macOS app - Free during beta

Your distractions
now cost money

FocusJar blocks distracting sites at the system level. The only way out early? Pay a fee you set yourself. $5, $25, $100 - whatever it takes to keep you honest.

Download for macOS See how it works
macOS 13+ | Free during beta

The ugly truth

You've tried willpower.
It doesn't work.

The average person picks up their phone 96 times a day. Browser extensions get disabled in seconds. App timers get snoozed. You already know this - you've done it yourself.

2.5hrs

Average daily time lost to social media scrolling

23min

Time to regain deep focus after a single distraction

$0.00

What current blockers cost you for quitting early

How it works

Three steps to unbreakable focus

01

Pick your poisons

Choose which sites to block - or use presets for social media, entertainment, and news. 33 sites blocked with one click.

02

Set your stakes

Choose a session length (15 min to 24 hours) and an unlock fee ($5 to $100). The higher the stakes, the stronger your commitment.

03

Stay locked in

Sites are blocked at the system level - not just your browser. Want out early? Pay up. Most people don't.

The science

Why a price tag changes everything

This isn't a gimmick. Decades of behavioral research explain why financial stakes succeed where willpower fails.

Loss aversion

Losses hurt twice as much as gains feel good

Nobel Prize-winning research by Kahneman and Tversky showed that people feel the pain of losing $25 about twice as strongly as the pleasure of gaining $25. FocusJar puts that asymmetry to work for you.

Commitment devices

The oldest self-control trick in history

Odysseus tied himself to the mast so he couldn't steer toward the Sirens. A commitment device removes future choice before temptation hits. Your unlock fee is your rope.

Decision fatigue

Every "should I check Twitter?" costs you energy

Resisting temptation depletes the same mental resources you need for deep work. When the decision is already made and enforced, you stop wasting willpower on it entirely.

The fresh start effect

Each session is a clean slate

Research shows people are more likely to follow through on goals tied to a defined start and end. Every FocusJar session is a fresh commitment with a clear finish line.

System-level blocking

Not a browser extension.
A system-level lockdown.

Most blockers only work inside your browser - so you switch to another one and keep scrolling. FocusJar blocks sites across your entire Mac. Every browser, every app, every workaround you've ever used. Gone.

  • Every browser blocked - Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Arc, you name it
  • Survives restarts - reboot your Mac, blocks are still there
  • Can't be bypassed - no incognito tricks, no DNS hacks, no loopholes
twitter.com

Site blocked by FocusJar

This site is blocked for the next 1h 47m

Unlock for $25.00

The catch

Want to quit early?
That'll cost you.

This is the part that actually works. You set a price on your own distraction - and your brain takes it seriously.

$5

Light stakes

"I just need a nudge"
POPULAR
$25

Real commitment

"Enough to actually sting"
$100

Nuclear option

"I'm done playing games"

Payments handled securely by Stripe. Card details never stored on your device.

From actual users

"I hate it. It works."

"Set a $50 unlock fee for Twitter during work hours. Haven't paid it once in 3 weeks. That's the point."

MK

Mike K.

Software Engineer

"I was mass-scrolling Instagram for 3hrs a day. First week with FocusJar I tried to unlock twice, paid $20, and never did it again."

SR

Sarah R.

Freelance Designer

"The system-level blocking is the key. I used to just switch browsers. Can't do that anymore. Best $0 I've spent - because I never unlock."

JT

James T.

PhD Student

FAQ

Questions you're already asking

The app itself is free during beta. You only pay if you choose to unlock a session early - and that money is the penalty you set on yourself. Think of it as paying for your own accountability.
Nice try. The blocking is handled by a system-level process - not the app itself. Quitting the app, restarting your Mac, or switching browsers won't help. The blocks persist.
Payments are processed through Stripe. During beta, unlock fees go toward covering infrastructure costs. We're exploring options to donate to charity or roll penalties into focus streaks.
You can always access it - for the price you set. That's the whole point. If you regularly need a site for work, don't add it to your block list. FocusJar is about blocking distractions, not tools.
Stripe handles all payment processing. Your card details are never stored on your device or our servers. We only store a Stripe customer ID to process payments.
For now, yes. FocusJar requires deep system-level access that's specific to macOS. Windows and Linux versions are being explored.

Stop negotiating
with yourself.

Every minute you spend deciding whether to check Twitter is a minute lost. Let FocusJar make the decision for you - or make you pay for it.

Download for macOS

Free during beta · macOS 13+ · No account required to start