Pausr vs BreakTimer

BreakTimer does one thing on purpose: it reminds you to take a break, on any platform, for free. Pausr does considerably more and asks to be paid for it. If minimalism is what you were after, the rest of this page is an argument you can safely ignore.

Feature by feature

Pausr / BreakTimer: Feature by feature
Feature	Pausr	BreakTimer
Native macOS app	Yes	Partly
Windows	No	Yes
Linux	No	Yes
Eye breaks (20-20-20)	Yes	Yes
Stand-up and movement breaks	Yes	No
Long recovery breaks	Yes	Yes
Holds breaks during meetings, calls, screen sharing and games	Yes	No
Screen-time statistics	Yes	No
Guided RSI exercises	No	No
Open source	No	Yes
Free to use	No	Yes
Works without an account	Yes	Yes

YesPartlyNo

The nuance behind the table6 rows need a caveat

Native macOS app: BreakTimer: Cross-platform Electron app rather than a native macOS one.
Windows: Pausr: A Windows version is in the works. The waitlist is open on the download page.
Stand-up and movement breaks: BreakTimer: Breaks are generic: you set how often and how long, without a dedicated movement break.
Holds breaks during meetings, calls, screen sharing and games: BreakTimer: You can skip or snooze a break by hand, but nothing is detected automatically.
Guided RSI exercises: Pausr: Pausr prompts stand-up and movement breaks, but it does not ship guided RSI exercise routines.
Free to use: Pausr: No permanent free tier: a 7-day free trial, then a subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase.

Facts checked on August 3, 2026, on the official sites.

A glowing sphere held back at the edge of a lit doorway, waiting to enter — A break app is judged on the moments it stays quiet, not on the length of its feature list.

Where the two really differ

Deliberate minimalism versus coverage
BreakTimer gives you generic breaks: how often, how long, working hours, a message. There is no separate eye break, stand-up break or long recovery break, because that is not what it is for. Pausr splits them because they are different problems.
Skip by hand versus hold automatically
BreakTimer lets you skip or snooze a break when it arrives. Nothing is detected: it does not know about your meeting. Pausr holds the break during meetings, calls, screen sharing and games without being asked.
Nothing recorded versus local stats
BreakTimer keeps no statistics. Pausr keeps screen-time stats on the Mac, which is either useful or noise depending on whether you would look at them.

Microsoft Teams — The difference in one view: the break waits through your meeting or your match, then comes back on its own.

Price

Pausr

Native macOS break app, context aware

Price

Subscription with a 7-day free trial, or a one-time lifetime purchase

BreakTimer

Minimal cross-platform break reminder, open source

Price

Free and open source, GPL-3.0

Official site

Choose Pausr if

You want the break to know when to stay out of the way.
You want eye, stand-up and long breaks handled distinctly.
You want to see your screen time locally.

Choose BreakTimer if

You genuinely want the simplest possible reminder and nothing more.
You need Windows or Linux.
You want free and open source.

Frequently asked questions

Is BreakTimer good enough?

For a lot of people, yes. It is free, open source, cross-platform and deliberately simple. If your day has few meetings and you only need a nudge, adding features would not make you take more breaks.

What does Pausr add over BreakTimer?

Automatic holding during meetings, calls, screen sharing and games, distinct eye, stand-up and long breaks, local screen-time statistics, and a native macOS app rather than a cross-platform one.

Is BreakTimer free?

Yes, free and open source under GPL-3.0, on Windows, macOS and Linux.