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Onus vs StayFocusd
StayFocusd limits how much time you spend on time-wasting sites. Onus seals them too, but the time you get back depends on the work you do: every 25 minutes on your work sites buys 10 minutes of the sites you sealed.
Here is where each one is the better pick, as fairly as we can put it. We make Onus, so check StayFocusd's own listing too.
The short answer
- Pick StayFocusd if you want a set daily allowance on distracting sites, usage history across devices, and a Nuclear Option that can't be cancelled.
- Pick Onus if a fixed allowance doesn't hold for you, and you'd rather earn your time with real work and see that work counted.
Side by side
| Onus | StayFocusd | |
|---|---|---|
| The idea | Work earns play: time on work sites fills a bank that pays for sealed sites. | Restricts the time you can spend on time-wasting sites. |
| Counts your work | Yes, active time on the work sites you pick. | No. It tracks time on the sites you limit. |
| Blocking | Any site and its subdomains, with path exceptions. YouTube opens plain: no feed, Shorts or suggestions. | Whole sites, subdomains, paths, pages, or parts of a page. Hides Shorts, comments and suggestions on YouTube. |
| Strictness | A 10-minute wait to unseal, strictness levels, locks up to 30 days, sealed hours, an exit code. | The Nuclear Option, a challenge before changing settings, active days and hours. |
| Someone to answer to | A partner gets an email if you loosen the seal, use the exit code or remove Onus. | Not offered. |
| Platforms | Chrome and Edge. Onus for Windows seals apps and other browsers. | Chrome, with usage synced from Android and other browsers. |
| Price | Free plan with 2 sealed sites and 1 work site. Full Onus $29.99 a year or $59 once, with a 7-day free trial. | See its Chrome Web Store listing. |
StayFocusd details from its Chrome Web Store listing, checked 31 October 2026. StayFocusd is a trademark of its owner, and Onus isn't affiliated with it.
Where StayFocusd is stronger
Reach and detail. It has hundreds of thousands of users, can block parts of a page, keeps a history of your site use, and syncs limits with Android. If a daily allowance is what works for you, it's a proven tool.
Where Onus is different
A daily allowance is the same on a lazy day as on a hard one. With Onus the time you get grows with the work you do, so the seal feels fair and stays on. Today shows the work you did, not only the time you lost.
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