Disclosure: I'm Liza, founder of slowden.com, and I built SeaSweep, one of the tools mentioned here. Every claim about another product comes from that product's own website, checked on 9 November 2026.

If you searched "Forest app for PC", here is the quick answer. Forest's own site lists the App Store, Google Play, and Chrome and Firefox extensions. It lists no Windows desktop app. So the useful question for a Windows user is a different one: where does a focus tool step in to stop a distraction? There are three places it can do that. Which one a tool uses tells you what it can and can't stop.

The full app-by-app comparison, with prices, is on Medium. This post groups the same tools by how they work.

Layer 1: notifications only

Windows' built-in Focus (Settings, then System, then Focus, or the Clock app). Microsoft says it works "by temporarily blocking notifications, sounds, and alerts". It also turns on Do not disturb and hides taskbar badges and flashing. "If you need to, you can end a focus session early." Microsoft's page doesn't say it closes apps or websites.
Source: Microsoft Support: Focus

This layer stops: pings. It doesn't stop: you opening YouTube yourself.

Layer 2: inside the browser (extensions)

  • Forest says its extension "brings Deep Focus and the timer to desktop browsing". It syncs with the phone app. (forestapp.cc)
  • Flora lists a Chrome extension next to its iPhone and Android apps. (flora.appfinca.com)
  • LeechBlock NG is a free extension for Firefox, Chrome, Edge and other Chromium browsers. It supports up to 30 block sets with time periods and limits, a "lockdown" mode, and an optional password. (proginosko.com/leechblock)

This layer stops: sites in that one browser. It doesn't stop: a second browser, a game launcher, or Discord. LeechBlock's own page also notes that the browser may still briefly connect to a blocked site, and it suggests a HOSTS file manager if that matters to you.

Layer 3: the desktop itself (native apps)

  • Cold Turkey Blocker runs on Windows and macOS. The free version blocks websites with timed blocks. "Block applications" and the locking features are in Pro, a one-time lifetime purchase. There's a free 7-day trial, and students can request 20% off. (getcoldturkey.com/pricing)
  • Freedom lists Windows, plus "Desktop app blocking", on its free plan. Premium is $3.33 a month billed yearly or $8.99 monthly (US page) and adds scheduling and "Locked Mode – prevents quitting". (freedom.to/premium)
  • SeaSweep (mine) is a free Windows app on the Microsoft Store, with no ads. During a study "voyage" it closes the programs and browser tabs you docked, leaves study sites like Wikipedia and Khan Academy open, and closes Task Manager and the uninstall screens. There is no pause or quit button. (Microsoft Store)

This layer stops: programs as well as sites. The trade-off: it has to run as a desktop process, and the strict ones are deliberately hard to back out of.

Where does Focus To-Do fit?

Not in any of the three. Focus To-Do is a Pomodoro timer plus a task list, and it runs on Windows, Mac, mobile and Chrome. It's a planner, not a blocker. (focustodo.cn)

Is there a SelfControl for Windows?

SelfControl's site calls it "a free Mac application", so no. The nearest Windows equivalents of its locked block are in Layer 3: Cold Turkey's locking features or Freedom's Locked Mode. (selfcontrolapp.com)

Picking a layer

  1. Only notifications bother you: use Layer 1. It's free and already installed.
  2. A few websites: Layer 2.
  3. Games or apps, or you keep switching browsers: Layer 3.

If an ocean voyage sounds more fun than a countdown, SeaSweep is free on the Microsoft Store. It supports two ocean partners, the 5 Gyres Institute and Save The Beach. The app doesn't clean the ocean itself; the partners do that work.