Comparison
Cat Break vs LeechBlock NG
Of everything Cat Break gets compared to, LeechBlock NG is the closest relative: free, open source, no account, nothing leaving your machine, made by someone who clearly cares. The difference isn't ethics or price. It's how much configuration you want to do before the thing starts helping you.
Pick LeechBlock NG if…
You want control. Thirty separate block sets, each with its own rules, time windows and allowances. Keyword filtering. Per-hour budgets like “ten minutes in every sixty”. Password protection so you can't impulsively switch it off. It also works in Firefox, which we don't.
Pick Cat Break if…
You want to set one number and never open a settings page again. Cat Break has roughly three decisions in it, and then it just runs.
Configurability is a real feature and a real cost
LeechBlock NG is genuinely powerful. Block sets let you treat news, social and video completely differently. You can allow ten minutes in every hour rather than one lump per day, filter by keywords in the URL or the page, lock the options page behind a password or a random access code, and schedule everything by time of day and day of week. If you enjoy tuning a system until it fits exactly, you will get more out of it than you will out of us.
The cost is that you have to do that. A tool with thirty configurable block sets asks you to have opinions about thirty things before it earns its keep, and a setup session you postpone is a tool that isn't running.
The best configuration is the one you actually finished.
What Cat Break asks of you
A default limit. Optionally, a couple of per-site limits or exclusions. That's it — then close the popup and forget it exists until a cat turns up. Roughly forty seconds of setup, and the design goal was that you never need to return to it.
The other difference is what happens when you hit the limit. LeechBlock shows you a block page. Cat Break plays a full-screen cat video, pauses whatever was playing, runs a countdown, and clears itself when the break is over. That sounds frivolous and is the entire point: a block page is a wall you resent, and a cat is a thing you look at and then get up.
Side by side
| LeechBlock NG | Cat Break | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup effort | High — up to 30 block sets to configure | Low — one limit, then done |
| Approach | Block page when the rule trips | Cat interrupts; dismissable |
| Time limits | Per day, per hour, per custom window | Per day, global or per site |
| Time counted | Time on the site | Only focused, active-tab time |
| Keyword filtering | Yes | No |
| Scheduling | Yes, by time and weekday | No |
| Stop yourself disabling it | Password or access code | No — escapable by design |
| Playing video | Page blocked | Paused, then resumed |
| Browsers | Chrome, Edge, Brave, Firefox | Chrome |
| Account required | No | No |
| Open source | Yes | Yes, MIT |
| Price | Free | Free |
Where LeechBlock wins outright
Firefox support, scheduling, keyword filters, per-hour allowances, and the password lock — none of which Cat Break has. If any of those are on your list, this comparison is already over and you should go and install LeechBlock. It's free, and it's good.
Where Cat Break wins
Nothing to configure, focused-time-only counting so background tabs never eat your allowance, video that pauses and resumes itself, and an interruption people report they don't resent. If you have tried a blocker before and drifted away from it, the drift is usually the thing to solve, and that's what Cat Break is aimed at.
The honest summary
Both are free, both keep your data on your own machine, and both are worth trying. They are not really competing for the same job. One stops you; the other reminds you. If you already know which of those you need, you already know which to install — and if you don't, installing the free one first costs nothing.
Questions
Is Cat Break open source like LeechBlock?
Yes. Cat Break is MIT licensed and the full source is on GitHub. Both extensions run entirely on your own machine with no account and no server.
Does Cat Break have block sets or keyword filtering?
No. It has a default time limit plus optional per-site limits, exclusions and a list-only mode. LeechBlock NG is considerably more configurable.
Does Cat Break work in Firefox?
Not currently; it is Chrome only. LeechBlock NG supports Firefox as well as Chromium browsers.
Can I stop myself from disabling Cat Break?
No. It is escapable on purpose, and LeechBlock's password protection is the better choice if you want that.
Free forever · No account · Nothing leaves your device · MIT licensed