Bonk
How to set a daily time limit on a website in Chrome
Free, takes under a minute · Updated
Blocking a site outright doesn't suit every site. You may want 20 minutes of YouTube or news a day, just not three hours. A daily time limit lets you use the site as normal until the minutes run out, then blocks it for the rest of the day.
Bonk does this for free and needs no account. It counts the time you actually spend looking at the site, not the time a tab is left open.
Set a daily limit in four steps
- Add Bonk to Chrome from the Chrome Web Store.
- Click the Bonk icon in Chrome's toolbar and add the site to your list. Here's how.
- Click the clock icon on the site's row in the list.
- Under Daily limit, pick 15 min, 30 min or 60 min, or type your own number into the Other box.
The site now opens normally until you've used up its minutes. After that, Bonk shows its blocked page for the rest of the day, and the limit starts fresh tomorrow. To remove the limit, click the clock icon again and choose Off.
How the time is counted
Bonk adds up a minute at a time while the site is the tab you're looking at in the Chrome window you're using, and you're active at the computer. Tabs in the background don't count, and it stops counting when you step away. The exception is a tab that's playing sound, so watching a video still counts even if you don't touch the keyboard.
Add a pause before the site opens
A limit stops you after the fact. A pause stops you at the door. Click the hourglass icon on the site's row, and Bonk shows a 15-second pause page before the site opens. It asks whether you actually need to be there. For a longer pause of 30 seconds, 1 minute or 2 minutes, open the clock icon and pick one under Pause length. Switch on Breathing exercise in the Settings tab and the pause page guides you through slow breaths while you wait.
A pause and a daily limit work well together: the pause makes you think, and the limit caps the damage if you carry on anyway.
See where your time goes
The Stats tab shows how many times you tried to open blocked sites this week, your top sites and your focus time. There's also a 30-day report. It's worth a look before you pick a limit, because the number of attempts usually shows which site needs one.
When a limit isn't strong enough
If you keep raising the limit when you hit it, try a schedule or hard mode, which can't be changed on impulse.
Questions
How many sites can I put a daily limit on?
Five for free. Bonk Pro removes that limit. Limits you've already set are never taken away.
What happens when the time runs out?
The site is blocked and shows Bonk's page until the next day, when the minutes reset.
Does a tab left open in the background use up my limit?
No. Only the tab you're looking at counts, and only while you're active at the computer or it's playing sound.
Can I set different limits for different sites?
Yes. Each site has its own limit, set from the clock icon on its row.
Can I limit the number of visits instead of the time?
Yes, with Bonk Pro. A visits-per-day limit lets you open a site a set number of times a day.