The best alternative to Focus is Hyud

In a world where distraction is just a click away and sedentary work saps health and energy, Mac users are searching for tools that help them stay focused while maintaining well‑being. Two popular apps have emerged in this space: Hyud, a Mac productivity and wellness tool that integrates posture monitoring, regular breaks and digital detox features, and Focus, a Mac distraction blocker. This article thoroughly compares Hyud and Focus across features, user experience, blocking effectiveness, customization, cross‑platform support, integrations, performance, support and updates, pricing and target audience.

Overview

Hyud

Hyud is an app that keeps you healthy and productive. The app emphasizes customizing work sessions with the ability to name sessions, set duration and enable or disable breaks, posture monitoring and website or application blocking. During a session you can block popular categories of websites and add custom sites or apps. Once a session starts you cannot access the blocked sites or apps until the session ends. Hyud also monitors your posture using your device’s camera. If you begin to slouch, the app alerts you or can even block the screen until you correct your posture. Beyond sessions, Hyud can enforce digital curfews by automatically shutting down your Mac at scheduled times. The curfew feature includes (or not) a 60‑second countdown warning before shutdown and options to postpone or cancel when necessary. The goal is to create non‑negotiable boundaries that protect sleep and family time. Hyud goes deeper into health with its break reminder feature. Sitting for long hours can lead to muscle weakness, poor circulation and increased risk of serious diseases. Hyud therefore encourages regular breaks. You can configure the duration and frequency of breaks, with a ten‑minute warning before the next break and the ability to postpone it by a few minutes. Break modes include AFK, normal, eye reliever and exercise. AFK requires you to leave your desk before the timer continues. Normal simply alerts you. Eye reliever mode darkens the screen for the duration and exercise forces you to perform small workouts in front of the camera before resuming. The app also comes with a dynamic island timer floating on the screen so you can always see how much time is left in a session. Pricing is straightforward: a monthly subscription costs $9 per month and includes all feature. A one‑time purchase for $99 allows you to use Hyud forever with free updates for life. For teams buying at least five licenses, the price drops to $79 per license, also with lifetime updates. Hyud offers a 30‑day money‑back guarantee and a short 48‑hour free trial for new users.

Focus

Focus bills itself as a Mac productivity app that helps users "take back their productivity". Its homepage describes Focus as a distraction blocker that works across all browsers and blocks websites and applications on Mac. Focus provides a suite of productivity features: it can create custom schedules for work or study, integrate with the Pomodoro technique, lock focus sessions so they cannot be ended early, support multiple profiles for different contexts, password‑protect profiles, track statistics about focused time and even run scripts at the start or end of sessions. Focus also includes inspirational quotes and quick blocking via a menubar icon. The pricing structure for Focus is a one‑time purchase: Focus 2 costs $49 and includes every features. A lifetime plan costs $129 and adds lifetime updates. Focus does not require a subscription and offers a 30‑day money‑back guarantee. The website blocking feature lets you add or remove websites, drag and drop sites onto the menubar icon for quick blocking and employ an "allowed websites" option that locks down the entire internet except specific sites. App blocking works similarly: you can add any Mac application to the block list, and Focus will hide or quit it. Focus includes a built‑in Pomodoro timer with 25 minutes work periods and 5–10 minutes breaks and supports custom schedules that can lock sessions and integrate breaks. Profiles allow separate blocked websites, apps and schedules for different tasks. Time tracking records actual focused minutes and aggregates statistics across days, weeks and months. Advanced users can leverage Focus’s scripting feature: the app can run bash commands at session start or stop and support AppleScript integration.

Feature comparison

Work Session Management and Blocking

Hyud excels at blending productivity with wellness. Users can shape work sessions by choosing a name, duration and enabling or disabling breaks, posture monitoring and website or application blocking. The ability to configure sessions encourages deliberate work cycles and ensures that each session aligns with your goals. Once a session starts, the blocked websites and apps remain inaccessible even if you quit the app, ensuring that your willpower is not compromised. This strict approach is valuable for users who tend to circumvent blocking tools. In Focus, you can create schedules that automatically start and stop blocking at set times (in Hyud too), specify different blocking rules for different days and integrate breaks within schedules. Focus also includes a Pomodoro timer that divides work into 25 minutes (it's configurable) intervals with short breaks to maintain concentration. When combined with the schedule feature, you can design entire weeks of disciplined work routines. Additionally, Focus offers lock sessions and password protection, preventing early termination or changes to preferences. This is helpful for users who require external accountability.

Health Features

Hyud’s standout features revolve around health. The app monitors your posture using your camera and alerts you when you begin to slouch. There are three posture modes: simple and medium modes send alerts when your posture deteriorates, while the strict mode blocks your screen until you correct your posture. Posture monitoring can even be used as a standalone feature outside of work sessions. This functionality is unique. Focus lacks any kind of posture detection or physical health monitoring. By encouraging users to sit properly, Hyud aims to reduce back pain and the long term health risks associated with poor posture. The app also introduces digital curfews that automatically shut down your Mac at scheduled times. Gentle warnings appear 60 seconds before shutdown and you may postpone the shutdown by a few minutes when necessary. This feature addresses digital addiction and ensures you disconnect at night to preserve sleep quality and relationships. Hyud’s break system goes beyond simple reminders. The break reminder page calls attention to research about sedentary lifestyles, noting that hours of sitting can weaken muscles, restrict blood flow and increase the risk of diseases. Hyud allows users to configure break duration and frequency, provides ten minutes pre break alerts and offers the ability to postpone the break. The break modes are innovative: AFK mode pauses the timer until you physically leave your desk, eye reliever darkens the screen to encourage you to rest your eyes and exercise mode shows a window that can only be dismissed by doing small workouts in front of the camera. These features promote movement, reduce fatigue and refresh mental focus. By comparison, Focus uses standard Pomodoro timers and optional break notifications but does not enforce exercise or posture corrections.

Blocking effectiveness

Both apps block websites and applications effectively, but they approach the task differently. Hyud lets you choose categories of websites to block or create custom lists. During a session, blocked sites (or custom URLs) and apps cannot be accessed, even if you try to open them outside of Hyud (if you choose to block them at system level). Because the blocking is tied to a work session, you must commit to the chosen duration. Hyud’s digital curfew extends blocking to the entire Mac by shutting it down at scheduled times. Focus uses more granular filters. Its documentation explains that you can add or remove websites and even block specific pages within websites. App blocking works by closing or hiding distracting applications. Focus’s blocking can be locked and password protected to prevent changes during a session. Both apps are effective regarding websites and applications blocking.

Customization and flexibility

Hyud provides numerous customization options: users can set session names and lengths, decide whether to monitor posture or block applications, choose break frequencies and types and schedule automatic shutdowns. Break durations are customizable, and you can postpone a break when necessary. The posture monitoring offers three modes with different levels of strictness. These options make Hyud flexible for various work styles and wellness needs. Focus matches or exceeds this flexibility in some areas. Its scheduling feature allows custom blocking times for specific days or weekly patterns. You can define multiple profiles with unique block lists, schedules and motivational messages and switch between them easily. Focus also offers a Pomodoro timer that can be adjusted to different work/break intervals. The time tracking feature lets you name sessions and view statistics across days, weeks and months. For advanced users, Focus supports scripting via bash commands and AppleScript integration. This deep integration means you can automate workflows, trigger events when sessions start or end and even control Focus via shortcuts or other applications. Hyud does not currently provide scripting or external integrations, making Focus interesting for people who want to script actions.

Cross‑platform capabilities

Both tools are targeted exclusively at macOS. There is no Windows, Android or iOS version available at this time for Hyud. Focus is also only available on macOS. Focus’s license does allow unlimited activations on any Mac for the same user, so you can use Focus across multiple Mac computers. This is beneficial for people with several Macs, but neither tool offers true cross‑platform syncing.

Feature Comparison Table

Target users and use cases

Hyud

Hyud is ideal for Mac users who recognise that productivity and wellness are inseparable. Remote workers, entrepreneurs, developers and students who spend long hours at a desk can benefit from its posture monitoring and enforced breaks. People suffering from back pain or wanting to prevent musculoskeletal issues will appreciate the strict posture mode that locks the screen until the user sits correctly. Hyud is also suited for individuals seeking to establish healthier digital habits. The digital curfew feature forces users to shut down their Mac at predefined times, thereby protecting sleep and personal time. Those who are easily drawn into social media or entertainment websites during long sessions will find Hyud’s strict blocking useful, as it prevents access even if the app is closed. Users who value physical activity and want built‑in workout reminders will appreciate the exercise break mode.

Focus

Focus also targets anyone working on a Mac. Focus’s scripting capabilities make it attractive for developers and automation enthusiasts who want to integrate distraction blocking into custom workflows. Users who frequently switch between multiple Macs will benefit from the unlimited activations included with the purchase. Focus is also suitable for parents or teachers who want to enforce blocking with password protection.

The verdict — Why Hyud Edges Ahead

Both Hyud and Focus are excellent productivity tools for macOS, but they serve different priorities. Focus is a powerful blocker and scheduler with customization, multiple profiles, time tracking and scripting. It is ideal for productivity enthusiasts and those who love automating workflows. Its one‑time purchase model is attractive, and the lifetime option offers good value. However, Focus lacks features that address the physical toll of desk work and does not enforce healthy habits beyond the traditional Pomodoro technique. Hyud, on the other hand, integrates productivity and wellness and almost pretty much everything Focus offers. By monitoring your posture in real time and enforcing regular breaks that encourage movement, Hyud helps you avoid the health risks associated with prolonged sitting. Its digital curfew ensures you disconnect from work and screens at reasonable hours. The combination of blocking, posture monitoring, break management and curfews means Hyud supports both mental focus and physical health. For many users, this holistic approach will lead to sustained productivity and better well‑being, which is more valuable than additional customization or scripting features. Hyud’s lifetime license is also cheaper than Focus's one.

Conclusion

Modern knowledge work demands focus, discipline and attention to health. Hyud and Focus both offer effective tools for Mac users who want to block distractions and get more done. Focus provides granular controls, automation and robust scheduling, making it ideal for power users and automation lovers. Hyud, however, goes beyond conventional productivity apps by integrating posture monitoring, exercise breaks and digital detox features, ensuring that productivity does not come at the cost of physical health. For Mac users who value their well‑being and want a tool that encourages sustainable work habits, Hyud emerges as the superior choice.