What is the best free pomodoro app for Mac?

Be Focused, for most people. It's free on the Mac App Store with your own work and break lengths and a global hotkey, and the free version shows ads. TomatoBar is free with no ads at all, open source, and lives in the menu bar.

Does the Mac have a built-in pomodoro timer?

Not one that runs the rounds for you. The Clock app has countdown timers, and on macOS 14.2 or later you can keep a Work and a Break timer side by side, but you restart each one yourself. Turn on a Focus to silence notifications while it runs.

Which pomodoro app for Mac blocks websites?

Session, Be Focused and Flow block apps and websites in their paid plans, and Focused Work blocks them too. Be Focused lists Safari, Chrome, Edge, Opera and Brave as the browsers it covers.

Is there a pomodoro app for Mac with no subscription?

Yes. TomatoBar and the Raycast Pomodoro extension are free, the Be Focused Pro app is US$11.99 once, and Flow and Focused Work sell lifetime Pro for US$39.99 and US$89.99.

Is 25 minutes the right length for a pomodoro?

It's the default, not a rule. Francesco Cirillo, who created the method, says it's much more than a run of 25-minute sessions. If you keep stopping at minute 15, set 15; in Session, custom lengths need the paid plan.

9 best pomodoro apps for Mac in 2026, free and paid

How we chose

Be Focused wins for most people because the free version already does the whole job: your own lengths, a hotkey and a task list. Every other app here beats it at one thing, and its entry says which.

A pomodoro timer tells you when to stop working and when to start again. On a Mac that job has two snags: starting the timer without leaving the window you're working in, and an alert loud enough to pull you out of the work you're buried in.

So each app had to answer five questions:

Can you set your own work and break lengths, and is that free?
Can you start it from any app, with a hotkey or from the menu bar?
What does the free version leave out, and do you pay once or every year?
Can it block distracting websites and apps, if you want that?
Which version of macOS does it need?

Every app fact below comes from the maker's own site, its GitHub page or its US Mac App Store listing, checked on 31 October 2026. Prices are in US dollars. We haven't run the apps ourselves, so you'll find no scores or star ratings here. If your real problem is a list that never ends, start with the best to do list apps for Mac and add a timer after.

The 9 best pomodoro apps for Mac

The first two cost nothing.

1. Be Focused: best for most people

Be Focused pairs a pomodoro timer with a plain task list. You set the length of work sessions, short breaks and long breaks, the number of rounds before a long break, and a daily goal. Each task can carry its own timer settings, so a 50-minute writing task and a 15-minute email task sit side by side. A global hotkey starts or stops the timer from any app, and a desktop widget keeps it in view. It needs macOS 12 or later.

The free version keeps all of that, with banners. Pro drops the ads and adds sync with the iPhone and iPad apps, CSV export, and blocking for apps and websites in Safari, Chrome, Edge, Opera and Brave. The listing sells Pro at US$2.99 a month, US$19.99 a year or US$23.99 once. There's also a separate Be Focused Pro app at US$11.99. Both listings showed a 40% off sale on 31 October 2026, so check the price on the day you buy.

Pick it if you want a timer you can install in a minute and start without reading a manual. Skip it if ads in a free app annoy you more than paying would.

2. TomatoBar: best free timer with no ads

TomatoBar is a pomodoro timer in the menu bar and nothing more. Its developer, Ilya Voronin, lists the features in one line: work and rest lengths you set, optional sounds, notifications you can act on, and a global hotkey. It's free and open source under the MIT license, and it runs sandboxed with no entitlements, which means it has no network access to show you ads or ask you to sign in. The latest release, 3.6.1, came out on 19 February 2026, and version 3 and later need macOS 11 Big Sur or newer.

You download it from GitHub or install it with Homebrew.

Pick it if you want the countdown up top and nothing to pay, sign up for or switch off. Skip it if you want charts of past sessions or an iPhone app, because TomatoBar has neither.

3. Session: best for blocking distractions

Session runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad. It records what you worked on and for how long, and when a session ends it asks what you learned. On the Mac it blocks the websites and apps you pick until the break, mutes the Slack teams you choose, and runs AppleScript to turn on Do Not Disturb or start a playlist. Finished sessions can appear in Apple Calendar. It still runs on macOS 10.15 Catalina.

On Session's pricing page, free gives you unlimited sessions and breaks, your calendar events inside the app, and analytics for the past 2 days. Pro adds custom session and break lengths, the blocker, sync between devices, global shortcuts and the full session log. It costs US$4.99 a month or US$39.99 a year, after 7 days free.

Pick it if a timer alone won't stop you opening a news site and you want the blocking done for you. Skip it if you plan to stay on the free version, because there you can't change the session length.

4. Flow: best simple timer on every Apple device

Flow comes from Yugen, a small studio in Frankfurt. It runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro, and the basics are free with no ads, no sign-up and no card: the timer, recurring breaks, notifications and a count of your sessions by day, week, month and year. Its features page marks the rest as Pro: session names, calendar sync, timesheet export, the app and web blocker, a commitment mode and a full-screen break.

On the App Store, Pro is US$2.99 a month, US$17.99 a year or US$39.99 once. The catch is the Mac version. Its listing needs macOS 26 Tahoe, the newest requirement on this list.

Pick it if your Mac runs macOS 26 and you'd like the same timer on your wrist and your phone. Skip it if your Mac can't run macOS 26.

5. Focus by Meaningful Things: best for tying sessions to tasks

Focus is made by Jan and Kerstin, two independent developers in Germany. You keep tasks and projects inside the app, pick one and start a session. Focus tracks the time as you go and shows daily and weekly activity against a goal you set. Session and break lengths are yours to choose. Everything syncs through your own iCloud across Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro, and the Mac listing needs macOS 14 or later.

Focus is free to start, and Focus Pro opens everything after a 7-day free trial. The App Store lists Pro at US$6.99 a month or US$39.99 a year.

Pick it if you want the task, the timer and the record of where your hours went in one app. Skip it if you want websites blocked during a session, since blocking isn't among the features Focus lists.

6. Focused Work: best for building your own session patterns

Focused Work builds each session out of stages (focus, break and prepare), each with its own time limit, and any pattern you build can be saved and run again tomorrow. The templates to start from are a plain timer, a pomodoro and Flowmodoro, a looser version inspired by the Flowtime Technique. Mid-session, a scratch pad catches stray thoughts. Afterwards a short reflection asks what went well. It blocks the apps and websites you pick and can send time entries to Toggl Track. You'll need macOS 13 or later.

The app is free to try. Pro is US$4.99 a month, US$29.99 a year or US$89.99 for life, the dearest one-time price here.

Pick it if 25 and 5 never fit your day and you'd like a morning pattern and an afternoon pattern saved side by side. Skip it if you want to set a timer once and forget it.

7. TickTick: best for a timer inside your to-do list

TickTick is a to-do app first, with a pomodoro timer built in. Its guide to the method shows how to link a session to a task or habit, so the minutes count against it. Focus Statistics then shows time per task and your weekly and monthly trends. White noise and a full-screen mode come with the timer. The Mac app needs macOS 12 or later, and TickTick runs on more than 10 platforms, the web included.

TickTick's pricing page gives the free plan 9 lists with 99 tasks each, 5 habits and basic statistics. The paid plan is US$49.99 a year and raises that to 299 lists, 999 tasks per list and 299 habits, with full statistics.

Pick it if your tasks already live in a list and you want to start the timer from the task itself. Skip it if all you want is a timer, because you'd be taking on a whole to-do app to get one.

8. Pomofocus: best when you can't install apps

Pomofocus is a pomodoro timer that runs in your browser. Add today's tasks with an estimate in pomodoros for each, and it works out how long the whole list will take. Lengths and sounds are yours to set. Repeat tasks save as templates, and the reports show your focus time by day, week and month. If you'd rather not live in a tab, the same page has a desktop download for Mac, Windows and Linux.

The free version covers all of that, with ads and up to 3 templates. The paid plan adds projects, yearly reports, CSV downloads, a Todoist link and webhooks, and removes the ads. Pomofocus doesn't print its price on the home page; you see it when you upgrade.

Pick it if you're on a work Mac where you can't install software, or you move between a Mac and a Windows PC. Skip it if you'd rather have a native Mac app.

9. Raycast Pomodoro: best if you already use Raycast

Raycast is a launcher you open from the keyboard, and community extensions run on its free plan. The Pomodoro extension, by Alexandr Subbotin, puts the countdown in your menu bar, starts, pauses and stops it from the keyboard, and shows daily and weekly stats. On 17 October 2026 it gained a 52-minute work and 17-minute break option. It can also turn on Do Not Disturb once you add the Do Not Disturb extension.

The extension is free, and Raycast's pricing page puts thousands of extensions in the free plan.

Pick it if Raycast is already the first thing you press. Skip it if you don't already use Raycast.

What each one costs

Prices in US dollars as of October 2026, from each maker's site or App Store listing.

App	Free version	Paid from	Needs
Be Focused	Yes, with ads	US$2.99 a month	macOS 12
TomatoBar	Everything	Nothing to buy	macOS 11
Session	Fixed lengths	US$4.99 a month	macOS 10.15
Flow	Timer and counts	US$2.99 a month	macOS 26
Focus	Free to start	US$6.99 a month	macOS 14
Focused Work	Free to try	US$4.99 a month	macOS 13
TickTick	9 lists	US$49.99 a year	macOS 12
Pomofocus	Yes, with ads	Shown at upgrade	A browser
Raycast Pomodoro	Everything	Nothing to buy	Raycast

TomatoBar and the Raycast extension never ask for money. To pay once instead of every year, Be Focused Pro is US$11.99 as its own app or US$23.99 as a lifetime upgrade, Flow's lifetime Pro is US$39.99, and Focused Work's is US$89.99. Session and TickTick sell only monthly and yearly plans.

Check the last column first: Focus needs macOS 14 and Flow needs macOS 26.

Do you need an app at all?

Your Mac already has two of the three parts. The Clock app counts down, and a Focus mutes notifications. What's missing is the cycle: nothing starts your break for you when the work timer ends.

Open Clock, click Timers at the top of the window, set 25 minutes and click Start. It keeps counting if you switch apps or the Mac goes to sleep.
Name it Work. On macOS 14.2 or later you can add a second timer called Break, for 5 minutes, with its own sound.
When a timer ends you get a notification. Click Options on it and choose Repeat to run the same timer again, or restart the other one from the recent timers at the bottom of the window.
Open System Settings, click Focus, then Add Focus. Pick Work or make your own, and use Allowed People to choose who still gets through.

Apple's guides to timers in Clock and setting up a Focus have every step. Give it three days. If restarting timers by hand gets old, install Be Focused or TomatoBar and let them run the rounds.

Make 25 minutes your own

Francesco Cirillo began working on the Pomodoro Technique in the 1980s with a tomato-shaped kitchen timer. On his own site he says the method is much more than a run of 25-minute sessions. He suggests you start with a timer, pencil and paper, write down interruptions and the effort you really spent, then compare what you planned with what happened. An app only covers the timer.

Three habits get more out of whichever app you pick:

Keep a scrap of paper by the keyboard. When a stray thought pulls at you mid-session, write it down and carry on. Focused Work has a scratch pad for exactly this.
Change the length before you give up on the method. If you keep stopping at minute 15, set 15. If you keep working past the bell, try something longer, like the Raycast extension's 52 and 17.
Count finished sessions, not hours at the desk. TickTick, Focus and Session also show which task each session went to.

Rounds not your thing? Timeboxing gives each task one fixed slot instead, and the best time blocking apps put those slots on your calendar.

Which app fits your week

Find the line that sounds like you.

Free, and running in the next five minutes: Be Focused.
Only a countdown in the menu bar, with no ads and no account: TomatoBar.
The same three websites keep winning: Session, or Be Focused Pro.
One timer on your Mac, iPhone and Apple Watch, on a Mac that already runs macOS 26: Flow.
Every session filed under a task or project: Focus.
No fixed length ever fits: Focused Work.
Tasks already sorted in a to-do app you like, and you'd rather not add a second one: TickTick.
A work laptop that won't let you install anything: Pomofocus.
Raycast open all day: its Pomodoro extension.

Starting is the hard part for you, more than staying put? Focused Work names ADHD in its App Store subtitle, and the best to do list apps for ADHD covers the lists that pair with a timer.

Rather start the timer from your to-do list? ActivityTracker's focus timer runs for 15, 25, 50 or 90 minutes, pauses and resumes when someone needs you, chimes when time's up, and ticks off the task you started it from.

See the focus timer

One week with a timer

Made-up example: Maya is a freelance illustrator with a 2020 MacBook Air on macOS 15. Email eats her afternoons, so client sketches slide into the evening.

Monday: she tries the Clock app with a 25-minute Work timer and a 5-minute Break timer. By the third round she's restarting timers by hand, and she forgets one.

Tuesday: she installs Be Focused and adds three tasks: book cover sketch, invoices, reply to the gallery. She gives the sketch 50-minute sessions with 10-minute breaks. The hotkey starts the timer without leaving her drawing app.

Wednesday: a notepad sits beside the trackpad. She writes down 11 interruptions, and 7 of them are her own urge to check email.

Thursday: email moves into one 25-minute session at 4pm. She finishes 6 sessions on the cover.

Friday: she wants Safari blocked while she sketches, which is a Pro feature, so she starts the yearly plan's 7-day trial.

Sunday, one week in: 23 sessions done, and the cover went to the client a day early. She keeps Pro, because Wednesday's notepad showed her where the afternoons went.