buys extra cloud storage and bundled office apps.
• Works onWindows PC, Mac, iPhone / iPad, Android phone, Any web browser
• Honest limitsFree with a Microsoft account; extra cloud storage beyond 5 GB is paid.

Dead-simple plain-text notes that sync everywhere, with lightweight tags and version history.

One plain text box per note, a list of notes, tags, and pins - that is the entire interface, on every platform. Version history quietly keeps every past state of a note, sharing a note (like a running grocery or chore list) makes it editable by another person, and internal search finds anything in seconds.

Easy winPerfect if fancy apps have stalled you before: start one long note as a daily dump page and never worry about structure again.

• Why it is freeSimplenote's whole basic service is free from Automattic with a free account, sustained by the company's other products; the apps are even published as open source. There are no ads and no locked features sitting between you and your notes.
• Works onWindows PC, Mac, Linux, iPhone / iPad, Android phone
• Honest limitsWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and web; plain text and light Markdown, nothing richer.

An open-source notes app that keeps your whole brain in files you can own, search, and see on every device.

Keep notebooks for each area of life - school, house, the feared inbox - with tagged notes, plain checklists, and fast full-text search to rescue anything from anywhere. Choose any cloud folder you already have (OneDrive, Dropbox, Nextcloud) as the sync spot and every device shows the same notes. A browser clipper extension lets you stash web pages into the pile too.

Worth practicingSetup asks you to pick a sync folder, which is five fiddly minutes - worth it if 'my notes are scattered across four apps' is your specific nightmare.

• Why it is freeReleased under the open-source MIT license and developed in public; the app itself is fully free on all platforms and there is no pro-locked feature set. Sync through your own existing cloud is free; the company sells an optional 'Joplin Cloud' convenience service you never need to touch.
• Works onWindows PC, Mac, Linux, iPhone / iPad, Android phone
• Honest limitsWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android; sync needs a cloud folder you choose (Joplin Cloud is a paid extra).
• LicenseMIT (free and open source)

Keep every note as a plain text file, linked into a wiki of your own - free for personal use, forever upgrade-proof.

Write short notes in plain Markdown, link them together with brackets, and watch backlinks and a graph reveal the shape of what you know. Because nothing is proprietary, your notes are ordinary files you can read in any editor in thirty years. A huge free community plugin library adds everything from task tracking to daily journals; start with the basics and one daily 'dump' note.

Worth practicingIt rewards a little learning and punishes nothing - create one folder, one daily dump note, and let the structure grow out of real use instead of planning it upfront.

• Why it is freePersonal use of the app itself is free on all platforms, with no account required to use it. The company earns money from optional services - Sync and Publish - which are never required: many people sync their files with any cloud folder they already have.
• Works onWindows PC, Mac, Linux, iPhone / iPad, Android phone
• Honest limitsWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android; official Sync is a paid extra (any cloud folder works).

The gentle murmur of other people working, in three free flavors - background company without background words.

Choose between three coffeehouse ambience tracks (morning murmur, lunchtime bustle, university tones) and let a soft wall of indistinct café sound sit between you and the room. The trick is that the sound is wordless: enough life to mask a quiet room's every squeak, but nothing to decode, so it never takes attention from the page in front of you.

Easy winBest for quiet rooms, not loud ones - on a genuinely noisy day, pick a noise-based tool above and lean on the murmur another time.

• Why it is freeThe three core soundscapes are free on the web with no registration required; the site sells a handful of extra premium mixes, which is the clear line between free and paid.
• Works onAny web browser
• Honest limitsWeb only; three sounds free, extra mixes paid.

The internet's best noise playground: soundscapes you can tune, built by a professional sound engineer.

Each soundscape - rain, brown noise, a cathedral drone, a café murmur, dozens more - is a live generator with its own ten-band equalizer, so you can shape the sound to mask the exact noise in your room: the neighbor's dog, the office printer, your own restless thoughts. Calibrated hearing test, custom presets, and smooth blending between soundscapes come standard.

Easy winTry Brown Noise first, untouched, at low volume for one study or tidying session - tuning is a pleasure for later.

• Why it is freeThe web app runs free in the browser with no account and no ads inside the player; the developer sustains it with voluntary one-time donations. The mobile apps and a few bonus features unlock with a donation, but the web experience alone is complete for daily focus use.
• Works onAny web browser
• Honest limitsWeb use is free and near-complete; phone apps and extras unlock with a one-time donation.

Mix rain, thunder, wind, and a coffee house into one personalized blend, with a simple timer built in.

Combine sounds at individual volumes to invent your own background - rain over wind over a train? Save blends as favorites, use one of the curated playlists, or work from the distraction-free text editor while the sound runs. The built-in timer gives the blend a length, so a session has a shape: sound up, work, timer down, stop.

Easy winThe free plan's streaming allowance is about an hour and a half a day - enough for one solid focus block, which is exactly how to use it.

• Why it is freeThe free plan (a free account) covers a genuine working set: sixteen sounds, three playlists, five saved favorites, a simple timer, and a simple text editor. The paid Pro plan buys the full 28-sound library, unlimited streaming, and advanced extras - the free plan does not run out and is not a demo.
• Works onAny web browser
• Honest limitsFree plan: 16 sounds, about 1.5 hours streaming a day, 3 playlists; designed for desktop browsers.

One thing only: a deep, looping rainstorm in your browser, with nothing to configure.

A single page with a play button that fills your room with full-quality rain - the low end gently fills empty silence, and sudden household sounds stop puncturing your attention. Pair it with headphones while studying, filing paperwork, or doing the dishes: weather you cannot see is famously easy to stop noticing after a minute, which is the point.

Easy winThe whole tool is one button - there is nothing to learn, so use it today on whichever boring task you keep postponing.

• Why it is freeA free web page from the developer with no account, no subscription, and nothing to install; the whole tool is the stream and a play button. There is a phone app in stores, but the web version is the simple free core.
• Works onAny web browser
• Honest limitsWeb only; one rain loop (some hear the loop edge over very long sessions).

Firefox strips any article back to clean text at your font size, with nothing blinking, popping, or selling at you.

Tap the reader icon in the address bar (or press Ctrl+Alt+R) and the page collapses to a single readable column: no sidebars, no autoplay video beside your scroll, no cookie banners mid-article. Adjust the font, width, and background to suit your eyes, save articles into reading list, and even have Firefox read them aloud.

Start hereOne click to a calmer page - use it on the one article that defeated you this week, and attach the habit to that site from here on.

• Why it is freeReader View is built into Firefox by Mozilla at no charge: no extension to trust, no account, no feature paywall - it is simply part of the browser.
• Works onFirefox browser
• Honest limitsFirefox on computers and Android; works best on article pages, not web apps.

The proven open-source ad blocker: fewer pop-ups, fewer autoplaying videos, calmer pages - at no charge, with no premium tier at all.

uBlock Origin removes ads, pop-ups, autoplaying video, and tracking noise before they even load, which changes the emotional temperature of using the web: pages appear finished instead of twitching with things demanding clicks. It is highly configurable, but the default filter lists work well immediately; pause it per-site for any page that misbehaves.

Start hereIf you use Firefox, install it, leave the defaults alone, and enjoy the strange silence - the single biggest calm-down per unit of effort on this page.

• Why it is freeFree and open source, developed in public on GitHub by volunteers, with no paid version in existence - the project's philosophy is a web experience that is not for sale, yours included.
• Works onFirefox browser
• Honest limitsFirefox is the flagship home; Chromium browsers offer the lighter 'uBlock Origin Lite'.
• LicenseGNU GPL v3 (free and open source)

Edge's reading mode with school-grade legibility tools: fonts, spacing, grammar color-coding, and aloud-reading on one key.

Press F9 (or click the book icon) on a supported page and Edge re-renders it as clean text with real typography controls - font style, size, spacing - plus focus aids borrowed from classrooms: highlight one, three, or five lines at a time, color-code parts of speech, and hand the reading straight to Read Aloud when eyes tire. Originally built for schools, quietly excellent for tired brains.

Easy winTry it on the densest study page you deal with; the line-focus tool alone turns a wall of text into a moving spotlight.

• Why it is freeBundled into Edge by Microsoft at no charge with no account or subscription: it is one of the most feature-complete free reading tools most people have never opened.
• Works onEdge browser
• Honest limitsShips with Edge on Windows and macOS; works on supported article pages (F9).

Reader mode, but deeply customizable: your fonts, colors, and margins, saved as reusable themes for the sites you fight with most.

One click (or Ctrl+Shift+L) turns a cluttered page into a clean, beautifully typeset article - ads, modals, and navigation gone. Where it goes beyond built-in reader modes is control: theme the output in a visual editor or raw CSS, auto-run it on chosen sites, delete any leftover clutter by hand, and print the calm version. Great for pages reader modes mangle.

Easy winUse your first theme on the specific news site that ambushes you daily, and switch on auto-run for it so the calm version simply appears.

• Why it is freeThe extension is open source (published on GitHub under GPLv3) and the standard reader features are entirely free in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox with no account. An optional Premium tier adds saving, sharing, and annotations - nothing in the core reader is on trial.
• Works onChrome browser, Edge browser, Firefox browser
• Honest limitsChrome, Edge, Firefox; built for article pages, not web apps.
• LicenseGNU GPL v3 (free and open source), optional Premium extras

Turns every new tab into a calm landscape photo and a single question: what is your main focus today?

Wandering into a new tab to distract yourself abruptly deposits you somewhere quiet: a landscape, the time, and one text field asking for today's main focus. Typing one line there re-anchors the day before the next tabs open. The free version also keeps a small to-do list, so the dashboard stays a dashboard and never becomes a project system.

Easy winThe trick is the one question: answer it honestly each morning and let the new-tab habit quietly become the focus habit.

• Why it is freeThe basic new-tab dashboard is free in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox and works without an account; the optional Momentum Plus subscription buys photo collections and integrations. The core dashboard - photo, clock, main focus, small list - stays free for good.
• Works onChrome browser, Edge browser, Firefox browser
• Honest limitsChrome, Edge, Firefox as a new-tab extension; Plus extras are paid.

Color-coded, collapsible tab groups that turn a wall of forty tabs back into three quiet piles.

Right-click any tab, choose 'Add tab to new group', name it and paint it a color; related tabs nest under a labeled dot that collapses out of sight with one click. 'Now', 'Wait', and 'Someday' groups give the browser a three-shelf filing cabinet, and collapsed groups stay collapsed across restarts when saved.

Easy winStart with exactly two groups, 'Now' and 'Later', and collapse them at lunch - do not build a tab museum; you are hiding tabs, not curating them.

• Why it is freeA built-in Chrome feature with nothing to install and nothing to pay for - the calm-down is already in the browser menu.
• Works onChrome browser
• Honest limitsChrome on computers and phones; similar tools exist in Edge (vertical tabs).