The best website blocker for Mac, by what you need

The best website blocker for Mac depends on the job

The best website blocker for Mac is the one that matches when and how you want to be blocked. For a free block you cannot stop, use SelfControl. For strict locks plus app blocking on Mac and Windows, use Cold Turkey Pro. For the same blocks on your Mac and your phone, use Freedom. For one website schedule that repeats every week at a one-time price, use Cactus.

This page is written by Maxi, who makes Cactus. Cactus is one of the eight picks below, and every pick, Cactus included, ends with who should skip it. Prices are US list prices as of October 2026, taken from each product's own site.

Quick picks

1. Best free blocker app: SelfControl
2. Best for strict locks: Cold Turkey Blocker
3. Best for Mac plus phone: Freedom
4. Best built-in option: Apple Screen Time
5. Best for a recurring schedule at a one-time price: Cactus
6. Best for several schedules and app blocking, paid once: Focus
7. Best low-cost Mac App Store option: 1Focus
8. Best if you also want time tracking: Chronoid

How we chose

There was no lab test and no timed bypass contest behind this list. Each app was checked against its own pricing, feature and support pages in October 2026 and judged on six things:

1. How it blocks. System-level blockers work below the browser, through the hosts file, DNS or the firewall, so they apply to every browser without an extension. Extension and browser-automation blockers can often target single pages, but they can miss a browser they do not support.
2. Schedules. Can the block start by itself on set days and hours, or do you start a session by hand each time?
3. Strictness. Can you end a block early, does it survive a restart, and can you uninstall during a block?
4. Price model. Free, one-time, or subscription, and what it costs after a few years.
5. Platforms and account. Mac only, or phone too, and whether you must sign up.
6. Maintenance. Whether the app is still updated and sold.

One honest limit applies to every app here. On a Mac where you are the administrator, a determined person can remove any blocker. Strictness is a question of how much friction stands between the reflex and the site.

1. SelfControl: best free website blocker for Mac

Price: free and open source under the GNU GPL (selfcontrolapp.com).

How it blocks: at system level, with the pf packet filter and the hosts file. It applies to every browser.

Schedules: none. Its FAQ calls scheduling "a top feature request" and points to third-party command-line tools. Blocks are capped at 24 hours unless you change a hidden setting.

Strictness: very high. Once a block starts, it holds until the timer ends, even if you restart or delete the app. The FAQ's answer to how to disable it is "You can't."

Good to know: you need an admin password to start a block. The FAQ warns that blocks do not work properly over a VPN, that Firefox's DNS over HTTPS can make them fail, and that blocking a domain can also block other sites on the same servers. Support is run by volunteers.

Skip it if: you want the same block every weekday without starting it yourself. If that is the gap, see the SelfControl alternatives.

2. Cold Turkey Blocker: best for strict locks

Price: Blocker Free costs nothing. Blocker Pro is a one-time purchase that the pricing page loads from its payment provider: $45 for US buyers as of October 2026 (EUR 39 in Germany). One purchase covers all computers you personally use, on Mac and Windows. There is a 7-day Pro trial and a 30-day refund.

How it blocks: browser extensions. The user guide has you install an extension in each browser and allow it in incognito windows.

Schedules: Pro only. You drag blocks onto a weekly grid that repeats, and each block can have its own schedule.

Strictness: the widest set of lock types among these eight picks. Pro offers timer, time range, random text (up to 5,000 characters), delay (up to 40 days), restart and password locks. A locked block stops the uninstaller and requires the browser extension to stay enabled. Frozen Turkey can lock, log off or shut down the computer.

Users report: on Mac, guest mode, incognito and other Chrome profiles got around a block until it was locked, and the developer's reply was to lock the block (Reddit). Others report the extension going inactive in Opera, Brave and Vivaldi.

Skip it if: your main browser is one where users report extension problems, or you only need websites blocked on a schedule and do not need its locks or app blocking. Free has no schedules. See Cold Turkey vs Freedom for the full two-way comparison.

3. Freedom: best for blocking on your Mac and phone

Price: a free tier, then Premium at $8.99 a month, or $3.33 a month billed yearly (about $40 a year; the App Store lists $39.99). The Forever plan is $99.50 once, shown as 50% off $199, as of October 2026 (freedom.to). The yearly plan has a 7-day trial.

How it blocks: through a local proxy by default. An optional Non-Proxy Mode blocks Firefox outright and adds a 1 to 2 second delay before the block screen. There is a Chrome extension and no Safari extension.

Schedules: Premium only, with recurring and advance sessions. Free is limited to "Start Now" sessions of up to 2 hours.

Strictness: Premium's Locked Mode prevents quitting. Freedom does not say how it behaves across a restart.

Good to know: you need an account, and your block lists sync across Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and Chromebook. App blocking on Mac is included even on the free tier, with a single list of blocked apps.

Skip it if: you do not want an account, or you only use a Mac and would rather not pay every year.

4. Apple Screen Time: best built-in option

Price: free, built into macOS.

How it blocks: on macOS 14 Sonoma through macOS 26 Tahoe, go to System Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy > App Store, Media, Web, & Games, choose Limit Adult Websites and add sites to the Restricted list, or choose Allowed Websites Only. Apple's support page lists these under Safari and does not say whether Chrome, Firefox or Brave follow them. On macOS 27, Apple's guide documents blocking sites in Safari for a child's device, under System Settings > Family.

Schedules: on macOS 26 and earlier, App Limits give a website a daily time allowance, with "Block at end of limit". Downtime runs on a schedule, but during Downtime only the apps you allow are available, so it is not a list of blocked sites. macOS 27 changes this. Apple's guide now describes Schedules and Time Allowances: time windows on the days you pick, with allowances set by category such as Social Media. It does not document a limit or a time window for a single website.

Strictness: it depends on the Screen Time passcode. If you set the passcode yourself, you can turn the limit off whenever you like. It works best when someone else holds the passcode.

Skip it if: you browse mainly outside Safari, or you want specific sites blocked only during set hours. See Cactus vs Screen Time.

5. Cactus: best for a recurring schedule at a one-time price

Price: $19.99 once. The 7-day free trial starts when you turn on your first schedule and needs no account or card. Cactus for Mac runs on macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel.

How it blocks: at system level. A background helper writes the blocked sites into the hosts file and adds pf firewall rules, so the block applies in Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Arc, Brave and Edge without an extension. The details are on how Cactus blocks.

Schedules: one recurring schedule: one time range, the weekdays you pick, and one site list. Overnight ranges work. Edits made during a block apply to the next block.

Strictness: Cactus has no button to end an active block early, and it will not remove itself during a block. A Mac admin can still get around it, for example by turning off its background item in System Settings.

Limits to know: Cactus blocks whole sites, not pages. It blocks a domain and its www. version, adds m.youtube.com for youtube.com and twitter.com for x.com, and needs other hostnames such as youtu.be or old.reddit.com added separately. Secure DNS in Chrome or Firefox, iCloud Private Relay, proxies and some VPNs can affect blocking. There is no app blocking, no notifications and no iPhone or Windows version.

Maxi built it after he kept opening YouTube and X during the short waits while coding agents worked. A 20-second pause turned into 20 lost minutes.

Skip it if: you need different hours on different days, several block lists, app blocking, or blocking on your phone. Cold Turkey, Focus or Freedom fit those better.

6. Focus: best for several schedules and app blocking, paid once

Price: Focus 2 is $49 once, with one year of major updates and three years of minor updates. Lifetime is $129 with lifetime updates (heyfocus.com). There is a 7-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can use it on any Mac you use.

How it blocks: it controls the browser through macOS Automation permission. That works in Safari, Chrome, Opera, Brave, Edge, Arc and Vivaldi. Firefox needs the Focus add-on.

Schedules: daily, weekly or weekend plans, and you can add several schedules.

Strictness: a Locked Mode session cannot be stopped, even if you close Focus or restart your Mac. Schedules can be locked, and Password Mode locks settings. If you get stuck, you can request an unlock token.

Skip it if: you want future major versions without paying $129, or your browser is not on its list and you will not install the add-on.

7. 1Focus: best low-cost Mac App Store option

Price: free, with Pro at $1.99 a month or $9.99 a year and a 14-day Pro trial. It is sold only through the Mac App Store.

How it blocks: with browser permission, in Safari, Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera and Arc. It does not support Firefox, though you can block Firefox as an app.

Schedules: recurring blocks are Pro only. Free blocks last up to 6 hours.

Strictness: 1Focus says active blocks cannot be canceled. App blocking is free, and no account is needed.

Skip it if: you use Firefox, or you want schedules without a subscription.

8. Chronoid: best if you also want automatic time tracking

Price: Basic is $59 once (1 Mac, one year of updates), Personal $99, Lifetime $149, or $15 a month (chronoid.app). The website blocker is included in every paid plan. The trial is 7 days with no card.

How it blocks: a privileged helper applies hosts and DNS blocking system-wide.

Schedules: by start time, end time and weekdays.

Strictness: none by design. You can pause for 1 minute, 15 minutes, 1 hour or the rest of the day, and its FAQ says you have full control.

Skip it if: you want the block to hold when you are tempted, or you do not need a time tracker.

Other apps people search for

Opal. Opal has a Mac app, with Pro at $99.99 a year, $19.99 a month or $399 lifetime. In 2026 an Opal team member wrote on r/opalapp: "Opal for Mac is currently not maintained" (Reddit). The post they replied to described blocks stuck on and an app that could not be quit. That is why it is not a pick here. See Opal alternatives for Mac.

Serene. Serene appears to be discontinued. sereneapp.com now redirects to its parent company, Venture Harbour, and Homebrew marked the Serene cask unmaintained, then disabled it in August 2026. "Serene: App & Website Blocker" on the App Store is a different app from another developer.

FocusMe. FocusMe runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS, with strict Enforced Mode and uninstall protection. It costs $17.95 a month or $119.40 a year (focusme.com). Its pricing page shows two different lifetime prices, so check at checkout.

LockIn MCP. For developers who want an AI assistant such as Claude or Cursor to start blocks and timed unblocks over MCP. It edits the hosts file, installs with npx, needs an account, and costs $2.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $59.99 lifetime.

Best website blocker for MacBook: does the model matter?

No. Every app here works the same on a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro as on an iMac or Mac mini. What matters is your macOS version. Cactus and Chronoid need macOS 14 or later, Opal macOS 13, FocusMe macOS 12, and 1Focus macOS 10.15.

What Reddit threads about Mac blockers keep saying

Search "best website blocker mac reddit" and the same themes come up. People say extensions are easy to get around by switching browsers or opening an incognito window (r/productivity). SelfControl gets praise for being hard to shut off and complaints about having no schedule (r/macapps). One user called Cold Turkey "the hardest one" to bypass (r/macapps). Complaints about subscriptions come up in several threads. These are individual comments, not tests, but they match the trade-offs above.

Which website blocker should you pick?

1. You want free and can start each block yourself: SelfControl.
2. You want the strictest setup and app blocking, on Mac or Windows: Cold Turkey Pro.
3. You also need blocking on your iPhone or Android: Freedom.
4. You only use Safari and someone else can hold a passcode: Screen Time.
5. You want the same sites gone during the same hours every week, in every browser, paid once: Cactus.
6. You want several schedules and app blocking, paid once: Focus.

If price is the deciding factor, the no-subscription comparison adds up what each option costs over three years.