Slow Dopamine
Block distracting websites and social media completely
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Website blocker & time limits for Chrome
Block distracting websites. Build instead.
Slow Dopamine is a free Chrome extension that blocks distracting websites and social media, limits your time on them with a cooldown, or makes you pause before they open. Only time with a site on screen counts, loosening a limit takes a 45-second wait, and nothing leaves your browser.
- Works with any website
- No account
- No ads, no tracking
- Chrome 116+
What Slow Dopamine does
Pick how strict to be with each site. The pause works on its own or in front of a time limit.
Set a time limit with a cooldown
- Allow a short window, say 5 minutes, then the site locks for a cooldown you choose.
- Only on-screen time counts. Background tabs and minimized windows don't.
- A small draggable timer shows what's left.
- Every tab of the site locks at zero. Reloading doesn't reset it.
- Stay away for the whole cooldown and your full time comes back.
Pause before you scroll
Before the site opens, a calm screen asks "Why are you here?" and counts down 5 seconds (1 to 300, your call). Ask on every visit or only after time away, and see how often you turned back.
A 45-second cool-off before loosening a limit
Turning a mode off, adding time or removing a site first takes a 45-second wait. Tightening is instant.
Screen time for the sites on your list
Today, yesterday and your daily average, plus a 7-day chart for each site. History stays for 30 days.
Private by design
No account, no analytics, no ads. Your list and your screen time stay in your browser.
Why are you here?
Most visits to a feed aren't decisions, they're reflexes. A few seconds of friction turns the reflex back into a choice, and often the honest answer is to close the tab.
Hanging around here won't help you grow.
Cheap dopamine vs slow dopamine: what's the difference?
Cheap dopamine is everyday shorthand for the quick, effortless reward of feeds, short videos and notifications: easy to start, hard to stop. Slow dopamine is the satisfaction that comes from effort: building, learning, finishing something. Both are popular terms, not medical ones. Slow Dopamine doesn't ban the fast kind. It puts friction in front of it, so opening a feed becomes a choice instead of a reflex.
At a glance
| What it is | Website blocker, website time limiter and screen time tracker for Chrome |
|---|---|
| Modes per site | Block completely, timed access with a cooldown, pause before entering |
| What counts as time | Only time with the site visible on screen |
| Pause screen | "Why are you here?", then a 5-second countdown (1 to 300 seconds per site) |
| Loosening a limit | 45-second cool-off; tightening is instant |
| Screen time | Today, yesterday, daily average, a 7-day chart per site, 30 days of history |
| Privacy | No account, no analytics, no ads; all data stays in the browser |
| Languages | English, Türkçe, Deutsch, Español, Français, Português (Brasil) |
| Price | Free |
| Requires | Google Chrome 116 or newer on desktop |
Set it up in a minute
- Add Slow Dopamine to Chrome. The dashboard opens on its own.
- Add your red flag sites. Type any website, or pick YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or X with one click.
- Pick a mode for each site. Block it, give it a time limit, add a pause, or combine the pause with a limit.
Questions
How do I block a website in Chrome with Slow Dopamine?
Open the dashboard, add the site (type any address or pick a popular one), click it and switch on Block completely. The site and its subdomains stop loading, and tabs that already have it open go to the block screen.
How do I set a time limit on YouTube or any other site in Chrome?
Add youtube.com, switch on Timed access and set Allowed time (say 15 minutes) and Cooldown (say 45 minutes). Only time with YouTube on screen counts. When it runs out, every YouTube tab locks until the cooldown ends.
How do I stop doomscrolling on my computer?
Put friction between you and the feeds you scroll most. Add those sites to Slow Dopamine and pick a mode for each: block the worst one completely, give the others a short time limit with a cooldown, or make yourself stop at a "Why are you here?" screen before they open. Loosening any limit later takes a 45-second wait, so a passing urge can't undo a decision you made with a clear head.
What happens when my time runs out?
Every tab of that site goes to the block screen with a countdown, and reloading doesn't reset it. When the countdown ends you choose Close this tab or Continue. If you stay away for the cooldown length on your own, your full time comes back.
What is the "Why are you here?" pause?
An optional screen shown before a site opens. It asks why you came, waits a few seconds, then lets you continue to the exact page or close the tab. It can ask on every visit or only after you've been away for a while, and it shows how often you turned back over the last 7 days.
Can I switch it off when I'm tempted?
Yes, but anything that loosens a limit first shows a 45-second countdown that only runs while the dashboard is on screen. Tightening a limit is instant. Most urges don't last that long.
Does Slow Dopamine collect my data?
No. The site list, settings and screen time stay in Chrome's extension storage on your device, and screen time is deleted after 30 days. The only network request is fetching a site's icon when you add it. There is no account, no analytics and no ads. Read the privacy policy.
Is Slow Dopamine free?
Yes. Every feature is free, with no account and no ads.
How is it different from other website blockers?
If you've used StayFocusd, LeechBlock NG, BlockSite or one sec, Slow Dopamine does the same core job, blocking sites and limiting time on them, with a few specific choices:
- Only time with the site visible on screen counts toward a limit.
- Staying away for the whole cooldown gives your full time back, so it rewards breaks.
- The pause can run on its own or in front of a time limit, per site.
- Loosening any limit takes a 45-second wait; tightening never does.
- No account and no server: everything stays in your browser, and it's free.