pause.do is a browser extension that creates small moments of friction before attention-draining behaviors AI prompt offloading, mindless scrolling, and tab overload. It does not block websites. It inserts a brief pause so you can choose consciously, not by habit.

How does pause.do work?

pause.do runs entirely in your browser. It detects low-effort AI prompts (e.g. "rewrite this", "make it better"), rapid scrolling sessions, and tab overload. When triggered, a brief 5–30 second overlay appears with a breathing animation. You choose whether to pause, try it yourself, or continue. All processing happens locally no data leaves your device.

What is "Think First" in pause.do?

Think First is pause.do's AI-awareness feature. It detects when you type a low-effort prompt into AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini phrases like "rewrite this" or "make it better" and suggests spending a few minutes attempting the task yourself first. This helps maintain cognitive engagement and prevents habitual AI offloading.

Does pause.do work with ChatGPT?

Yes. The Think First feature works on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and any AI tool you access in the browser. It detects low-effort prompt patterns regardless of which AI platform you're using.

Does pause.do block websites?

No. pause.do does not block or restrict any websites. It creates small moments of friction a brief pause rather than a hard wall. This is intentional: the goal is awareness and choice, not restriction.

How is pause.do different from Freedom or Cold Turkey?

Freedom and Cold Turkey block websites on a schedule. pause.do works differently it does not block access or require scheduling. Instead, it inserts micro-pauses at the moment of impulse, targeting specific behaviors (AI offloading, rapid scrolling, tab spirals). The user always retains control.

Yes. pause.do is designed privacy-first. All data your attention patterns, pause history, and AI balance is stored in IndexedDB on your device. There is no telemetry, no cloud sync, no account required, and no data sold or shared.

How much does pause.do cost?

pause.do is free to install. A one-time license at £6.99 unlocks all five pause types, Think First for AI, the full Attention Map and insights dashboard, and all future updates. There is no subscription.

Pause.do vs Freedom vs Cold Turkey: Why They Solve Different Problems

pause.do, Freedom, and Cold Turkey are all described as "focus tools" but they operate on fundamentally different models. Choosing the wrong one for your situation is common, and leads to abandoned tools and the conclusion that "nothing works for me."

Here's an honest breakdown of each approach.

The core distinction: blocking vs. friction

Blocking tools (Freedom, Cold Turkey) restrict access to websites or apps. You schedule a session, select sites to block, and those sites become unreachable for the duration. The decision is made in advance, during a moment of intention, and the tool enforces it when your willpower is lower.

Friction tools (pause.do) don't restrict anything. They insert a brief pause at the moment of impulse, a few seconds between the automatic reach for a distraction and the actual behaviour. The decision remains with you, every time.

Both approaches can work. They target different failure modes.

Freedom

Freedom is a subscription service that lets you block websites and apps on a schedule, across devices. It works on macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android, syncing blocks across all of them.

What it does well:

Cross-device blocking (phone and computer blocked simultaneously)
Scheduled sessions: block during work hours automatically
A large library of pre-built blocklists
"Locked mode" that prevents you from disabling a session early

Who it's for: Freedom works well for people whose primary problem is compulsive app switching, particularly those who find themselves reaching for their phone during deep work without thinking. If you've tried softer approaches and they haven't worked, the enforced inability to bypass a block can be genuinely useful.

The tradeoff: Freedom can't address behaviours that happen on allowed sites (reading news on sites you haven't blocked, using AI tools, specific types of scrolling). It also requires subscription commitment: $3.99/month or $39.99/year.

Cold Turkey

Cold Turkey is a one-time purchase blocking tool for macOS and Windows. It's more aggressive than Freedom by design; the "Frozen Turkey" mode can lock your entire computer except for specific applications.

What it does well:

More granular blocking than Freedom (specific subpages, not just domains)
Pomodoro timer integration
One-time purchase ($39) rather than subscription
Extremely difficult to bypass; Cold Turkey's blocks are genuinely hard to circumvent

Who it's for: Cold Turkey suits people who need hard boundaries and have found that easier-to-bypass blockers don't create enough friction. It's particularly popular with students, writers, and people managing ADHD who need an environment engineered for focus.

The tradeoff: Cold Turkey is Windows/Mac only, no mobile. The aggressive blocking can feel punitive rather than supportive. And like Freedom, it can't address the specific behaviours that happen within allowed sites.

pause.do

pause.do is a browser extension (Chrome, Edge, Arc, Brave) that doesn't block anything. Instead, it inserts brief pauses (5 to 30 seconds) when it detects three specific patterns:

Rapid scrolling on time-sink sites
Low-effort AI prompts, phrases like "rewrite this" or "make it better" typed into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity
Tab overload, opening your 20th or 30th browser tab

When triggered, a brief overlay appears. You can continue immediately if you want to. The pause is the feature, not a barrier.

Who it's for: pause.do is suited for people whose attention problem isn't "I can't stop opening Twitter" but "I'm using the browser in ways I didn't intend: scrolling when I meant to research, prompting AI when I meant to think, opening tabs I don't need." The behaviours it targets happen within your normal browsing, not on blocked sites.

The tradeoff: pause.do won't help if your problem is that you keep opening your phone. It's a browser tool for browser behaviour. It also requires awareness to work; it creates a moment for reflection, but it doesn't enforce the decision.

Side-by-side comparison

	pause.do	Freedom	Cold Turkey
Model	Friction (pause)	Blocking	Blocking
Blocks websites	No	Yes	Yes
Requires scheduling	No	Yes	Yes
Works on AI tools	Yes	No	No
Detects scrolling behaviour	Yes	No	No
Mobile support	No (browser only)	Yes	No
Privacy (local-only data)	Yes	No	Partial
Price	Free + £6.99 one-time	$3.99/mo	$39 one-time
Bypassable	Yes (by design)	No (locked mode)	No

Which should you use?

Choose Freedom or Cold Turkey if:

Your problem is reaching for your phone or opening specific apps compulsively
You need cross-device blocking (Freedom)
You've tried softer tools and found them too easy to bypass
You want scheduled enforcement rather than moment-by-moment choice

Choose pause.do if:

You browse normally but find yourself doing things within the browser you didn't intend
You want to use AI tools more intentionally, not avoid them
You don't want to block sites, just be more aware of when you're in a drift pattern
Privacy matters: you don't want your attention data leaving your device

Use both if:

You block your phone with Freedom, but want browser-specific awareness for the times you're working at a computer. pause.do handles the behaviour Freedom can't see.

The right tool is the one that addresses your actual problem. For many people, the answer is more specific than "I need to focus," and the specificity determines which approach works.

pause.do is free to install. The one-time licence (£6.99) unlocks all five pause types, AI prompt awareness, and the full Attention Map. No subscription. Install free