Not to big decisions or creative blocks — to mindless distraction. Tab switches, Slack pings, social media loops. It compounds silently until your most important work never gets done.
Lost daily to distraction and context-switching
To fully refocus after a single interruption
At stake with most productivity apps — which is exactly why they don't work. No consequence, no commitment, no change.
Three steps. One clear north star. A full refund waiting if you earn it.
Before every session, name exactly what you're working on. Specificity is accountability. Your stated task becomes the benchmark every screen moment is judged against.
Our on-device vision model understands context, not just URLs. Researching a topic on YouTube? Fine. Scrolling X mid-sprint? That's a flag. All inference is local — no data leaves your Mac.
Distraction triggers a proportional response — starting gentle, escalating to a full stop. The system adapts to what actually works for you over time.
You choose your mode before each session. The harder the mode, the stricter the refund conditions — and the bigger the win if you pull it off.
Nudge
Tier 1 · Gentle
A calm tap on the shoulder for early-stage drift. Low friction, high signal-to-noise.
Block
Tier 2 · Firm
For repeated drift or ignored nudges. A firm stop that demands a conscious choice to return.
Extreme Mode
Tier 3 · Nuclear
You opted in. Reserved for when the work must happen no matter what.
The incentives are perfectly aligned. Here's the mechanism:
$30 activates loss aversion — the most powerful motivator in behavioral science. The amount doesn't matter as much as the consequence.
If you stay focused, you get your $30 back and become our best proof point. If you drift, we improve our interventions. Both outcomes build a better product.
"I actually got my $30 back" is a headline. Every user who earns a refund tells ten friends. The guarantee isn't a cost — it's the marketing engine.
The honest truth: We built this knowing most people won't hit 95% every month — not because we're cynical, but because that's exactly what makes the accountability real. And when you do hit it, the refund is waiting. No questions asked.
Distraction is a neuro-timing problem. Frequent checking trains your dopamine system to crave constant low-effort rewards. Willpower alone can't fix a trained reflex.
Dopamine habits don't respond to force — they respond to interruption. Focus Payback attacks the impulse window, not the app. Urges decay naturally when the loop is broken in time.
When stimulation becomes intentional again, the brain re-synchronises its reward timing. Attention stabilises. Anxiety drops. Mental clarity returns. Without force.
Focus Payback uses macOS Accessibility APIs and on-device machine learning. Your screen is never recorded, never transmitted, never stored. All analysis happens locally in real time.
Zero cloud processing
No screenshots or screen data ever leave your Mac.
macOS Accessibility APIs
Standard OS-level access. No kernel extensions, no deep hooks.
Transparent refund math
Your focus score is computed openly. No black box decides your money.
Apple Silicon native
Built in Swift. Under 1% CPU at rest. Negligible battery impact.
Your Mac
macOS Accessibility APIs
Screen content, active app, window titles
On-device ML Model
Context classification, local inference only
Focus Payback App
Intervention trigger, session score, refund tracking
Deep coding sessions that need hours of uninterrupted flow
First drafts, articles, books — work that evaporates the moment you context switch
Complex thinking that requires sustained attention and zero interruption
Long reading and analysis sessions where every distraction costs momentum
If your best work requires more than 30 minutes of unbroken concentration — Focus Payback was built for you.
| Feature | Freedom | RescueTime | Beeminder | Focus Payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Money-back guarantee | ✗ | ✗ | Partial | ✓ |
| AI context awareness | ✗ | Basic | ✗ | ✓ |
| 100% on-device privacy | Partial | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Escalating interventions | Basic | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Real financial accountability | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Apple Silicon native | Partial | Partial | ✗ | ✓ |
The first 100 users who join and leave honest feedback get an exclusive deal that will never be offered again. Help us shape the product — we'll reward you for life.
First month completely free
No focus requirement. Just use the app and tell us what you think.
$15/month locked in for life
Half the normal price, forever. Never goes up no matter what we charge new users.
Shape the product directly
Your feedback goes straight to the team. Founding users get first say on new features.
Full refund guarantee still applies
From month 2 onwards, maintain 100% focus and get your $15 back. The bet still stands.
Only 100 spots available. Once they're gone, this offer disappears forever.
+ First month completely free
How it works
Takes 3 minutes. No payment required until launch.
We launch when the product is ready — not a day before. Get notified first and lock in the founding price.
Focus Payback started as a personal frustration. Every focus app I tried worked for a week, then quietly stopped. The problem wasn't the tools — it was that there was never any real consequence for failing. No skin in the game, no lasting change.
So I flipped the model. Put money on the line. Made the AI smart enough to understand context, not just block websites. Built interventions that actually interrupt the distraction loop. And made the refund real — because if you genuinely stay focused all month, you deserve it back.
Jason Machray
Founder, Focus Payback