Hidden Value vs StayFocusd
The short version: Hidden Value shows you the real dollar cost of every scroll, so cheap dopamine stops feeling worth chasing in the first place, backed by friction, popups, and an automatic tab close if you don't stop yourself. StayFocusd takes a different, older approach — a free Chrome extension that gives you a daily time allowance per site, down to specific subdomains, pages, or even in-page content, then blocks access once you run out. Its "Nuclear Option" hard-locks distraction sites for hours at a time and, once triggered, can't be paused — though switching browsers or removing the extension entirely still ends it, and picking too long a duration can lock you out badly. Here's the honest breakdown.
Most "X vs Y" pages are thinly disguised sales pitches where the author's product wins every round. This isn't that. StayFocusd does real, useful things Hidden Value doesn't — mainly, granular, free, timer-based blocking with over a decade of user trust behind it. The honest answer to "which should I use" comes down to whether you want a wall, or a reason not to want what's behind it — a daily allowance that runs out, or a cost that's visible every time so the pull loses its grip.
The quick verdict
Choose Hidden Value if…
You lose focus in Chrome on your work computer, you bill by the hour, and you want the urge itself to weaken — not just a wall to sit behind until the timer runs out. Built for founders, freelancers, and solopreneurs whose time converts directly into money.
Choose StayFocusd if…
You want a free, highly granular timer — blocking specific pages, subdomains, or even in-page videos — and you're fine with an access-based limit instead of seeing what the time is actually costing you.
Side-by-side comparison
| Hidden Value | StayFocusd | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary platform | Chrome (desktop browser); iPhone app coming soon | Chrome and Edge only — no Firefox, Safari, or desktop-app blocking |
| Core approach | Opportunity-cost visibility + friction + auto-close | Fixed daily time allowance per site, then a hard block until midnight |
| Blocking style | Graduated — friction, popups, then an automatic tab close on repeat offenders | Binary once your allowance is spent, with a granular "Nuclear Option" hard lock for scheduled hours |
| Shows cost in dollars | Yes — your Hidden Cost at your hourly rate | No — a usage timer and analytics, no dollar value |
| Can you turn it off? | Yes — a few clicks in chrome://extensions, same as any extension | Normally yes; its "Require Challenge" adds friction, but the Nuclear Option can only be escaped by switching browsers or removing the extension entirely |
| Granularity | Whole sites, tracked by your own list | Very fine — specific subdomains, pages, or in-page content like videos and forms |
| Pricing model | Free tier + optional Pro | Free |
Pricing changes and is often tested, so we don't quote exact numbers — check each product's site for current plans.
What is Hidden Value?
Hidden Value is a Chrome extension that tracks the sites eating your time and reframes them as opportunity cost: a running dollar figure based on your hourly rate. When you reach for a distracting site, it adds friction and shows you the cost before you commit. If that's not enough, it escalates — a popup, then an intervention, and if you still don't stop, it closes the tab for you automatically. It isn't a scheduled lock you set in advance; it responds to what you're actually doing.
The goal isn't just to stand between you and the dopamine — it's to make the source less addictive, so you stop wanting it as much in the first place. When every scroll carries a visible price, the pull weakens on its own, and you can see exactly what the habit is costing you in hours and dollars, not just in vague "you should focus more" terms. That's the part that lasts, especially on the work computer where your billable hours actually live.
What is StayFocusd?
StayFocusd is a free Chrome and Edge extension, and one of the oldest, most established names in site blocking — 700,000-plus users and a 4.4-star rating across 8.7K+ Chrome Web Store reviews. You set a daily time allowance for the sites that distract you; once it's spent, those sites are blocked until the day resets. It's unusually granular — you can block an entire site, a specific subdomain, a single page, or even in-page content like a video player or comment form, so you could, say, allow YouTube search but block its videos.
Its signature feature is the "Nuclear Option": a scheduled hard lock on chosen sites for a set number of hours, on chosen days. Once it's running, you can't pause it, whitelist a site, or change settings from within the browser — a genuinely strict block, and a "Require Challenge" setting (retype a paragraph of text) adds friction to changing settings the rest of the time too. It's worth being precise about the limits, though: the Nuclear Option only controls that one browser, so opening a different browser, or fully uninstalling the extension, ends the lock immediately. It also has no undo — setting an extreme duration by mistake (reviewers cite people accidentally locking in a multi-day block) leaves you stuck until the timer runs out. And StayFocusd shows no dollar cost at all — just a countdown and usage stats.
Where StayFocusd is genuinely useful: the granularity is real — few tools let you block specific in-page content instead of a whole site — and it's free, with a decade-plus of reviews behind it. If you want a strict daily allowance with zero cost to try it, StayFocusd is a legitimately good option.
A daily allowance is a wall you hit at a fixed point — but the dopamine is still waiting tomorrow when the clock resets, and the anticipation of the reset can make the pull worse, not better. Hidden Value isn't a wall at all, so being honest: you can turn it off just as easily as StayFocusd's Nuclear Option can be worked around by switching browsers — it's a Chrome extension, a few clicks in chrome://extensions and it's gone. The difference isn't that it's harder to escape. It's that it works on the source, not the access: when the true cost is visible every single time, the scroll itself starts to feel not worth it, so there's less pull to fight in the first place — and if that's not enough, an automatic tab close steps in as the backstop. One delays the reward; the other dissolves the pull. That's why, on a desktop during work, changing what you want beats a timer you have to wait out.
Where Hidden Value is the better choice
- You want the pull itself to weaken, not just a wall to sit behind. Hidden Value's angle is making cheap dopamine stop feeling worth chasing in the first place — when every scroll shows its real cost, the craving loses its grip instead of just waiting out a daily reset.
- You bill by the hour and want to see the actual time wasted. A real dollar figure — your Hidden Cost — hits differently than a "time's up" block screen. Curious what your number is? Run it through the screen time cost calculator.
- You want a lockout to actually escalate instead of resetting at midnight. StayFocusd's block clears the next day regardless of whether the habit changed; Hidden Value's cost keeps compounding for as long as the pattern continues. More on that in our guide to stopping doomscrolling during work hours.
Where StayFocusd is the better choice
- You want the most granular blocking available. Blocking a single page, subdomain, or piece of in-page content (like a video player) is something Hidden Value doesn't attempt — StayFocusd's granularity here is genuinely best-in-class.
- You want a free tool with a long track record. StayFocusd costs nothing and has years of Chrome Web Store reviews behind it — a reasonable bar if you're not sure you want to commit to anything yet.
Can you use both?
Yes — StayFocusd for its free, granular daily allowance and Nuclear Option on the sites you want hard-capped, Hidden Value for making the cost of what's left visible so the pull weakens instead of just waiting out a reset. They overlap in category but solve different parts of the problem.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hidden Value or StayFocusd better?
For distraction on your work computer, Hidden Value — it targets the pull itself: every scroll shows its real dollar cost, so cheap dopamine stops feeling worth chasing, and an automatic tab close steps in if friction alone isn't enough. StayFocusd is a solid choice if you want a free, highly granular timer-based blocker and don't need cost visibility. Different approaches to different problems.
Is StayFocusd's Nuclear Option really impossible to bypass?
Not quite. Once triggered, the Nuclear Option won't let you pause it, change settings, or access the blocked sites from within that browser until the timer ends — genuinely strict. But it's still a Chrome extension: switching to a different browser or fully uninstalling StayFocusd ends the lock immediately, and setting an extreme duration by mistake can lock you out of the entire internet in that browser for as long as you specified. Hidden Value doesn't try to be unbypassable either; it's a Chrome extension you can disable in a few clicks. Neither tool needs to be a fortress.
What is a good StayFocusd alternative for Chrome?
Hidden Value is a strong StayFocusd alternative if you want the cost of a distraction visible before you commit, not just a timer that runs out. Instead of a fixed daily allowance, it tracks the time you spend and shows the opportunity cost in dollars at your hourly rate, with friction, popups, and an automatic tab close as the backstop if you don't stop yourself.
Can I use both Hidden Value and StayFocusd?
Yes — StayFocusd for its granular, free time-limit blocking (down to specific pages or in-page content like videos), Hidden Value for making the cost of what's left visible so the pull weakens instead of just waiting out a timer. They overlap in category but solve different parts of the problem.
See what distraction costs you on desktop
Hidden Value tracks the sites stealing your time in Chrome and reframes them as the dollars and hours you're not getting back.
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