Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

SelfControl VS CleverTools.in

Compare SelfControl VS CleverTools.in and see what are their differences

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.

CleverTools.in logo CleverTools.in

Fast, private, free tools that just work. No sign-up. No data stored. PDF tools, image converters, text utilities and more.
  • SelfControl Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-19
  • CleverTools.in Website Home page
    Website Home page //
    2026-05-03

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.

CleverTools.in features and specs

  • Free Online Tools Collection
    CleverTools.in offers a variety of free online utility tools that users can access without needing to download or install any software, making it convenient for quick tasks.
  • Wide Range of Tool Categories
    The platform provides tools across multiple categories such as text tools, image tools, converters, calculators, and developer utilities, serving as a one-stop destination for various everyday needs.
  • No Registration Required
    Users can access and use most tools on the site without needing to create an account or sign up, reducing friction and allowing immediate use.
  • Simple and Clean Interface
    The website features a straightforward and easy-to-navigate interface, making it accessible even for non-technical users who need quick solutions to common tasks.
  • Browser-Based Convenience
    All tools run directly in the browser, which means they are platform-independent and can be used on any device with a web browser, including mobile phones, tablets, and desktops.

Possible disadvantages of CleverTools.in

  • Limited Brand Recognition
    CleverTools.in is a relatively lesser-known platform compared to established alternatives like SmallSEOTools or TinyWow, which may make users hesitant to trust it with their data.
  • Uncertain Privacy Practices
    As a smaller tool website, it may not have clearly defined or robust privacy policies, leaving users uncertain about how their uploaded data or inputs are handled and stored.
  • Potentially Limited Tool Depth
    While the site covers many categories, individual tools may lack the advanced features or customization options found in dedicated standalone applications or more established competitors.
  • Ads and Monetization
    Like many free tool websites, CleverTools.in may rely on advertising for revenue, which can clutter the user experience and create distractions while using the tools.
  • Limited Support and Documentation
    Being a smaller platform, it may lack comprehensive documentation, FAQs, or responsive customer support channels if users encounter issues or have questions about specific tools.

Analysis of SelfControl

Overall verdict

  • Overall, SelfControl is a highly recommended tool for individuals looking to enhance their productivity by minimizing digital distractions. Its open-source nature and no-nonsense approach make it a popular choice among students, freelancers, and professionals alike.

Why this product is good

  • SelfControl is considered a good application because it effectively blocks distracting websites, helping users focus on their tasks without getting sidetracked by online distractions. It's simple to use, efficient, and highly customizable, allowing users to specify which sites to block and for how long, ensuring a tailored productivity experience.

Recommended for

    SelfControl is ideal for students who need to concentrate on studying, remote workers who want to avoid procrastination, freelancers who require discipline in managing their time, and anyone who needs a simple solution to reduce digital distractions during focused work periods.

Analysis of CleverTools.in

Overall verdict

  • CleverTools.in appears to be a useful collection of free online utilities, but as with many web-based tool sites, its quality and trustworthiness should be verified independently before relying on it for sensitive tasks.

Why this product is good

  • Offers a range of free online tools that can be accessed without downloads or installations
  • Convenient for quick, one-off tasks like file conversions, calculations, or text formatting
  • Typically browser-based, making it usable across devices and operating systems
  • May save time for users who need simple utilities without committing to paid software

Recommended for

  • Students and casual users needing quick, everyday online utilities
  • People looking for free alternatives to paid desktop software for basic tasks
  • Users who prefer web-based tools that require no installation
  • Anyone handling non-sensitive data who wants fast, convenient access to common tools

SelfControl videos

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

More videos:

  • Review - SelfControl Review - Block distracting websites

CleverTools.in videos

No CleverTools.in videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to SelfControl and CleverTools.in)
Time Tracking
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Time Management
100 100%
0% 0
PDF Tools
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing SelfControl and CleverTools.in.

What makes your product unique?

CleverTools.in's answer:

  1. India-first, not India-as-an-afterthought. Most online tool sites bolt on a generic tax calculator. CleverTools is built around the actual Indian financial year โ€” FY 2025-26 New Regime slabs with the โ‚น12L Section 87A rebate, post-Budget 2024 capital-gains rates (STCG 20% / LTCG 12.5% / โ‚น1.25L equity exemption), Section 211 advance-tax instalment schedule with Section 234C interest exposure, and 14 state-wise Professional Tax slabs. Hindi long-tail keywords (gratuity kaise calculate kare, marginal relief kya hai) baked into SEO.

  2. Details every other calculator misses.

Surcharge calculator with automatic marginal relief (most tools and even some return-prep software ignore it โ€” costs โ‚น2-15 lakh near band thresholds) Leave Encashment with the full Section 10(10AA) four-limit rule AND the lifetime โ‚น25L cap tracked across employers Gratuity with both formulas (15รท26 covered / 15รท30 not-covered) + 5-year-OR-4y240d eligibility (Madras HC Mettur Beardsell ruling) Salary Slip with the statutory โ‚น1,800 PF cap (12% ร— โ‚น15,000 ceiling) auto-applied 3. 100% browser-based โ€” files never leave your device. No server uploads. Your salary, PAN, GSTIN, bank account, PDFs โ€” all processed locally with pdf-lib, jsPDF, pdfjs-dist. Works offline after first load.

  1. Tool depth, not link-farm breadth. 80+ tools, but each ships with 4-6 features, 3-4 how-it-works steps, 4-8 FAQs (which generate Google FAQ rich snippets), and 30+ targeted keywords. Compare to most competitors where the "calculator" is a single input + result.

  2. Receipt/document generators that actually match Indian payroll/compliance formats.

Salary Slip with 3 templates (Classic Grid / Modern / Minimal), live PDF preview, full WD/WO/PH/PD/CL/PL/SL/LWP working-days breakdown, Actual + Payable columns with auto-prorate on LWP Rent Receipt with sequential numbering, payment-mode line, revenue-stamp prompt above โ‚น5,000, mandatory landlord-PAN warning above โ‚น1L/year GST Invoice with auto CGST+SGST vs IGST routing, 5 tax slabs, reverse charge, e-way bill, HSN autocomplete 6. No signup wall, no rate limits, no watermarks. Free tools that stay free โ€” even with file uploads.

  1. Modern stack & performance. Next.js 16 + Turbopack, Tailwind 4, strict TypeScript, full dark-mode parity, 156 prerendered pages, dynamic imports per tool so each route ships only what it needs.

  2. Honest math, transparent reasoning. Calculator outputs explain why โ€” which limit kicked in, which slab applies, why marginal relief was/wasn't triggered. Not a black box.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

CleverTools.in's answer:

Three reasons:

Accuracy on the details that cost real money. Marginal relief, the โ‚น1,800 statutory PF cap, the four-limit rule for leave encashment, the 4y-240d gratuity eligibility ruling โ€” most calculators miss these and quietly cost users โ‚น2โ€“15 lakh. CleverTools applies them automatically and explains which limit kicked in. Privacy by architecture. Your PAN, GSTIN, salary, bank account, PDFs โ€” they are processed in your browser using pdf-lib and jsPDF. Nothing is uploaded. Works offline after the first visit. Free, fast, no friction. 80+ tools, no login wall, no rate limits, no watermarks on PDFs. Each tool is a single static page โ€” no spinning loaders, no "buy premium" interstitials.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

CleverTools.in's answer:

Indian salaried employees, freelancers, gig-economy consultants, small-business owners, CAs,HR & payroll teams and tax-aware students.

Specifically: Salaried employees generating rent receipts for HRA, calculating in-hand salary across regimes, verifying salary-slip deductions Freelancers & consultants planning Section 211 quarterly advance tax and reconciling TDS CAs & finance professionals validating client computations during return-filing season HR & payroll teams running state-wise Professional Tax, generating salary slips, computing leave-encashment exits Small businesses issuing GST-compliant tax invoices, proforma invoices, credit notes, and delivery challans

What's the story behind your product?

CleverTools.in's answer:

CleverTools was started by Milan Bagiya out of frustration with the state of online Indian tax calculators โ€” most were either ad-laden link farms with wrong formulas, or behind โ‚น999/month paywalls. The premise was simple: build a focused, free, India-first tool suite where the math actually reflects current law (post-Budget 2024 reforms, latest CBDT notifications), where files never leave the user's browser, and where every calculator explains why its answer is what it is. It started with PDF and image utilities; the financial calculator suite (Income Tax, HRA, Gratuity, Capital Gains, Advance Tax, Surcharge, Professional Tax, Leave Encashment) is the current focus โ€” each one researched against actual sections of the Income-tax Act and Indian state-level rules.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

CleverTools.in's answer:

Next.js 16 (App Router, Turbopack) โ€” framework & SSG TypeScript (strict mode) โ€” type safety across 80+ tool components Tailwind CSS 4 โ€” design system with full dark-mode parity pdf-lib, pdfjs-dist, jsPDF โ€” all PDF parsing, generation, and manipulation in-browser html2canvas, JSZip, file-saver, mammoth, PapaParse โ€” document/data conversions Supabase โ€” auth and contact form storage Vercel โ€” hosting & edge delivery

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

CleverTools.in's answer:

  • Indian salaried professionals filing HRA / 80C declarations
  • Freelancers and gig-economy consultants planning quarterly advance tax
  • Chartered Accountants and tax preparers
  • HR and payroll teams at small and mid-sized Indian companies
  • Small business owners issuing GST invoices

User comments

Share your experience with using SelfControl and CleverTools.in. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

SelfControl Reviews

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

CleverTools.in Reviews

  1. MilanBagiya
    ยท Working at CleverTools.in ยท

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, SelfControl seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 79 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.

SelfControl mentions (79)

  • Oregon School Cell Phone Ban: 'Engaged Students, Joyful Teachers'
    A combination of https://selfcontrolapp.com/ and Hammerspoon automation and you can lock yourself out of pretty much everything. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Kiki โ€“ The accountability monster for people who are easily distracted
    Happy to see it still exists, and free https://selfcontrolapp.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • How do you fight YouTube addiction and procrastination? I'm struggling with it
    I have found that a useful method for getting distractions off my work laptop has been https://selfcontrolapp.com/ (if you're on mac). - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot
    Pro tip for macos/ios folks: - Macos: Install https://selfcontrolapp.com/, add every website and their alternatives you know, set it to 24 hours. Really hard to bypass this even if you know networking stuff - iOS: Enable downtime 24/7 ask someone else to set the password. I'm down to about 35 minutes a day of mobile usage, and laptop usage is only work related things. You really need two or three days to clear... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • 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 2 years ago
View more

CleverTools.in mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of CleverTools.in yet. Tracking of CleverTools.in recommendations started around May 2026.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing SelfControl and CleverTools.in, you can also consider the following products

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!

iLovePDF - Premium online PDF tool set

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

All Over Tools - Clean, transform, and validate your data with our secure, browser-based tools. No logs, no tracking, just high-performance utilities.

FocusMe - The website blocker you can't cheat

CloudConvert - convert anything to anything - more than 200 different audio, video, document, ebook, archive, image, spreadsheet and presentation formats supported.