Is Screen Time enough to block websites on your Mac?

Is Screen Time enough to block websites?

Screen Time is enough to block websites on a Mac if you mainly use Safari, want a site blocked all the time or limited to a daily allowance, and someone else holds the passcode. It falls short when you want specific sites blocked only during set hours, when you browse in Chrome, Firefox or Brave, or when you set the passcode yourself. That gap is what a scheduled website blocker such as Cactus is for.

This page is written by Maxi, who makes Cactus. Screen Time is free and built in, so it gets a fair hearing first. Apple's steps below were checked against its support pages in October 2026.

What Screen Time can do with websites

What you can do depends on your macOS version. macOS 27 changed how Screen Time limits work.

macOS 14 Sonoma to macOS 26 Tahoe

Block a site all the time (Safari):

1. Open System Settings and choose Screen Time.
2. Open Content & Privacy, turn it on, then choose App Store, Media, Web, & Games.
3. Under Safari, choose Limit Adult Websites, then Customize.
4. Add the site to the Restricted list.

Apple's page for these web content settings lists them under Safari.

Give a site a daily allowance:

1. In Screen Time, open App Limits and choose Add Limit.
2. Expand the Websites category and pick the site, or add its URL.
3. Set a time for Every Day, or choose Custom for different amounts per day.
4. Select Block at end of limit if the site should block when the time runs out.

See Apple's App Limits guide.

Downtime schedules time away from the screen, every day or with custom times per day. During Downtime, "only apps that you choose to allow and phone calls are available" (Apple). "Block at Downtime" needs a Screen Time passcode.

macOS 27

Apple's macOS 27 guide replaces App Limits with Schedules and Time Allowances. You build a schedule of named time windows, such as "During Work", on the days you pick, and set Time Allowances by category, such as Entertainment, Games or Social Media. Apple describes these for apps and app categories. It does not document a limit or a time window for a single website.

For websites, the macOS 27 guide points to blocking sites in Safari on a child's device under System Settings > Family > Apps & Websites (Apple). If you are on macOS 27 and want to block a site for yourself, test what your Mac offers before you rely on it.

Where Screen Time is enough

Screen Time has real advantages.

1. It is free and already installed. Nothing to buy, download or approve.
2. It works best when someone else holds the passcode. With "Lock Screen Time Settings" on, changing the settings or adding time needs the passcode. If a partner, parent or friend sets it, you cannot quietly undo a limit.
3. It covers your other Apple devices. With "Share across devices", Screen Time includes time spent on your iPhone and iPad signed in to the same Apple Account, and Screen Time runs on those devices too.
4. It limits apps, not just websites. If the problem is a desktop app or a game, Screen Time handles that.
5. It suits an always-blocked Safari list. If a site should simply never load in Safari, the Restricted list does that.

If that describes you, you may not need anything else.

Where Screen Time falls short

No per-site time windows

A common request is "block these sites on weekdays from 09:00 to 17:00, and leave them alone in the evening." On macOS 26 and earlier, Screen Time has no setting for that. The Restricted list is on until you change it. App Limits set an amount of time, not hours. Downtime runs on a schedule, but it limits everything except the apps you allow, so you cannot keep working normally while only YouTube and X are blocked. On macOS 27, Apple's schedules are built around app categories, as described above.

Browser coverage

Apple documents its website restrictions as a Safari setting and does not say whether Chrome, Firefox, Arc or Brave follow them. One Reddit user reports that it "doesn't work on Brave Browser" (r/macapps). If you use more than one browser, test each one. The Screen Time not blocking websites guide covers the usual causes.

Your own passcode

If you set the passcode yourself, Screen Time is a reminder, not a block. Without "Block at end of limit", a limit can also be extended when it runs out.

Where Cactus fits

Cactus for Mac does the one thing Screen Time does not document: it blocks a list of websites during the same hours on the days you choose, every week, and leaves your other sites and apps available. For example, you could block youtube.com, x.com and reddit.com every weekday from 09:00 to 17:00.

• Every browser, no extension. A background helper writes the sites into the hosts file and adds pf firewall rules, so the block applies in Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Arc, Brave and Edge. See how Cactus blocks.
• No off switch during a block. Once a block starts, Cactus has no button to end it early. Edits you make during a block apply to the next one.
• Set once. The block starts by itself at the scheduled time. Overnight ranges work.
• Paid once. $19.99, with a 7-day free trial that starts when you turn on your first schedule. No account or card. Requires macOS 14 or later.

The steps are in block websites on a schedule on Mac.

Cactus's limits

Cactus is narrower than Screen Time, and it has gaps of its own.

1. One schedule. One time range, the weekdays you choose, and one site list. No different hours per day and no second list.
2. A Mac admin can remove it. An admin can get around a block, for example by turning off its background item in System Settings. Screen Time with a passcode someone else holds is harder for you to undo.
3. No app blocking. Cactus blocks websites, not apps.
4. Mac only. No iPhone, iPad or Windows version.
5. Whole sites, exact hostnames. It blocks a domain and its www. version, adds m.youtube.com for youtube.com and twitter.com for x.com, and needs others such as youtu.be or old.reddit.com added separately. It cannot block a single page.
6. Network settings can get in the way. Secure DNS in Chrome or Firefox, iCloud Private Relay, proxies and some VPNs can affect blocking.
7. No notifications. The menu bar shows the current state only while the app is open.

Screen Time vs Cactus at a glance

Use both

They do not conflict. Screen Time can handle apps, your iPhone, and an always-blocked Safari list, while Cactus blocks a few websites during your working hours in every browser. Many people only need one of them, but the split works if you need both jobs done.

Which should you use?

1. Safari only, a site should never load, someone else sets the passcode: Screen Time.
2. You want a daily allowance for a site or an app category: Screen Time.
3. You need your iPhone covered too: Screen Time, or a cross-device app.
4. You want specific sites blocked during recurring hours, in every browser, without handing a passcode to someone else: Cactus.

For other options, including stricter and cross-device blockers, see the best website blockers for Mac.