Focus AI

Focus AI targets a specific and familiar failure: most blockers are easy to switch off. The founder's first support email came from a student who kept disabling the extension through the Chrome puzzle-piece icon. That insight shapes the whole product, which sets out to make quitting annoying rather than merely discouraged.

The core mechanism is an AI classifier that evaluates each page against the task you typed at the start of a session. Rather than blocking youtube.com outright, it distinguishes contexts, letting a calculus lecture or a Google Doc through while rejecting Shorts, Reels and TikTok. Sessions run in 25, 45 or 60 minute blocks, and three blocking levels range from standard filtering to strict mode with no exit at all.

The second mechanism is the Quit Wall. There is no quit button to click; to end a session early you must type the phrase 'I am choosing to give up' letter by letter, with no pasting. A third element rewards the behavior you want: each time you resist a diversion it is logged as an urge surfed, and reclaimed minutes accumulate into a weekly tally. A persistent LOCKED IN badge sits on every page and blocked pages catch you when you drift. Setup takes about 30 seconds and requires no account. Focus AI is operated by IndieHacker Ventures Limited, registered in England and Wales, and the developer answers support email personally, often within a couple of hours.