WebHandbrake by molfab

WebHandbrake is a website blocker with a gentler side. Block the sites that pull you in at the hours you choose or after a daily time limit, or just slow them down with a question or a few seconds’ wait, so that you go in only when you mean to.

It takes a minute to set up, it is free and open source, and it needs no account: everything stays on your device.

Block distracting sites

• Start from a ready-made list (social media, video, news, shopping, games or forums) or add your own sites.
• Choose when: every time, at set hours such as weekdays from 9 to 5, or after some time or a number of visits each day.
• Keep what you need: an exception allows a single page or section of a blocked site.
• The block page can remind you, in your own words, why you set the rule.

Or just slow them down

A short pause is often enough to stop opening a site out of habit. Instead of a block, choose:

• Ask first: say what you want to do and for how long. When the time is up, it asks again.
• Wait: a short countdown to take a breath before the page opens.
• Challenge: type random characters or a phrase, or solve a small sum.
• Filter: greyscale, blur or fade make a page less appealing.
• Redirect: open a page of your choice instead, such as your to-do list, or close the tab.

Time limits and focus sessions

• Limit your time or your visits per hour, per day or every few days.
• The toolbar icon and a small timer on the page show how much time is left.
• Time runs out while you are writing? You get a moment to finish or copy your text.
• Start a focus session now or later: it blocks the sites of your rules, a list of your own, or everything except the sites you need.
• Need a blocked site for a minute? Take a short break, if your rule allows it.

Firm when you need it

In a weak moment, the easiest way around a blocker is to switch it off. With WebHandbrake you decide in advance how hard that is, rule by rule:

• a simple confirmation;
• a wait before the change applies, from a few seconds to 30 days;
• a password that someone you trust keeps for you;
• a code from a friend’s authenticator app;
• no changes until a date you choose, or never.

Making a rule stricter always works straight away. Changing the system clock will not get you around it, and with a firm protection the browser’s extension and settings pages stay closed too. If you overdo it, the emergency exit always works and needs nobody else: you wait a day (by default), then type a sentence.

See where your time goes

• Insights shows your time by day and by hour, by rule and by site, and how many times you chose not to go in.
• Save a blocked page for later, and find it when the site is allowed again.
• Why? tells you which rule applies to a page and when that will change.

Private by design

• No account, no server, no ads, no analytics. WebHandbrake makes no network requests of its own.
• Your rules and statistics stay in your browser. Export them or delete them at any time.
• Free and open-source software, licensed under the GPL: source code on GitHub.

Also included

• Works on Firefox for Android too, in a layout made for your phone.
• Light and dark themes, high contrast, and keyboard and screen-reader support.
• Import your existing block lists, including hosts files and common filter-list formats.
• Automatic backups, keyboard shortcuts, a right-click menu and built-in help that works offline.

Why it asks to “access your data for all websites”: WebHandbrake needs this to check each page you open against your rules and to stop a blocked page before it loads, on any site you choose. Nothing it reads is ever sent anywhere. The privacy policy explains every permission.