What's the best Chrome extension for ADHD in 2026?

For most people with ADHD, the best Chrome extension is a simple, no-account website blocker that removes distractions before the impulse hits. Focuh is a strong default because it's free, needs no signup, and has no cap on sites, so setup friction — the thing that kills ADHD-friendly tools — is near zero. LeechBlock NG is more powerful if you like configuring, and Forest helps if you respond to gamified streaks. The best one is the one you'll actually keep on.

Why do website blockers help with ADHD specifically?

ADHD makes it hard to stop a behavior once it starts and easy to drift into novelty without deciding to. A website blocker works because it acts before the impulse: when the distracting tab simply doesn't open, there's no in-the-moment willpower battle to lose. You move the hard decision to a calm moment — choosing your blocklist once — instead of fighting it every time a notification or a stray thought pulls you toward Reddit.

Is a Chrome extension enough for ADHD, or do I need more?

A Chrome extension is enough if your distractions live in Chrome tabs. The catch with ADHD is that you'll often find the path of least resistance — switching to Safari, opening a phone, or launching a desktop app. A browser extension can't block other browsers or native apps. If you notice yourself routing around the block, OS-level blocking like the free Focuh Mac app closes those gaps across your whole system.

Should an ADHD blocker be hard to bypass or easy?

Aim for enough friction to interrupt autopilot, but not so much that you resent it and rip it out. Any Chrome extension can be disabled from chrome://extensions, which is fine — the goal isn't a prison, it's a speed bump that breaks the reflex. If you have genuine compulsion rather than autopilot drift, a stronger OS-level block that takes deliberate effort to undo works better than a browser toggle you can flip in two clicks.

Does the Pomodoro technique work with ADHD?

It can, but the standard 25/5 split doesn't suit everyone with ADHD. Some people need shorter sprints to start, others get pulled out of hyperfocus by a timer going off mid-flow. Treat the interval as adjustable, not sacred. Pair the timer with a blocker so the focused stretch is actually protected — a Pomodoro that still lets you open Instagram isn't doing much. Experiment with lengths until starting feels easy.

Are there free Chrome extensions for ADHD, or do they all cost money?

Several are genuinely free. Focuh is free with no account and no site cap. LeechBlock NG is free and open-source. StayFocusd is free but unmaintained and owned by an ad-intelligence company. Many blockers labeled 'free' cap you at three sites and push a subscription. For ADHD, avoid tools that add a signup or payment wall, because every extra setup step is a chance to abandon it before it helps.

How many sites should someone with ADHD block?

Block every site you reliably lose time to, not just the obvious one. ADHD distraction is whack-a-mole: block YouTube and you drift to Reddit, block Reddit and you find news. List your real time sinks — social media, video, shopping, news, forums — and block them as one set. This is why a no-cap blocker matters; a three-site limit fills up before you've covered your actual pattern.

What if I forget to turn the blocker on?

Forgetting to start is the classic ADHD failure point, so pick a tool that defaults to on or runs a long block rather than one you must remember to trigger each session. Focuh's challenge model keeps sites blocked for the whole run — 30, 91, or 180 days — so there's nothing to switch on each morning. If you prefer per-session blocking, tie it to a fixed cue like opening your laptop so it's automatic.

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Best Chrome Extension for ADHD (2026)

June 21, 202610 min readFocuh

If you have ADHD, you already know the problem isn't that you don't want to focus — it's that a single stray tab can vaporize an hour before you've noticed. The best Chrome extension for ADHD is the one that removes the distraction before the impulse arrives, with as little setup as possible. For most people that's a free, no-account website blocker like Focuh; if you like tinkering, LeechBlock NG goes deeper, and if streaks motivate you, Forest helps.

This guide compares the Chrome extensions that actually help an ADHD brain, what to look for, and the honest limits of any browser-only tool.

What makes a Chrome extension ADHD-friendly?

Most productivity advice assumes you can decide to focus and then do it. ADHD doesn't work that way. The trait that matters is impulsivity: once a behavior starts, stopping is hard, and novelty pulls you sideways without a conscious choice. So the useful extension isn't the one with the most features — it's the one that:

Acts before the impulse. The distracting tab simply doesn't open, so there's no in-the-moment battle.
Has near-zero setup friction. Every signup, paywall, or config screen is a chance to bail before it helps.
Doesn't cap your sites. ADHD distraction is whack-a-mole — block one site and you drift to the next.
Doesn't rely on you remembering. If you have to switch it on each morning, you won't.

Hold each extension against that list and the field narrows fast.

The best Chrome extensions for ADHD, compared

Extension	Free?	Account needed	Site cap	Best for
Focuh	Yes	No	None	Low-friction, long blocks you don't have to restart
LeechBlock NG	Yes	No	None (30 blocksets)	People who like configuring schedules and rules
StayFocusd	Yes	No	None	Daily time budgets, legacy users
Forest	Freemium	Yes	n/a	People motivated by streaks and visuals
BlockSite	Freemium	Yes	3 (free tier)	Trying a couple of sites before paying

The column that matters most for ADHD is the third and fourth together: an account requirement plus a site cap is exactly the friction that makes a tool die in your extensions list after a week.

Focuh: lowest friction to start

Focuh is a free Chrome extension that blocks distracting sites for the length of a challenge you set — 30, 91, or 180 days, or a custom number. There's no account, no signup, no telemetry, and no cap on how many sites you block. Your blocklist and the daily attempt counter live in local Chrome storage and never leave your device.

For ADHD specifically, two things stand out. First, setup is fast enough that you can't talk yourself out of it — install, type your distractions, start. Second, the challenge model means you're not relying on memory: once it's running, sites stay blocked for the whole run, so there's no "turn it on" step to forget each day. The same team ships a free Mac app for when browser-only blocking isn't enough.

The honest limits: it's a Chrome extension, so it blocks Chrome only, and like any extension it can be disabled from chrome://extensions if you're determined. It's an interruption tool, not an unbreakable wall.

Try Focuh

LeechBlock NG: most control, if you like control

LeechBlock NG is free, open-source, and the most configurable blocker here — 30 independent blocksets, each with its own list, schedule, time limit, and lockdown rule. You can block by domain, URL pattern, or keyword, and set different rules for different days.

For some ADHD profiles this is perfect: if you enjoy systems and the act of configuring feels rewarding, you'll build something tuned exactly to you. For others it's a trap — the dense options page becomes a project you tinker with instead of working. Be honest about which one you are. If "set it up" turns into a two-hour rabbit hole, pick something simpler.

StayFocusd and Forest: budgets and streaks

StayFocusd is free and built around a daily time budget — you allow yourself a set number of minutes on blocked sites, then they're locked for the rest of the day. It works, but it's unmaintained and owned by an ad-intelligence company, so weigh that. The budget model can backfire for ADHD, since "I still have ten minutes left" is an invitation.

Forest is the gamified option: you grow a virtual tree while you focus, and leaving kills it. If you respond to streaks and loss aversion — and plenty of ADHD brains do — that emotional hook can be more motivating than a plain block. The tradeoff is it's freemium and account-based, so there's more setup. For a deeper look, see our Forest alternative and Focuh vs Forest comparisons.

Pair the blocker with structure

A blocker removes the distraction, but ADHD also struggles with starting and with time. Two pairings help:

A timer that makes starting easy. The Pomodoro technique can work, but don't treat 25 minutes as law — shorten the sprint until starting feels trivial, or lengthen it if a buzzer keeps yanking you out of hyperfocus. See the Pomodoro technique for ADHD for adjustments that fit.
A way to externalize time. Time blindness means hours vanish unnoticed. A visible timer or session counter turns invisible time into something you can see. Our best focus apps for ADHD in 2026 covers tools built around this.

The extension protects the focused stretch; the structure gets you into it.

The honest limit of any Chrome extension

A Chrome extension blocks Chrome. That's it. For ADHD this matters more than usual, because you're exceptionally good at finding the path of least resistance without meaning to. Block YouTube in Chrome and you'll open it in Safari. Block the website and you'll open the desktop app. None of that is a willpower failure — it's the trait doing what it does.

If you catch yourself routing around a browser block, that's the signal to move up to OS-level blocking. The free Focuh Mac app blocks sites across every browser and native apps during a focus session, using macOS Accessibility APIs rather than a browser toggle — so there's no second browser to escape to and it's harder to flip off mid-session. For why that matters, see system-level vs browser blocking.

Which one should you pick?

"I want to start in under a minute and not think about it again" — Focuh. Lowest friction, no account, long blocks you don't restart.
"I like building systems and will actually maintain it" — LeechBlock NG. The most powerful free option once configured.
"Streaks and not-killing-the-tree motivate me" — Forest.
"I want a daily allowance, not a hard block" — StayFocusd, with the ownership caveat.

No extension fixes ADHD. What a good one does is take a decision you're bad at making in the moment and move it to a moment when you're calm. Pick the one with the least friction, block more sites than feels necessary, and if you start escaping to other browsers or apps, add the free Mac app on top. Both are free, so you can run the Chrome extension and the desktop app together without paying for either.