The typical online adult now spends over two and a half hours a day on social and video feeds — 18 hours and 36 minutes a week, or roughly 16% of their waking hours, according to DataReportal’s Digital 2026 Global Overview. And attention on any given screen is short: Gloria Mark’s research at UC Irvine tracked it falling from about two and a half minutes in 2003 to 75 seconds in 2012 to 47 seconds in recent years. Social media, news feeds, and video platforms are engineered to capture attention, and willpower alone is rarely enough to fight back. A website blocker gives you a structural advantage: instead of relying on discipline in the moment, you set rules in advance and let software enforce them.
But not every blocker is created equal. Some collect your browsing data. Others lock essential features behind expensive paywalls. A few have stopped receiving updates altogether. We tested six of the most popular website blockers for Chrome and Firefox to help you find the one that actually fits your workflow and budget.
What to Look for in a Website Blocker
Before diving into individual tools, here are the criteria we used to evaluate each one:
- Price — Is the free tier genuinely usable, or is it just a teaser for the paid plan?
- Core features — Does it offer scheduled blocking, whitelist mode, password protection, and custom block pages?
- Privacy — Does the extension collect or transmit your browsing data? Does it require an account?
- Ease of use — Can you set it up in under two minutes without reading documentation?
- Platform support — Does it work across Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers or devices?
Comparison Table
| Feature | SiteBlocker | BlockSite | Freedom | Cold Turkey | LeechBlock NG | StayFocusd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free; Pro $2.99/mo | Free (3 sites) / ~$39.99 | $8.99/mo | $39 one-time | Free | Free |
| Chrome | Yes | Yes | Yes | Via desktop app | Yes | Yes |
| Firefox | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Scheduled blocking | Yes | Paid only | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Whitelist mode | Yes | Paid only | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Cross-device sync | Yes | Paid only | Yes | No | No | No |
| Data collection | None | Yes | Minimal | None | None | Minimal |
| Open source | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
1. SiteBlocker — Recommended
Price: Free, Pro from $2.99/mo | Chrome, Firefox
SiteBlocker gives you every blocking feature free, with no site limit: scheduled blocking, whitelist mode, custom block pages, password protection, Focus Mode, section blocking, and cross-device sync, all at zero cost. An optional Pro tier ($2.99/mo, $24.99/yr, or $49.99 lifetime) adds Locked Mode, daily time budgets, calendar-triggered blocking, keyword blocking and a full insights dashboard, but you never have to pay to block sites. The extension collects no browsing data whatsoever — it does not even require an account to get started, though signing in enables sync across devices.
Since August 2026 it also blocks parts of a site rather than only whole sites, which is unusual in this category. You can switch off YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, Reddit r/popular or Facebook Reels and leave the rest of each site working — messages, subscriptions, search and the subreddits you chose are untouched — and the same switch can follow a schedule. The TikTok and X For You feeds are hidden rather than blocked, since neither has an address of its own to redirect. All of it is free. See blocking short-form video for what each section does.
Setup takes about 30 seconds: install the extension, add sites to your block list, and optionally configure a schedule. The interface is clean and modern, and the blocking is reliable across both Chrome and Firefox. For users who want a serious productivity tool without spending money or handing over personal data, SiteBlocker is the strongest option available today. It is actively maintained, with regular updates and new features shipping throughout 2025 and 2026.
If you only try one blocker from this list, make it this one.
Want the specifics? Compare every plan on the pricing page, or skip the setup and install a ready-made blocklist from the Marketplace in one click.
2. BlockSite
Price: Free (3 sites) / $39.99 lifetime | Chrome, Safari, Edge, Android, iOS
BlockSite is one of the most downloaded website blockers, and for good reason — it has a polished interface and wide platform support including mobile apps. The free tier, however, is limited to blocking just three websites, which is not practical for most users. Unlocking scheduled blocking, whitelist mode, and unlimited sites requires the premium plan at $39.99 per year.
Privacy is a concern worth noting. BlockSite’s privacy policy permits the collection of browsing activity data, and several independent audits have flagged the extent of data shared with third parties. If privacy matters to you, read the policy carefully before installing.
That said, if you need a blocker that works across Android and iOS in addition to desktop browsers, BlockSite is one of the few options that covers all platforms. The premium experience is solid, but the cost adds up over time, and the free version is too limited to serve as a real productivity tool.
Weighing the two? See the full SiteBlocker vs BlockSite breakdown, or why people switch to a BlockSite alternative.
3. Freedom
Price: $8.99/mo or $39.99/year | Chrome, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android
Freedom is the premium choice for users who want cross-platform blocking that extends well beyond the browser. It can block websites and apps across Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android simultaneously, making it ideal for people who find themselves switching devices to get around restrictions. The “Locked Mode” feature prevents you from disabling a blocking session once it starts, which is genuinely useful for anyone who struggles with self-control.
The downside is cost. At $8.99 per month, Freedom is the most expensive option on this list by a wide margin. The annual plan brings it down to roughly $3.33 per month, which is more reasonable but still a recurring expense for functionality that other tools offer for free. Freedom also does not support Firefox, which limits its usefulness for users of that browser. For power users who need system-wide blocking across multiple devices, Freedom delivers. For everyone else, the price is hard to justify.
See how they stack up in our SiteBlocker vs Freedom comparison, or explore a free Freedom alternative.
4. Cold Turkey
Price: $39 one-time | Windows, Mac (desktop app)
Cold Turkey takes a fundamentally different approach: it is a desktop application, not a browser extension. This makes it arguably the hardest blocker to bypass, since it operates at the system level rather than within the browser sandbox. Once a block is active, there is no way to disable it — not even by uninstalling the application. For people who need an iron-clad solution, Cold Turkey is unmatched.
The trade-off is flexibility. There is no browser extension to install separately, no mobile support, and no Firefox or Chromebook compatibility. The free version only blocks websites, while the $39 Pro version adds application blocking, scheduled blocks, and the signature unbreakable timer. The interface is functional but not especially modern. Cold Turkey is best suited for users on Windows or Mac who have tried lighter solutions and found them too easy to circumvent. It is a niche tool, but it fills that niche extremely well.
For a browser-based option, compare SiteBlocker vs Cold Turkey or see the Cold Turkey alternative.
5. LeechBlock NG
Price: Free | Chrome, Firefox
LeechBlock NG is the power user’s website blocker. It is free, open-source, and offers a depth of customization that no other tool on this list can match. You can create multiple block sets with independent schedules, set time allowances (for example, 10 minutes of social media per hour), use regular expressions to match URLs, and configure detailed override rules.
The downside is approachability. The interface looks dated and the sheer number of options can be overwhelming for someone who just wants to block Twitter during work hours. There is no cross-device sync, no mobile app, and no cloud-based configuration. Each browser instance must be configured independently.
If you are comfortable with a steeper learning curve and want granular control over your blocking rules, LeechBlock NG is an excellent choice. It is also worth supporting as an open-source project. But for most users, the setup cost outweighs the benefits when simpler alternatives exist.
Prefer something simpler? Compare SiteBlocker vs LeechBlock or see the LeechBlock alternative.
6. StayFocusd
Price: Free | Chrome only
StayFocusd earned a loyal following thanks to its “Nuclear Option” — a feature that blocks all listed sites for a set period with no way to undo it. The extension is free, lightweight, and straightforward to configure. For Chrome users who want a simple tool with one powerful feature, StayFocusd has historically been a solid pick.
However, the extension has seen limited development activity in recent years. Updates have become infrequent, and some users report compatibility issues with newer versions of Chrome. It also lacks Firefox support entirely, offers no cross-device sync, and does not include a whitelist mode. The Nuclear Option remains genuinely useful, but the surrounding feature set has not kept pace with competitors. If you are already using StayFocusd and it works for you, there is no urgent reason to switch. But for new users evaluating options in 2026, there are more capable and actively maintained alternatives available.
See the head-to-head SiteBlocker vs StayFocusd or a cross-browser StayFocusd alternative.
Our Recommendation
For most people, SiteBlocker is the best website blocker available in 2026. Every blocking feature is free with no restrictions — scheduled blocking, whitelist mode, password protection, Focus Mode, and cross-device sync — and it collects zero browsing data while working on both Chrome and Firefox. It is also the only blocker here that can turn off one section of a site — Shorts, Reels, r/popular — rather than the whole thing. Power users can add Locked Mode, time budgets, calendar triggers, keyword blocking and a full insights dashboard with the optional Pro tier (from $2.99/mo). It is also actively maintained and improving.
If you need system-wide desktop blocking and do not mind paying, Cold Turkey is the strongest option. If cross-platform mobile and desktop blocking is essential, Freedom justifies its cost for that specific use case. And if you want deep open-source customization, LeechBlock NG is worth the learning curve.
But for a blocker that simply works, respects your privacy, and costs nothing, SiteBlocker is where we would start.
