StayFocusd got one thing exactly right: instead of banning a site outright, it gives you a daily allowance of time on it, and when the time is gone the site is gone until tomorrow. That mechanic is why hundreds of thousands of people installed it.
The reasons people look for a replacement are just as concrete. The extension has seen little active development for years, and it is owned by Sensor Tower, a market-intelligence company whose business is app and ad analytics rather than consumer productivity tools. If you're using a focus extension precisely because you want fewer companies involved in your browsing, that ownership sits oddly.
Barricade keeps the part worth keeping. You can give any site a daily budget: 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes. Before the timer starts there is a short pause, so opening the site is a decision rather than a reflex. When the budget is spent, the wall goes up until tomorrow. It's free for up to 3 budgeted sites, and it comes from one independent developer with no analytics company behind it and a public commitment not to sell the extension.
| Barricade | StayFocusd | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily time limits per site | Yes, free for 3 sites, unlimited in Pro | Yes |
| Actively maintained | Yes | Largely dormant for years |
| Owner | Independent developer | Sensor Tower, an app-analytics firm |
| Pause before entering a budgeted site | Yes, a short wait so it's deliberate | No |
| Outright blocking too | Yes, unlimited and free | Yes |
| Schedules and password lock | Pro, $14.99 once | Built in |
| Analytics or tracking in the extension | None | See their privacy policy |
An honest note: StayFocusd is entirely free, including features Barricade puts in its one-time Pro tier, and its "Nuclear Option" is stricter than anything in Barricade's free tier. If it still does everything you need and the ownership doesn't bother you, keep it. Barricade is for people who want the time-budget idea from something current, independent, and local-only.
Add Barricade to Chrome, freeComparison reflects publicly available information about StayFocusd as of August 2026; check their listing for current details. Also see: BlockSite alternative · site blockers without an account · privacy