Time blocking for macOS
A time blocking app for Mac that lives in your menu bar
Plan the day into blocks, see it without switching apps, and keep the whole thing on your own Mac. One purchase, no account, 16 integrations.
7-day free trial · No credit card · macOS 14 Sonoma or later
What is time blocking?
Time blocking means giving every piece of work a start and an end, on a calendar, before the day begins — rather than keeping a list and hoping it fits.
The reason it works is not discipline. A list of twelve things looks reasonable on screen; the same twelve things with durations attached visibly add up to fourteen hours, and you find that out while you are still planning instead of at six in the evening. A list tells you what you owe. A plan tells you what you can afford.
The catch is that it only survives if checking and adjusting the plan is nearly free. Any tool that makes you switch apps to see what you are meant to be doing gets abandoned in a fortnight — which is the specific problem Focusly is shaped around.
Why Mac users pick Focusly
It opens where you already are
Focusly is a menu bar panel, not a window you switch to. ⌘⌥Space opens it over whatever you are working in — including a fullscreen app — and it disappears when you click away. Checking your plan costs about a second, which is the difference between a planner you use ten times a day and one you open twice.
It reads the tools your work actually arrives from
Most time blockers connect to a calendar and stop. Focusly reads 16 — calendars, your issue tracker, your chat, your task manager — so planning tomorrow does not start with copying things out of six other apps.
Nothing leaves your Mac
There is no Focusly server and no account to create. Your plan lives on your Mac and syncs to your other Macs through your own iCloud. No server also means no recurring cost to fund, which is why the price is a one-off.
You can talk to it
Focusly ships a local MCP server. Connect Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex or Cursor in one click and rearrange your week out loud, with nothing crossing the network.
How Focusly compares
The differences that do not change month to month. Checked August 2026 — if something here is out of date, tell us and it gets fixed.
| Focusly | Sunsama | Motion | Akiflow | Calendar + Reminders | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How you pay | One-time | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | Free with macOS |
| Built for macOS | ✓ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ✓ |
| Lives in the menu bar | ✓ | — | — | — | ~ |
| Your data stays local | ✓ | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Account required | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Software reschedules for you | — | — | ✓ | — | — |
| Plans time, not just lists | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
✓ yes · ~ partly · — no. Competitor prices are deliberately not listed: they change often enough that a table like this goes stale, and a comparison that is wrong about somebody else's product is worse than no comparison. Every one of these apps is good at something Focusly does not try to do.
Reads the 16 places your work comes from
Planning should not begin with copying tomorrow out of six other apps.
Questions
What is the best time blocking app for Mac? +
It depends on whether you want to decide your own schedule or have software decide it. If you want a canvas you control that opens in a keystroke and keeps your data on your own Mac, Focusly is built for that: $17.99 once, covering 2 Macs, with no subscription. If you want an app that rearranges your week automatically when something overruns, an auto-scheduling tool like Motion suits you better.
Is there a time blocking app for Mac without a subscription? +
Yes. Focusly is a one-time purchase: $17.99 covers 2 Macs, and the $49.49 family pack is three keys covering 6 Macs between them. Future updates are included. It can charge once because it has no server to fund — your plan syncs through your own iCloud account rather than through ours.
Does it sync with Google Calendar and Outlook? +
Yes, along with Apple Calendar, Calendly and Notion Calendar. Your meetings appear on the timeline beside your own blocks, so you can see the real shape of a day while you are planning it rather than discovering it at six in the evening.
Can I plan my day by talking to an AI assistant? +
Yes. Focusly ships a local MCP server that you can connect to Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex or Cursor from a button in Settings. The server runs on your Mac and talks to the copy of Focusly already open there, so your schedule is never uploaded anywhere.
Is time blocking good for ADHD? +
Many people find it helps, provided the blocks are short enough to finish and the clock is visible without going to look for it. Focusly keeps a countdown in the menu bar, offers a detachable timer that floats over your work, and lets you rebuild a wrecked day from a saved template in one action. That said, this is practical scheduling advice rather than clinical guidance.
Does it work offline, and where is my data stored? +
Focusly works entirely offline. Your tasks are stored on your Mac, and if iCloud sync is on they are mirrored into your own private iCloud account so your other Macs stay in step. There is no Focusly database holding your schedule and no account to create. It requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
Plan tomorrow before today ends
7 days free, no card, no account. Then $17.99 once for 2 Macs — not every month.
Download for Mac