Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Obserra VS SelfControl

Compare Obserra VS SelfControl and see what are their differences

Obserra logo Obserra

Master your YouTube experience with smart insights, custom limits, and productivity tools. Stay focused, make informed choices, and effortlessly achieve your biggest goals.

SelfControl logo SelfControl

V2 updates! - Custom time interval for distraction free mode - Ability to turn off ' always on' mode - Improved UI -- Self Control -- A simple app to keep you focused online by blocking sites that you spend way too much time on.
  • Obserra Obserra Dashboard
    Obserra Dashboard //
    2025-04-03
  • Obserra Obserra Insights Page
    Obserra Insights Page //
    2025-04-03
  • Obserra Obserra Break Reached Page
    Obserra Break Reached Page //
    2025-04-03
  • Obserra Obserra Extension
    Obserra Extension //
    2025-04-03

Take control of your YouTube experience with Obserra, the ultimate Chrome extension designed to help you manage your viewing habits and boost your productivity. Whether you’re looking to reduce screen time, improve digital wellbeing, or simply stay on track with your daily goals, Obserra puts you in control.

Key Features

• Custom Daily Limits: Set personalized time restrictions for YouTube, ensuring you never exceed your desired daily usage. • Scheduled Breaks: Automatically pause your viewing with customizable break intervals to help you maintain focus. • Genre & Channel Controls: Tailor your experience by limiting specific video genres or channels, perfect for reducing distractions. • In-Depth Insights: Gain access to comprehensive analytics that reveal detailed patterns of your YouTube usage, helping you make informed decisions. • Recent Activity Overview: Quickly review your latest watched videos with an intuitive activity log, so you always know where your time goes. • User-Friendly Interface: Enjoy a clean, secure, and easy-to-navigate design that integrates seamlessly with Chrome.

Why Choose Obserra?

• Enhance Productivity: Transform your YouTube sessions into productive sessions that energize rather than drain your focus. • Improve Digital Wellbeing: Build healthier digital habits by understanding your usage patterns and setting effective boundaries. • Simple & Secure: With a straightforward setup and robust privacy measures, Obserra is designed to work smoothly without compromising your data.

Join hundreds of users who are already reclaiming their time and boosting their productivity. Download Obserra today and start mastering your YouTube habits—because every minute counts!

  • SelfControl Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-19

Obserra features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

SelfControl features and specs

  • Effective Website Blocking
    SelfControl blocks access to distracting websites based on a customizable blocklist, helping users stay focused.
  • Timer Functionality
    Users can set a timer for how long they want websites to remain blocked, ensuring focused work periods without distraction.
  • Free to Use
    SelfControl is open-source and free to download and use, making it accessible to anyone without financial barriers.
  • Easy to Use
    The interface is straightforward and user-friendly, allowing users to quickly set their preferences and get started.

Possible disadvantages of SelfControl

  • Mac-Only
    SelfControl is only available for macOS, excluding Windows and Linux users from using the application.
  • No Undo Option
    Once the block period is set and started, it cannot be undone even by restarting the computer, which could be an issue if access to blocked sites is needed unexpectedly.
  • Limited Feature Set
    The app primarily focuses on website blocking, lacking additional productivity tools or features like app blocking or usage analytics.
  • No Scheduled Blocking
    SelfControl does not offer the ability to schedule block sessions in advance, meaning users must manually start each session.

Obserra videos

Obserra Demo

SelfControl videos

How to block websites that distract you ? Selfcontrol [Mac App review and tutorial]

More videos:

  • Review - SelfControl Review - Block distracting websites

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Obserra and SelfControl)
Office & Productivity
100 100%
0% 0
Time Tracking
0 0%
100% 100
Productivity
6 6%
94% 94
Time Management
12 12%
88% 88

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Obserra and SelfControl

Obserra Reviews

  1. Great software

    Easy to use and effective

SelfControl Reviews

We have no reviews of SelfControl yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, SelfControl seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 75 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Obserra mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Obserra yet. Tracking of Obserra recommendations started around Apr 2025.

SelfControl mentions (75)

  • My 30-Year Quitting Addiction
    There is a free and open source app called SelfControl for macOS. It allows one to block access to any site one adds to the list in the app for the amount of time the user chooses. Attempt to use multiple browsers, restarting one's machine, deleting the app, etc. won't get around the block either. It's been super helpful for me, so I thought I'd just throw it out there. https://selfcontrolapp.com. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • App to prevent distractions at work
    It is SelfControl. It is open-source and free. You select the website you want to block and the time. The moment you click the button no matter what you do, you can forget about accessing those websites until the time is over; there is no cancel button. Restarted mac won't work, you can delete the app no luck. Source: over 1 year ago
  • App to prevent distractions at work
    The SelfControl app lets you specify web sites that will be blocked. When you run the app, you specify a countdown timer, during which time those apps will be inaccessible. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Finals season
    - https://selfcontrolapp.com/ this is free app. block off all social media and time wasters .. Only for mac. if there is nothing to be distracted... IMO I eventually be bored and I was able to get into the zone... Not right away... But I told my self... Today I study... And I stay in the study room. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Looking for the right app
    Apps I have tried and are not enough: - https://heyfocus.com/ - https://freedom.to/ - https://selfcontrolapp.com/ - https://www.forestapp.cc/ - https://www.rescuetime.com/. Source: over 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Obserra and SelfControl, you can also consider the following products

YouTube Time! - Is there a way to link to a specific part of a YouTube video? Yes.

Cold Turkey - Cold Turkey is a free productivity program that you can use to temporarily block distractions so that you can get your work done!

Freedom.to - Freedom is a productivity hack that lets you block apps, websites or the entire Internet on iPhones, iPads, Windows and Mac computers.

Focus App - New Tab page that gives you a moment of calm and inspires you to be more productive.