6 layers of system-level blocking. Locks that force you to commit. A background daemon you can't just quit. The free macOS blocker built for people who've tried everything.
macOS 13 Ventura or later · Apple Silicon & Intel
Every app on your phone and every website on your laptop was engineered by teams of people whose full-time job is to keep you scrolling. Variable-ratio reinforcement schedules, infinite feeds, autoplay, notification badges — the same techniques slot machines use.
Research published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions found that the average person checks their phone 96 times per day and spends over 4 hours on distracting websites. Not because they're weak — because the other side has a billion-dollar budget.
You've already tried willpower. You've tried browser extensions you disabled in 10 seconds. You've tried Screen Time and turned it off when it got inconvenient. That's not a character flaw. That's the expected outcome.
FocusDragon was built by someone who went through the same cycle — install blocker, bypass blocker, feel guilty, repeat — and finally asked: what if the blocker actually refused to move?
Whatever your reason, FocusDragon doesn't judge. It just blocks.
Block social media during study sessions. Stop losing entire evenings to YouTube before exams.
Stay focused during work hours without a manager watching. Block distracting sites 9-to-5.
Enter deep work without Reddit or Twitter pulling you out every 10 minutes.
Block betting sites with locks you physically cannot undo. Remove the option entirely.
Block stimulating sites after 10 PM. Stop doom-scrolling in bed until 2 AM.
Go cold turkey on specific platforms. Lock them away for a week and see what changes.
External structure when your brain won't provide it. Make distractions physically inaccessible.
Block everything except your research tools. Force yourself to stay in the material.
Pair blocking with any routine. Block entertainment until you've done your morning workout.
Every layer works independently. Bypass one, five more are still active.
Rewrites /etc/hosts to redirect blocked domains to 0.0.0.0. Works in every browser. VPN-proof.
Monitors running apps every 1.5 seconds. Blocked apps are terminated on sight — can't be bypassed by renaming.
Runs as root with elevated privileges. Starts on boot. Repairs itself if tampered with. Can't be killed without admin access.
In-browser blocking with heartbeat monitoring. If the extension goes silent, the daemon force-quits the browser.
PF-based packet filtering blocks all outbound traffic. Whitelist-only mode lets approved domains through.
Blocks System Settings, Terminal, and Activity Monitor. Prevents uninstallation during locks. Logs bypass attempts.
Choose how hard it should be to quit. From a gentle nudge to "I physically cannot access this machine until tomorrow."
Block for a set duration. Cannot unlock early. Survives reboots.
Activate on specific days and hours. "Block weekdays 9 AM – 5 PM."
Non-skippable countdown delay before unlock. Enough friction to reconsider.
Type a long random string to unlock. No copy-paste — clipboard is auto-cleared.
Requires actual system reboots to unlock. The daemon counts real boot events.
Locked until a calendar date. "Unlock on June 1st." No exceptions.
FocusDragon installs a system daemon that runs as root. It starts on boot, enforces blocks even when the app is closed, and repairs itself if you tamper with it. Close the app, force-quit it, delete it — the daemon keeps going.
This is the difference between a blocker you can outsmart and one you can't.
to disable completely.
and most are blocked during a lock.
I've tried every blocker on the Mac App Store. FocusDragon is the first one I couldn't outsmart. The daemon is genuinely unkillable.
The random-text lock is the thing that finally works for me. My brain can't rationalize typing 200 characters of garbage. It just... gives up.
I used to open incognito the second I felt bored. Now Chrome just dies if the extension isn't running. There's nowhere to go.
Most blockers charge $30–$60 because they need to fund a company. FocusDragon is a solo project built out of personal frustration. There are no investors, no employees, no office. The hosting costs less than a coffee per month.
Charging for a tool that helps people overcome compulsive behaviour felt wrong — especially when the people who need it most are often the ones least able to commit to yet another subscription.
So it's free. No trial period, no feature gates, no “premium tier”, no account required. Every feature, every lock type, forever.
No trial. No subscription. No upsell. No account.
Not Electron. Fast, light, battery-friendly. Feels like it belongs on your Mac.
No cloud. No server. No tracking. Everything stays on your machine.
FocusDragon has no server, no accounts, and no cloud sync. Your block list, browsing history, lock configuration, and usage patterns are stored locally on your Mac and never transmitted anywhere. The app doesn't even have network permission — it physically cannot phone home.
You can optionally enable anonymous usage telemetry (disabled by default) to help prioritise features. If enabled, it sends aggregate events like “a block was started” — never your block list contents, site names, app names, or any personal information.
Read the full privacy policy →Download FocusDragon and take back the hours you've been losing. Free forever — no account required.
Download FocusDragon v1.1.0macOS 13 Ventura or later · Universal binary (Apple Silicon & Intel)
DMG installer · ~6 MB · Auto-updates via Sparkle