Is Focuh a good RescueTime alternative?

It depends what you use RescueTime for. If you mainly want automatic time tracking and productivity reports, RescueTime is still stronger — that's its core. If you want to actually block distractions, run focus sessions, and manage tasks, Focuh is the better fit and it's free. Focuh blocks websites and apps at the macOS system level, where RescueTime's FocusTime blocking sits behind its paid plan.

Is Focuh free, and what does RescueTime cost?

Focuh is completely free, including system-level blocking. RescueTime has a limited free tier and a paid premium plan that adds FocusTime blocking, detailed reports, and history. If website blocking is the main reason you'd use RescueTime, you'd be paying for a feature Focuh gives you for nothing. For passive time-tracking analytics, RescueTime's paid plan does more than Focuh attempts to.

Does Focuh track my time automatically like RescueTime?

No, and this is the honest trade-off. RescueTime's signature feature is running silently in the background and logging every app and site automatically into productivity reports. Focuh doesn't do passive background tracking — it's built around deliberate focus sessions you start yourself. If automatic, hands-off time analytics is what you need, RescueTime is the right tool and Focuh isn't a replacement for that part.

Can Focuh block apps as well as websites?

Yes. Focuh blocks both websites and native macOS apps at the system level, so Slack, Discord, or Messages can go on the blocklist alongside sites. RescueTime's FocusTime can block distracting websites and, on some plans, applications, but it's a premium feature. With Focuh, app and website blocking is free and tied to your focus sessions rather than running as an always-on rule.

Does Focuh's blocking work across all browsers?

Yes. Focuh blocks at the macOS level using Accessibility APIs, so a blocked site is blocked in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Arc, and every other browser at once. You don't install a separate extension per browser. The trade-off versus a tool like SelfControl is that Focuh's block can be stopped by revoking its Accessibility permission, whereas SelfControl's block is irreversible until the timer ends.

Is RescueTime or Focuh better for deep focus work?

Focuh, if 'deep focus' means sitting down to a blocked, timed work session on one task. Focuh structures work into sessions: pick a task, start the timer, distractions are blocked until you stop. RescueTime is more of a measurement tool — it tells you afterward how your time was spent, and FocusTime can block sites during a window. Many people want the doing, not just the reporting, which is where Focuh fits.

Does Focuh run on Windows like RescueTime?

Not yet — Focuh's blocking is built for macOS. RescueTime is genuinely cross-platform, covering Mac, Windows, Linux, and mobile, which is a real advantage if you work across operating systems. If you're a Mac user who wants free blocking, a focus timer, and tasks, Focuh fits. If you need one tracker spanning Windows and Mac, RescueTime's reach is the deciding factor.

Can I use Focuh and RescueTime together?

Yes, and it's a sensible combination. Let RescueTime do what it's best at — automatic time tracking and weekly reports — while Focuh handles the active side: blocking distractions during free focus sessions and organizing tasks. You get RescueTime's measurement plus Focuh's free system-level blocking and timer, without paying for FocusTime if blocking is all you wanted from the premium plan.

RescueTime Alternative

Best RescueTime Alternative for Mac (2026)

RescueTime tracks where your time goes, but blocking is a premium add-on. Focuh is a free RescueTime alternative with system-level blocking and a focus timer.

June 14, 2026

Why Look for a RescueTime Alternative?

RescueTime is one of the best-known time-tracking tools for a reason. It runs quietly in the background, logs every app and website you touch, and turns it into productivity reports and a daily score. If your question is "where did my day actually go," RescueTime answers it better than almost anything.

But a lot of people install RescueTime hoping it will help them stop getting distracted, and that's where the mismatch starts.

Blocking is a paid add-on. RescueTime's actual blocking feature, FocusTime, lives behind the premium plan. The free tier mostly measures; it doesn't enforce. If you came for website blocking, you came for the part you have to pay for.

Measuring isn't doing. RescueTime tells you that you spent two hours on YouTube. That's useful once, maybe twice. After that, the report is just a more detailed way of feeling bad — it doesn't put a wall between you and the next two hours.

No task management. RescueTime tracks time against categories, not against the specific things you're trying to get done. There's no place to plan your day or work a list down.

No real focus-session structure. FocusTime can block sites for a window, but RescueTime isn't built around the sit-down-and-work session: choose a task, start a timer, block everything else until you're done.

If what you really wanted was to block distractions and focus — not just generate a chart about them — a different tool fits better.

How Focuh Compares to RescueTime

Focuh approaches the same problem from the other end. Instead of measuring your time and reporting back, it blocks the distractions and structures the work while it's happening — and the blocking is free.

	RescueTime	Focuh
Automatic time tracking	Yes (its core strength)	No
Website blocking	FocusTime (premium)	Yes, free
App blocking	Premium, where available	Yes, free
Blocks across all browsers	Yes	Yes, system-level
Focus timer / sessions	Limited	Yes, core feature
Task board	No	Yes
Google Calendar sync	No	Yes
Free blocking	No	Yes
Platforms	Mac, Windows, Linux, mobile	macOS

System-level blocking, for free. Focuh blocks websites and apps at the macOS level through Accessibility APIs, so a blocked site is gone in every browser at once. With RescueTime you'd pay for FocusTime to get comparable blocking.

App blocking included. Slack, Discord, and Messages can go straight on the blocklist alongside websites. For many people, app notifications are the bigger distraction, and Focuh treats them as first-class.

Focus sessions, not just reports. You pick a task, start the timer, and distractions are blocked until the session ends. The timer counts down in your menu bar. It's a doing tool, where RescueTime is a measuring tool.

A task board to work from. Instead of staring at a blocked site wondering what to do, you have a kanban board of tasks organized by day, so every focus session has a clear target.

Google Calendar sync. Your scheduled tasks and focus sessions line up with your meetings — handy for timeboxing, which RescueTime doesn't do.

Where RescueTime Still Wins

This isn't a case where one tool simply beats the other. RescueTime does things Focuh doesn't try to.

Automatic time tracking. This is the big one. RescueTime logs everything passively, with no effort from you, and turns it into reports and trends over weeks and months. Focuh has no equivalent — it's built around sessions you start, not silent background logging. If hands-off analytics is your goal, RescueTime is the right tool.

Cross-platform reach. RescueTime runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, and mobile. Focuh's blocking is macOS-only. If you split your work across operating systems, RescueTime's coverage matters.

Detailed productivity reports. Daily scores, category breakdowns, weekly email summaries — RescueTime's reporting is mature and genuinely useful for spotting patterns over time.

Does Switching Away from RescueTime Mean Losing Your Data?

If you've been using RescueTime for a while, your history is one reason to hesitate. You don't have to throw it away. RescueTime keeps tracking and reporting whether or not you also run Focuh, so you can add Focuh purely for blocking and focus sessions while RescueTime continues logging in the background. Nothing about installing Focuh touches your RescueTime account or its data.

The practical migration, if you want one, is to stop paying for FocusTime — the premium blocking feature — and let Focuh handle blocking for free. You keep RescueTime's free reporting, drop the part you were paying extra for, and gain a focus timer and task board you didn't have before. For a lot of people that's a cheaper, more capable setup than RescueTime Premium alone.

The Trade-Off: Measuring vs. Blocking

The choice comes down to what you actually want from the tool.

If you want to understand where your time goes: RescueTime. Nothing in Focuh replaces automatic background tracking and long-term reports.

If you want to block distractions and focus, for free: Focuh. System-level website and app blocking, a focus timer, and a task board, with no premium tier gating the blocking.

They're not really competitors so much as two halves of a workflow. RescueTime measures; Focuh enforces. Plenty of people run both — RescueTime for the weekly report, Focuh for the daily blocked focus sessions — and skip paying for FocusTime entirely.

Who Should Choose Focuh Over RescueTime?

Focuh is the better choice if you:

Want free system-level website and app blocking, not a paid add-on
Need a focus timer and task board, not just analytics
Work on macOS and want blocking across every browser at once
Care more about doing the work than measuring it afterward
Use Google Calendar and want focus sessions to line up with it

RescueTime is the better choice if you:

Want automatic, hands-off time tracking above all
Need detailed productivity reports and long-term trends
Work across Windows, Linux, and mobile as well as Mac
Are happy to pay for FocusTime to get blocking

If blocking is what you're after, compare Focuh with the tools built specifically for it — see our SelfControl alternative for free irreversible blocking, Focuh vs Cold Turkey for the strongest paid locking, and the roundup of the best website blockers for Mac for the full field.

Download Focuh — free, with system-level blocking, a focus timer, and tasks. Keep RescueTime for the reports if you like; you won't need to pay for FocusTime to block distractions anymore.